Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics (O'Rourke, P. J.) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I had one fundamental question about economics: Why do some places prosper and thrive while others just suck? It's not a matter of brains..." (more)
Key Phrases: asymmetrical information, Hong Kong, United States, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What is it that makes one person rich and another poor? It's a tough question and not one generally suited to laughs, but P.J. O'Rourke--in the audio version of his ironic and insightful book, Eat the Rich--is a master at finding humor in the most unlikely places. Here he travels from Wall Street to Russia, Hong Kong to Cuba on an immensely entertaining quest for economic enlightenment. It's an educational journey wrapped in hilarity, which is especially enjoyable when heard in the surprisingly deep, resonant voice of the author himself. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --George Laney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Having chewed up and spat out the politically correct (All the Troubles in the World) and the U.S. government (Parliament of Whores), O'Rourke takes a more global tack. Here, he combines something of Michael Palin's Pole to Pole, a soupcon of Swift's A Modest Proposal and Keynsian garnish in an effort to find out why some places are "prosperous and thriving while others just suck." Stymied by the "puerile and impenetrable" prose of condescending college texts, O'Rourke set forth on a two-year worldwide tour of economic practice (or mal-). He begins amid the "moil and tumult" of Wall Street ("Good Capitalism") before turning to dirt-poor Albania, where, in an example of "Bad Capitalism," free market is the freedom to gamble stupidly. "Good Socialism" (Sweden) and "Bad Socialism" (Cuba) are followed by O'Rourke's always perverse but often perversely accurate take on Econ 101 ("microeconomics is about money you don't have, and macroeconomics is about money the government is out of"). Four subsequent chapters reportedly offer case studies of economic principles, except that Russia, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Shanghai all seem to prove that economic theory is just that. There's lots of trademark O'Rourke humor ("you can puke on the train," he says of a trip through Russia, "you can cook tripe on alcohol stoves and make reeking picnics of smoked fish and goat cheese, but you can't smoke"). There's also the feeling that despite (or maybe because of) his lack of credentials, he's often right. O'Rourke proves that money can be funny without being counterfeit. 150,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; 26-city author tour. (Sept.) FYI: Also available as a Random House audio, $18
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (July 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871137607
• ISBN-13: 978-0871137609
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Funny Trip, September 26, 2000

By	Brian K. Peterson (Fort Meade, MD) - See all my reviews

I got hooked on P.J. O'Rourke through his work in "Rolling
Stone." Each of his books have usually just been expanded
versions of his gonzo-style of journalism. He is definitely the sick
love child of Hunter S. Thompson (another "Rolling Stone"
family member) and Dave Barry--of course with a twist of Rush
Limbaugh's conservatist flare. His dry wit is interlaced with a keen
eye for the bizarre. He has attacked politicians and Congress in
"Parliament of Whores" (still his best book to date) and the
"hawks" and "doves" in "Give War a
Chance" (enjoyable though not as memorable). This time he takes
on economists who apparently win Nobel prizes simply by boring the
most people. However, he does this by actually bouncing around the
globe, from Wall Street to Havana. And Albania to Hong Kong. And
several other points in between.

He gets deep into a
country. Immersing himself within society itself to develop his theory
of why a country's economic ills are what they are. This is usually
done by attending the local watering holes. If anything else is
redeeming to an O'Rourke work, it's certain that you will always walk
away with an unquenchable urge to have a stiff drink--or maybe
four.

O'Rourke examines and compares several societies and
countries that exhibit the most free of the free market (Hong Kong) or
the country with "good" socialism (Sweden) and
"bad" socialism (Cuba) and several other nations like
Tanzania, Albania and Russia. As well as the U.S. and Shanghai. The
examination on these countries are too brief to be worthy of real
study, but the truth within the humorous observations are what is the
real nugget. ...this book is
thoroughly enjoyable just to get his no-nonsense and never boring take
on why the free-market is greatest invention of mankind. ....

Finally, you will definitely laugh while reading this
book.

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So funny you'll learn economics instead of falling asleep!, September 11, 1998

By	Jeff Duntemann "Writer, editor, tinkerer, con... (Colorado Springs, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics (Hardcover)

I have never met P. J. O'Rourke, though I've always wanted to. (We probably wouldn't get along, as I don't drink much and wear a hat.) So I have no reason to say this other than the fact that it's true: He is the funniest man on Earth.

It's my contention that humor that is *about* something is far funnier than humor that is nothing more than a grab-bag of exaggerations and incongruities, Dave Barry style. Dave Barry is good--I have all his books too--but every time I get another one, I have this feeling that I've heard all these jokes before. Only the words are different.

P. J. O'Rourke's books are almost always about something--GIVE WAR A CHANCE was about the Gulf War, mostly--that matters. War matters, even dumb wars like Vietnam, though they don't all matter the same way. ALL THE TROUBLE IN THE WORLD was about a lot of things that matter in a hurtful sort of way, though the king on that throne is bad government. The significance of the subject matter is what makes the humor so pointed--the absurdities of the Gulf War are far funnier than talking about pigeons letting go on some slob's head.

So in his latest volume P. J. takes on economics. This matters more than anything else on Earth, pretty much, because life on Earth is about work and wealth and what's for supper. I never learned economics because it's taught by men who are basically mummies without the wrappings. The books are unreadable, the graphs devoid of any connection to the real world. Finally, 25 years after getting out of school, I find an economics book by a guy who's still breathing. Furthermore, it's so painfully funny that two days later it's etched so firmly in my head I can still remember nearly all the points he made.

Many of these points are made in the course of P. J.'s trademark travelogs. The one to Albania (during which he explains how the recent pyramid schemes slagged the entire country's economy) was the best in the book--if perhaps the grimmest. The humor here is pretty black, but once you read it you will understand Albania almost completely, and be damned glad you live in Des Moines.

This approach isn't for everybody. The politically correct will hyperventilate with fury. Economists will suspect they are being skewered. (They are--but economists are notoriously bad at drawing correct conclusions.) Socialists, environmentalists, Democrats, and Swedes will shake their heads and sigh: If only this guy were on *our* side.

I've already gone on too long. Definitely read this book. I haven't quoted any of the humor because the humor doesn't lie in one-liners. You have to read it all. If you do, you will laugh your butt off--and come out of it understanding a little better why the rich are rich and the poor are poor.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creatig prosperity not promoting poverty, December 14, 2002

By	Noël Berge (Westcliffe, Co USA) - See all my reviews

I have read---and found myself going back to---"Eat the Rich" by P.J. O'Rourke. It is insightful, much tongue-in-cheek, honest and disconcerting in his observations, metaphors and conclusions.

Like other reviewers above, I have traveled and found his remarks on the mark. My work involves doing strategic planning, conflict resolution and project design around the world and somehow O'Rourke, captures much of what I saw and observed better than I ever could!!

He does present in a clear, witty writing style some very important learning's about economics, politics and more. He may be known as a conservative, but his economic insights are those of the greatest economist ever: Adam Smith, Mises, Hayek and the school of Austrian Economics.

Even O'Rourke acknowledges his own greater understanding in an interview held:

"'Well, probably the most important of those is the--is
the Friedrich Hay--von Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom." It is -- it was
Written in the '40s, during World War II, as a antidote to what Hayek
Saw as the increasing collectivism of politics in the world. He was
protesting against communism and Nazism, but also against the
in--increasing organization and size of the--of the democratic welfare
states. Hayek is one of the great champions of the individual. I
mean, he basically says that individuals are smarter than groups.
Anybody who's ever had to deal with a mob or with Congress
could -- could probably tell you this. One on one, individuals will
make, on average, reasonable decisions, whereas if we put people in a
group -- it's like the difference between Harvard and the Harvard
football team."

And his closing chapter, by the same name as the book, presents the fundamentals of sound economics, and shows the importance of focusing on building prosperity and wealth rather than trying to address poverty.

If ever he were asked to present at any international conference, he would have done as a "the friend' did in this quote (though the source I find unusual)
:
"I had a friend once and he was asked to chair a commission, an
international committee, and the title of it was What Causes Poverty. He declined. He said I will do it but on one condition. The condition is that we change the title and I'll chair a committee on What Causes Prosperity. The reason he said that was, the title What Causes Poverty leaves the impression that the natural state of the world is for people to be prosperous and that for whatever reason there are prosperous people running
around making people poor... He looked at the world the other way. He said the natural state of people is to be relatively poor and that there are certain ways and things that can be done that can cause prosperity."
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Nov.

No, O'Rourke is a shrew observer of life and economics and offers a fine study of how many countries are operating and it is not a pretty picture.

I highly recommend it for an insight and understanding of economics today, how the collectivist and government interventions stand in the way of the prosperity of people today.

Quoting him again, "Western Civilization not only provides a bit of life, a pinch of liberty and the occasional pursuance of happiness, it's also the only thing that's ever tried to."

Yes, Western civilization is one of the known groups that have tried, and, it is as if "the discovery' of individual Freedom and liberty is something new, deserves consideration. (For further understanding the history of Freedom and liberty, do read "The Discovery of Freedom: Man's Struggle Against Authority" by Rose Wilder Lane. Lear about the 800 years of prosperity under Islam that culminated in Spain as it stretched from China to Europe; the role of Christianity in recognizing self responsibility and, not covered, the 1,000 year stretch in Irelant, brought to an end by the same underlying forces in Curope that used the Crusades as an outlet for the war mongering energies killing Europe!)

Liberals and statist miss this and what O'Rourke saw so clearly. As shown in the following independent review, the writer lacks any insight and, with the typical false academic-type and very smug remark---and, I doubt if she has traveled and studied people, life and economics the way O'Rourke or myself for that matter have!) misses his point completely, but with classic "other view" understanding:

"If you agree that capitalism is the best economic system, and that laissez-faire policies are the best method of running an economy, then this book is in effect a self-indulgent look at a world-wide train wreck, with O'Rourke patting you on the shoulder by way of congratulations. You managed to miss that train. However, if you understand the complexities of cultures and history, then you might find O'Rourke's little excursion appallingly naive....

This book is an introduction into the economics that works, honors freedom and liberty, reflecting the down side of government intervention and regulation as it distorts the true value of working people and prosperity.

There are other books that capture economics for those that have not studied it, Economics in One Easy Lesson by Hazlitt, "What Ever Happened to Penny Candy" by Richard J. Marbury or "How an Economy Grows and Why It Doesn't" by Irwin A Schiff.

These books address money and banking and other topics that are key to the world's current situation with ease and understanding.

But, for a world tour presentation on economics for the every day Jane or Joe, for all those liberals that went to college and took Economic History or, at most "An Introduction to Economics" that favored Keynesian economics and big government management of economies that has prevailed for most of the 20th Century and may be the linchpin for the situation we find ourselves today as it crumples and falls, may the clear writings of O'Rourke serve as your treatise on economics and

Turn the dismal science into one that makes you laugh as you learn!!

He does an excellent job here.