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The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance Paperback – March 7, 2002

by Russell Roberts (Author)

4.0 169 ratings

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A lively, unorthodox look at economics, business, and public policy told in the form of a novel.

A love story that embraces the business and economic issues of the day?

The Invisible Heart takes a provocative look at business, economics, and regulation through the eyes of Sam Gordon and Laura Silver, teachers at the exclusive Edwards School in Washington, D.C. Sam lives and breathes capitalism. He thinks that most government regulation is unnecessary or even harmful. He believes that success in business is a virtue. He believes that our humanity flourishes under economic freedom. Laura prefers Wordsworth to the Wall Street Journal. Where Sam sees victors, she sees victims. She wants the government to protect consumers and workers from the excesses of Sam's beloved marketplace.

While Sam and Laura argue about how to make the world a better place, a parallel story unfolds across town. Erica Baldwin, the crusading head of a government watchdog agency, tries to bring Charles Krauss, a ruthless CEO, to justice. How are these two dramas connected? Why is Sam under threat of dismissal? Will Erica Baldwin find the evidence she needs? Can Laura love a man with an Adam Smith poster on his wall? The answers in The Invisible Heart give the reader a richer appreciation for how business and the marketplace transform our lives.

About the Author

Russell Roberts is Professor of Economics and the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is the author of The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism and is a frequent commentator on National Public Radio.

Print length

282 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The MIT Press
Publication date

March 7, 2002
Dimensions

5.44 x 0.77 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0262681358
ISBN-13

978-0262681353
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press (March 7, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 282 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262681358
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262681353
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.44 x 0.77 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #146,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #101 in Economic Policy & Development (Books)
- #102 in Comedic Dramas & Plays
- #8,944 in Romantic Suspense (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.0 169 ratings

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Russell D. Roberts

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Russ Roberts is president of Shalem College in Jerusalem and the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He hosts the award-winning weekly podcast EconTalk which he started in 2006. All 850+ episodes are available in the archive and include interviews with Christopher Hitchens, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Lewis, Emily Oster, Milton Friedman, Angela Duckworth, Thomas Piketty, and Amor Towles. He is the co-creator of the Keynes-Hayek rap videos, which have been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube. His twitter handle is @econtalker. He archives all his work at RussRoberts.info

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4 out of 5

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Katherine Gordon

GREAT GREAT book

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2011

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The following is an excerpt from "The Pentimento" (Volume V Issue 2 - a quarterly arts newsletter published by Gordon Galleries, LLC):

The way this book came to my attention is almost as interesting as the book itself. My stepdaughter and I love to hang out at the gorgeous pool at Hill Country Harbor at Possum Kingdom Lake (Texas) as often as we get the chance. I've even painted it (you can see "Nocturne at Hill Country Harbor" on my website, [...]. If you've ever been there, you know why: it's simply one of the most pleasant places left on earth. Cerulean water, plashing waterfalls, sun, great landscaping and a disappearing horizon. Oh, and fire pits. You get the idea. So last Saturday, we were pulling up a lounge chair poolside, and there on the concrete was this book. Someone had left it there just for me! The subtitle, "An economic romance" naturally intrigued me. Turns out it is a page-turner; a delightful romance and a very sound apologetic for clear economic thinking. I couldn't put it down. Okay, so I did put it down eventually, because it didn't belong to me, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the copy I bought for myself from Amazon.com. I haven't run across a book so thoughtful and inventive (and entertaining) in a long, long time. Maybe ever. So what has all that got to do with art? I'll quote good old Robert Henri once again, "Art tends towards balance, order, judgment of relative values, the laws of growth, the economy of living -- very good things for anyone to be interested in." Hats off, Russell Roberts! Please keep writing!

3 people found this helpful

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M. Strong

Should be required reading for anyone who votes or reads newspapers.

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2006

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As a believer in the massive power of the free market to do good things in our world, it's very hard to explain to non-believers that you aren't a heartless jerk. Russ Roberts does exactly that in this very readable account of a fictional high school Economics teacher making that very case to a fictional English teacher that he is starting to like.

The story provides the framework for a very solid explanation of free-market economics and how it really does do more good for a larger number of people than any other system if we are willing to let it. What is often seen as uncaring or unfeeling to an outsider is often just the opposite while the actions of the "caring" often have the opposite impact of what they intended.

This book should be required reading for Americans. It shows the system that brought America to greatness in all of its glory and it shows it to be the greatest tool in the world for helping the unfortunate. At a time when we seem set on the idea of abandoning the free-market principles that have brought us so far so fast, this book is more important than ever. That and you get a cool plot twist thrown into the mix as a bonus.

Give this one a try. Very highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

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Isaac Roth

wonderful vehicle to keep budding economist interested

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2001

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A romance novel whose protagonist is a full-blooded libertarian? Or a thinly veiled vehicle to have libertarian views get 5 times the page space as the interventionist views they are easily shooting down?
Either way, a fun, page-turning read.
Now, for the book's content: Libertarian, libertarian, libertarian.
Most of the book says: Great things happen when there are unregulated markets allowing people who want to buy and make and sell things get together. And if you try to mess with the system, all kinds of strange things happen, and important opportunities are foreclosed. Active policy often has visible results (saving a factory town from international competition) but the invisible results are the more important ( a general overall improvement to the nation from having cheaper imports). That's why politicians, and the populace, like policies: they can say they're doing something good (even if it's not).
Generally, so far so good. I agree. Overall.
But the book takes is too too far. Roberts thinks there should not be antidiscrimination laws. Roberts thinks there should not be consumer protection laws. He thinks everything should be private property-based.
Why is it that all rich countries have chosen to provide the elderly with Social Security and medical care? To provide public education? Is this pure folly? Roberts and similar libertarians like to point out the collapse of the USSR: "Central planning doesn't work." Of course not. But the next step they make is dangerous and illogical: "We should dismantle the government."
Roberts also need only look around him to see the pervasiveness of government in everyday life. Schools, parks, roads, public transportation--does he want to privatize these, too? Why has none of the rich countries done this?
The pure libertarian also gets to avoid the sticky issues of fairness in taxation and spending, since there is none. But once you admit that we need government (for protection of contract and property, at the least), then raising revenue for the related government functions becomes an issue. Nowhere does the book mention any of this.
Still, the book is a wonderful shift from your ordinarily dull economic treatises on supply and demand. Roberts is right on target that new ways of communicating economic principles are needed. Students are unlikely to forget what they learn from this book; this cannot be said for most 1000-page introductory tomes.

10 people found this helpful

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Lydia Wang

Gave me warm fuzzy feelings for capitalism

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2015

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Bought this during finals week and couldn't start studying for my classes until I finished reading this book - it was that good! This book gives new perspective if you are not that familiar with economics and as cliche as it sounds, it has changed my view on aspects of life. It gives a very romantic view to economics and promotes the idea that self-interest can actually be a very good thing. After reading the book I gifted my friend an online version since I wanted him to be as enlightened as I was, and I also bought a hard copy for a teacher I had. Don't expect too much from the novel as a "romance", since it doesn't offer much as a love story. It's more romantic in the sense that it discusses economic principles in a very optimistic light and will make you fall in love with free markets and appreciate how they work.

One person found this helpful

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平和

小説としても十分面白い。

Reviewed in Japan on August 7, 2005

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私は理想的な資本主義は「夜警国家」であり、政府が市場に介入することは出来るだけ避けるべきと漠然と考えていましたが、この本のサムとローラのように相反する考えの男女がお互いの考え方をまっすぐに伝え議論している本を読んで、自分の意見の正しい部分もあった反面、間違っていた部分も良く分かります。理想的な資本主義はいったいどのようなものかの結論が出ることはないと思いますが、改めてそのような題材を投げかけてくれるこの本は価値があると思います。また、本の内容も堅苦しい経済本ではなく恋愛小説的な一面もあり、構成もあっと驚くような内容になっています。経済学の導入書としても十分役立つ本だと思いました。

3 people found this helpful

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Duc Nguyen

Lovely book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2014

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Pretty neat.

perusona

理想的な経済学テキスト

Reviewed in Japan on August 26, 2003

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ラブストーリーを楽しみながら法律学習ができた名著「否認」（堀田力著）に比肩しうる傑作。
いや、シカゴ学派の経済学をわかりやすく理解できると言う点では、本書のほうがよりすぐれているとも思える。
主人公が経済学を説明する台詞にも具体例がたくさん盛り込まれており、初心者にも十分理解ができるように配慮されている。

9 people found this helpful

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nyantyuu

ライトタッチ

Reviewed in Japan on May 24, 2004

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恋愛小説／経済学の本、どちらにしても中途半端ですが、
軽く読めるところが良いと思います。
久しぶりに（試験勉強ではなく）勉強したいなぁと思いました。

2 people found this helpful

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八左衛門

経済学とは縁の無い人に是非読んでもらいたい

Reviewed in Japan on September 26, 2004

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経済学の教師と文学の教師の恋愛模様を中心に両者の価値観、思考方法の対立を通じて経済学的（特に市場主義的）な考え方を浮き彫りにするという手法が成功していると思われます。講師をしている文学系の短大で、課題として学生に感想文を書いてもらいましたが、恋愛ストーリーに釣られて、自然に経済学的思考も理解できたようです。恋愛にイマイチ盛り上がりが欠ける、という指摘もありましたが････。

7 people found this helpful

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