Hey,
Has anyone read Dr. Bernstein’s book?
Is it worth the purchase? A couple reviews on Amazon say it’s merely a layman-directed repetition of Ayn’s words from Capitalism: An Unknown Ideal?
At $40, it’s a fairly pricey book, so I want to make sure I’m not buying redundant material.
Grant
CtUI is a collection of essays, whereas the Capitalist Manifesto provides the history needed to induce the principles of capitalism. Much more systematic than CtUI, I would say for 19$ its very worthwhile purchase.
CtUI is a collection of essays, whereas the Capitalist Manifesto provides the history needed to induce the principles of capitalism. Much more systematic than CtUI, I would say for 19$ its very worthwhile purchase.
Thanks again athena 
Beyond the history, does it provide a thorough explanation and moral justification of Capitalism?
i.e. Is it an all-in-one ‘Capitalism for Dummies’ resource and would you give it to someone who knew little about Capitalism and social/political systems in general as an introductory text?
Thanks again athena
Beyond the history, does it provide a thorough explanation and moral justification of Capitalism?
i.e. Is it an all-in-one ‘Capitalism for Dummies’ resource and would you give it to someone who knew little about Capitalism and social/political systems in general as an introductory text?
Yes, and Absolutely.
Yes, and Absolutely.
Excellent.
Beyond the history, does it provide a thorough explanation and moral justification of Capitalism?
i.e. Is it an all-in-one ‘Capitalism for Dummies’ resource and would you give it to someone who knew little about Capitalism and social/political systems in general as an introductory text?
I would note that Bernstein’s book, like Rand’s CUI, is explicitly *not* an economics text. There is some discussion of the consequences of various forms of government intervention in the economy, and of some widely-believed alleged failures of capitalism such as the Great Depression, but the focus of the book is on the history and moral underpinnings of capitalism, not the principles of market economics. Bernstein writes in the introduction that the relegation of economics to the end of the book “represents no slap at the economists. Quite the contrary, for to a significant degree they have done their job superbly. It is time for the moralists and philosophers to do theirs.” He refers readers to books like von Mises’ Human Action and Reisman’s Capitalism for fuller details of the operation of capitalism. (For people not willing to tackle such weighty tomes, I would recommend Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, Reisman’s shorter The Government Against the Economy or perhaps Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics as alternative supplements to the moral/historical case for capitalism found in Bernstein’s book.)
I would note that Bernstein’s book, like Rand’s CUI, is explicitly *not* an economics text. There is some discussion of the consequences of various forms of government intervention in the economy, and of some widely-believed alleged failures of capitalism such as the Great Depression, but the focus of the book is on the history and moral underpinnings of capitalism, not the principles of market economics. Bernstein writes in the introduction that the relegation of economics to the end of the book “represents no slap at the economists. Quite the contrary, for to a significant degree they have done their job superbly. It is time for the moralists and philosophers to do theirs.” He refers readers to books like von Mises’ Human Action and Reisman’s Capitalism for fuller details of the operation of capitalism. (For people not willing to tackle such weighty tomes, I would recommend Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, Reisman’s shorter The Government Against the Economy or perhaps Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics as alternative supplements to the moral/historical case for capitalism found in Bernstein’s book.)
I will second the suggestion for Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson
I will second the suggestion for Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson
And I give it a third, it is brilliant!
Thanks guys. I’m looking for the moral perspective, so the Manifesto should do fine
But I will look into purchasing Hazlitt down the line.
Cheers.
But I will look into purchasing Hazlitt down the line.
No need, the original version is out of copyright and available online. But I personally like the updated book, which is only available in print; paragraphs were re-written or eliminated altogether, and chapters were added.