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A World of Wealth: How Capitalism Turns Profits into Progress
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List Price:
$24.99
Pay Mortgages Price:
$16.49
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Manufacturer: FT Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
EAN: 9780132350006
ISBN: 0132350009
Label: FT Press
Manufacturer: FT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-05-18
Publisher: FT Press
Studio: FT Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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"Thomas Donlan's defense of free market capitalism is especially timely today given all the pressures to regulate and stifle it. The anti-globalization movement wants more trade protectionism and less immigration. The global credit crisis is putting pressure on governments to bail out irresponsible lenders and borrowers at taxpayers' expense. Instead, Donlan convincingly and clearly explains why we would all prosper more by doing all we can to make markets freer." --Ed Yardeni, President, Yardeni Research, Inc. "Thomas Donlan reminds us all that capitalism is not simply one choice among different and equally valid economic systems, but instead that hard work and the accumulation of wealth is the natural tendency of successful people and healthy societies around the world." --Christopher Whalen, Managing Director, Institutional Risk Analytics "It has been several decades since Joseph Schumpeter observed that the philosophical defense of a free-market economy must never cease. Thomas Donlan has taken up that challenge, but this clear-eyed book is much more than a defense.It is a magnificently constructed explanation of how the world works and why free-market capitalism continues to offer the greatest hope for solving our greatest challenges. " --Carl J. Schramm, Ph.D., President, Kauffman Foundation "The author brings to the table a healthy skepticism of the conventional wisdom, an admirable ability to separate fact from fancy, and an undisguised repugnance for the mumbo-jumbo that's the curse of so much commentary on anything to do with economics or investment. A World of Wealth is not only a lively read, but an exceptionally enlightening and rewarding one to boot." --Alan Abelson, Barron's Columnist "With the facts of a primer laid out in the fast-paced narrative of a storyteller, Thomas Donlan's A World of Wealth lucidly explains today's marketplace. From the credit crisis to immigration and from oil prices to global warming, the book guides the reader through the economic issues of our day--jargon-free. It's a fast, fun read that illuminates while it entertains." --Thomas W.Hazlett, Professor of Law & Economics, George Mason University "An indispensable--and highly readable--primer on how the economic world really works, whether politicians of both left and right want it to work that way or not. If it were required reading for all political reporters, they might do a lot more reporting and carry a lot less water in the process."--John Steele Gordon, Author of Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power Acknowledgments xii About the Author xiii Introduction xv Chapter 1: The Capitalist Answer to the "Energy Crisis": Pay Higher Prices 1 Chapter 2: The Capitalist Approach to Environmental Pollution and Global Warming: Breathe Easy 23 Chapter 3: A Capitalist Prescription for Trade: Free Exchange Enriches Both Sides of Every Deal 43 Chapter 4: Capitalist Immigration Policy: Tear Down the Walls 65 Chapter 5: The Essential Elements of Capitalism: Investment and Invention 81 Chapter 6: The Capitalist Take on Taxes: Keep Taxes Low and Equal 93 Chapter 7: The Capitalist Struggle against Low Finance: Price Controls and Regulation Endanger the Free Market 113 Chapter 8: A Capitalist Diagnosis for the High Cost of Health Care: Pay What It's Worth 131 Chapter 9: The Capitalist Approach to Retirement Security: It's an Individual's Duty First 149 Chapter 10: A Capitalist Look at the Current Economy 169 Chapter 11: The Capitalist Quest for Productivity 185 Reading Further 201 Index 205
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise
Comment: This book is an approachable read on how capitalism has impacted the world. After a short introduction containing basic principles, it examines how a capitalist approaches issues like immigration, taxes, health care, and retirement. This book moves beyond the rhetoric of republican v. democrat to an exploration of capitalist principles and how they apply to today's very real economic challenges. I found it to be a easy to understand and highly readable economics book -- something I didn't expect because those aren't words I usually use to describe economics. As someone who often runs the other direction from books like this, I found I actually enjoyed reading it. I recommend this if you want to understand capitalist principles and how they apply to today's challenges without being bogged down by ivy tower language.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We need more regulation
Comment: The author is a free market advocate and makes a case for less regulation. However, I think current events have proved that we need more market regulation instead of the 'Wild West' global mentality that has caused Americans to lose 50% of their retirement portfolios.
Read this book for the opposing viewpoint.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I thoroughly enjoyed this book but...
Comment: I thought the book was well written - interesting and simply explained. Of course, the author is preaching to the already converted when I read this book, but he does a good job with the subject matter.
What I didn't like about this book can be summed up thusly - This book will not be persuasive to those who don't generally agree that capitalism is in large part a factor in mankind's incredible progress over the last century. There are too many assertions the author makes without leading the skeptical reader to his conclusions.
I agree with several other reviewers that the book did not contain enough footnotes/citations. I understand the author was probably trying to avoid all that and keep it accessible, but I think you can reach a happy medium. Perhaps the author never wrote this book intending to change a socialist mind. That's fine, but I'm still disappointed.
I really like how particular subjects are grouped into chapters. It makes it easy to hop around to a particular area you may be interested in at a particular time. See the chapter titles from the Product Description. Surely, several will be of interest to you. Some of the subjects are quite timely. Examples include
Chapter 1: The Capitalist Answer to the "Energy Crisis": Pay Higher Prices
Chapter 2: The Capitalist Approach to Environmental Pollution and Global Warming: Breathe Easy
Chapter 3: A Capitalist Prescription for Trade: Free Exchange Enriches Both Sides of Every Deal
Chapter 4: Capitalist Immigration Policy: Tear Down the Walls
Chapter 6: The Capitalist Take on Taxes: Keep Taxes Low and Equal
Chapter 7: The Capitalist Struggle against Low Finance: Price Controls and Regulation Endanger the Free Market
Chapter 9: The Capitalist Approach to Retirement Security: It's an Individual's Duty First
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to capitalism!
Comment: This is my first book on free market capitalism and I did get what I wanted from the book. The book touches upon different examples to illustrate the importance and significance of free market economics including currently relevant energy issues. I feel the book is too one sided at times but the title suggests this and I can't blame the author for not exploring the other side of the coin.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading
Comment: A colleague of mine said the other day how the economy failing, inasmuch as it was an engine to deliver money to those who need it. This guy is very intelligent, and has a wealth of knowledge about computers, but it was startling to me how wrong this concept was. (On the other hand, he had no clue that Bill Clinton argued forcefully for invading Iraq as late as 2003, either, so ... just goes to show.)
Is capitalism the final answer to providing for everyone? No. That's not even its point. Its strength is in harnessing our efforts in order to provide value to customers, and so to make a living for ourselves by benefiting (hopefully) others. And that's what is set forth in this book. Capitalism is not a charity system, it's a "let's profit through serving each other" system. Hopefully the best man wins, but not always (QWERTY keyboards, Microsoft, CNN ...). And, contrary to some claims, capitalism does take into account the human foibles of greed, etc. - it just tries to sublimate those dark urges into better results. Thus greedy corporations "go green" (sometimes against the facts) in order to satisfy their green customers, and so on.
Seeing as how teachers are indoctrinating their students (and, apparently, most journalists) by setting their reading assignments, they could do us all a favor by assigning this book, which clearly lays out the case for capitalism, although sometimes lacking in references.
Note that the current meltdown was largely due to government interference in the markets by forcing lenders to make bad loans (to make things more "fair"), which were sold by companies like Countrywide (big donors to Chris Dodd and Obama) to Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, and has little to do with unreined capitalism - although that figured in once lenders figured how to protect themselves this way. Those who don't know this need to find better (less biased) news sources.
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