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Title: The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism Updated Edition by Russell D. Roberts ISBN: 0-13-087052-8 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.60 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Persuasive Argument for Free Trade
Comment: Russell Roberts aims to persuade the intelligent layman that the stuff of wealth is goods and services (not money or jobs) and that the way to create wealth is through specialization and trade, which he calls the "roundabout way to wealth." The book is better than a novel. The author creates a dialogue between the late economist David Ricardo and fictional businessman Ed Johnson. It's easy to imagine that Ricardo represents Roberts as professor and Johnson represents every student who ever raised a challenging question in his class. One can learn a lot about international trade from this dialectic approach.
The author uses some numbers and case studies to illustrate what happens when trade is free and when it is not. The "rigor" is there even if the elaborate geometry and mathematics usually found in economics textbooks are not. Like most economists, Roberts makes the case for free trade in terms of efficiency. Ultimately though, his message becomes a moral one and a challenge. "The real choice" declares David Ricardo (Russell Roberts), "is between a dynamic world and a static world---a world of encouraging people to dream and acquire the skills to make those dreams come true and a world of encouraging people to be content with what they have and to dream less." The Choice is about as good in spirit and persuasiveness as Frederic Bastiat's Economic Sophisms.
Rating: 4
Summary: An economic fable
Comment: Prof. Roberts, an economics professor, has created series on interesting little novels to teach his readers about libertarian economic thought.
In The Choice, Roberts borrows from Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" to introduce his protagonist Ed Johnson to alternate worlds where free trade does and does not exist. Instead of Clarence the Angel, Ed is led around by David Ricardo, the economist who developed the Law of Comparative Advantages, which forms the foundations for supporting global free trade.
Throughout the novel, Ed raises questions based on his traditional thinking on protectionsim. Ricardo addresses each key concern in turn. The concepts debated include: loss of jobs, loss of our nation's economic status, national security needs, etc. More importantly, Ricardo convinvingly makes the point that total national economic self-sufficiency is a recipe for economic disaster/failure.
I found this to be an entertaining way to learn more about the debate on free trade and protectionism. This novel is easily more enjoyable than the typical economics text or article, and hence its message was delivered more effectively.
Rating: 5
Summary: Superb Book
Comment: I'll make this as brief and simple as does Mr. Roberts. This is, without question, a superb book. It is the title to which I refer almost everyone interested in the free trade debate. Thank you, Russell Roberts.
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Title: The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance by Russell Roberts ISBN: 0262681358 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 07 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The World Economy: Resources, Location, Trade and Development (3rd Edition) by Frederick P. Stutz, Anthony R. De Souza ISBN: 0137277695 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 16 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $90.00 |
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Title: The Wto After Seattle by Jeffrey J. Schott ISBN: 0881322903 Publisher: Institute for International Economics Pub. Date: 27 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization by Thomas L. Friedman ISBN: 0385499345 Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday Pub. Date: 02 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Murder at the Margin by Marshall Jevons ISBN: 0691000980 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 12 July, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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