A World of Wealth: How Capitalism Turns Profits into Progress | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas G. Donlan
Publisher: FT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 344846
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0132350009
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.973
EAN: 9780132350006
ASIN: 0132350009
Publication Date: May 18, 2008
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Product Description
"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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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
Timely December 22, 2008
This is a very timely book and should be required reading for both houses of Congress considering we are in a deep recession. Some things he stated as fact lacked reference but then with his background I don't doubt him. A good read and introduction to economics for those who haven't been schooled in the subject. It was an enjoyable read.
Good, challenging, but with unsupported statements December 18, 2008
I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent and rational, and able to follow an argument. I've never studied economics, so it's been fascinating reading this book. I'm definitely pro-capitalism, but I'm not convinced that unbridled capitalism is a completely good thing. The world doesn't have infinite resources to support that, and just because a limited resource/supply causes the price of something to go up doesn't mean that the problem is solved or that the supply is therefore adequate because there's enough for those who can afford the high prices.
I don't think that logical arguments are the author's strong point. Too many times I thought he was just stating something as a truth without supporting it. Perhaps those truths are obvious to him because of his background and knowledge of economics, but he needed to provide more to get the rest of us to see it, too.
Like I said, fascinating reading, and at an approachable level, but the author has some underlying assumptions that he doesn't support.
Should Be Required Reading for Politicians... December 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
of ANY political stripe because as Mr. Donlan reminds us, when it comes to economic policy, both Democrats AND Republicans tend to be idiots (for that matter so do a disturbingly large number of economists and businessmen). In fact given the 80-20 Rule under which 20 percent do most of the producing while the other 80 percent have most of the votes, "It's a pleasant surprise that democracies foster much investment and productivity growth at all."
Of course there are widely varying degrees of economic idiocy. The difference between a Capitalist-sympathizing MBA earner arguably doing more harm than good in futile attempts to stave off or shorten recessions and a clueless naif who honestly believes that the only reason government control of the economy failed before is because no one as smart as he is was running it is quite substantial, as the largest post-election stock market crash in history, following upon the largest pre-election stock market crash in history as Wall Street began to price in an Obama victory, demonstrates to he who has eyes to see and ears to listen.
America has embarked upon Yet Another remedial course in Economics 101, at the end of which hopefully a large majority will have learned, "Oh, THAT is why anti-capitalistic government policies are bad." In the meantime those who would get a head start on the graduates of the School of Hard Knocks could do a lot worse than to read this book. In clear and plain English Mr. Donlan explains why capitalism is the only practical solution to problems like the Energy Crisis, Global Warming (IF it is even happening, an argument for another day), trade imbalances, immigration, health care, retirement security, and economic recessions, depressions, and panics.
Capitalism is not merely the best economic system; it is the only economic system that actually works. Everything else mankind has tried leads only to increased poverty and misery,...
and eventually to dictatorship, Gulags, and mass graves.
 What Capitalism does, and means November 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is very challenging, in its content. You think you know what capitalism is, right? What it's strengths and weaknesses are? Probably not, in truth. In the USA, the most consistently capitalistic country around, markets and finances and trade are all still highly regulated. The US government remains ambivalent about free markets. Such is the nature of democracy, Thomas G. Donlan explains, where 20% of the people produce 80% of the wealth... but everyone can vote.
A World of Wealth is very well written, clear and witty and fun to read. Donlan is an accomplished writer for various financial magazines, and it shows. His premise, which he proves quite convincingly, is that capitalism -- true and unregulated -- is the solution to the biggest problems of today's world. He covers energy costs, global warming and environmental issues, immigration, health care, and many other important topics.
The general theory proposed is that demand drives prices up, and the resulting high prices mean high potential profits. Where there's money to be made capitalists will invest their resources in that market, which will increase (and improve the quality of) the supply, and prices will go back down. Donlan notes where there seem to be exceptions to the rule. Sometimes the producers don't pay for the costs of their production, instead everyone else does (pollution and wild fishing are given as examples).
This is definitely the book for you if you want to start intelligent arguments with people at dinner parties, or even if you just want to challenge your own assumptions. I've always considered myself pretty pro-capitalist, but even I sometimes found myself thinking, "No, that can't be how it is!" and yet... Donlan's arguments are very convincing.
I only wish this had come out a year later, because I would have loved to read Donlan's take on the current financial situation. I worry, also, that readers may be missing out on this great book. Given the current financial climate, I suspect books on economics might not be as popular as at other times.
Overall, highly recommended.
 Informative but lacking in citations of references. November 25, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
While Mr. Donlan succeeded in providing an overview of free market forces in play: giving historical examples and possible approaches to tackling everything from the "energy crisis", "health care", to "retirement security", he (like many economic "experts") couldn't have possibly imagined the aftermath of the current world economic tsunami, i.e., the gross destruction of wealth and failing economies of the world caused in part to sheer greed and lack of government regulations over speculative trading (e.g.,subprime derivatives). "Irrational exuberance" became irrational stupidity by the over-leveraged investment and banking industries which spilled over to other industries.
The author did provide some relevant commentary into past "Booms and Busts Born in Debt" on page 177, "Manias and bubbles such as the twenty-first century housing bubble seem to afflict capitalist societies once a generation. Three early ones were dealt with in ways that should help us understand how to deal with ours". What's frightening is that the current U.S. government resolution is to bail out mismanaged banks, investment cos. and other corps. then leave the tab to the American taxpayers.
Although this book is written in a way that's easy for most people to understand some basic principles of capitalism, it is definitely NOT intended to be an educational textbook. There are no quotations, citations, or a bibliography; only a "suggestions" list of economic periodicals and books (pages 201-204). Overall: an informative but editorialized book with no precise reference sources.
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