09 June 2009

The Continuing Relevance of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Remind me to get Amity Schlaes book.
From Dr Pete Boettke:"Atlas-shrugged. I am on record as stating that Atlas Shrugged is the most economically informed novel ever written. I teach from Dickens and Steinbeck as well, but the underlying economics in those works is confused at best. Rand's economic message is coherent, consistent, and follows from the classic teachings of the mainline of economic thinking from Smith through Say onward to Mises.

The narrative she spins in Atlas Shrugged captures well the consequences of public policies that stifle entrepreneurship and private enterprise, substitute state planning for market coordination, and justify fiscal irresponsibility and inflationary monetary policy. In short, such policies destroy wealth in the name of redistributing it. Justice is not served by such efforts, instead we get naked injustice.

As politicians of both parties (Team Obama cannot take full credit) pursue similar policies to the one's Rand describes as responsible for destroying the economy in our world today, is it any wonder that Rand's book is flying off the shelves?

Read the rest at:
The Austrian Economists: The Continuing Relevance of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

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1 comment:

Penguin Prose said...

Yeah, honestly I think Obama & Co. should be a bit nervous by the recent explosion in sales of this book.

For that matter, every fiscally irresponsible politician R or D facing re-election in '10 should be nervous...