A shameless advertisement of Capitalism. But still, raises many valid points in favor of Capitalism. ( )

CX07

As a defender of capitalism but not someone with more than a macroeconomics course under my belt, this book wasn't surprising or Earth-shattering for me.

What The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism did for me, was put some arguments into simpler terms; it explained free market economics in easy to grasp scenarios. While I inherently understood myths about capitalism were wrong, I couldn't explain why I knew this. Unfortunately, new ways to argue for free-markets won't necessarily win disagreements, I will at least have better ways to state my case. ( )

Full review at A. Literary Mafia blog http://wp.me/p2m4nG-cQ

I imagine that this book could be quite the conversation piece, regardless of your position on capitalism. Murphy covers a number of topics from slavery in the United States to antitrust issues to outsourcing. He paints his positions with a conservative* laissez-faire brush. “To show how baseless these fears [of the liberal media and propagandists] are, in this book we will examine ‘pure’ capitalism, even though it doesn’t exist in this form today.”

While I certainly found Murphy’s purist positions thought-provoking, a number of his proposed outcomes seemed unrealistic. I think that he is underestimating the power of human influence – even in his pro-capitalist utopia (ex. humans often don’t do the right thing, humans often don’t act in their best interest, the government is not going away and isn’t always evil).

As expected, I had multiple reactions to his arguments:

- I agree with that.
- I never thought about it that way. Let me give that more thought.
- That is a ludicrous bunch of crap (as he said I would).

Although book does contain a number of interesting points, I found some of Murphy’s arguments to be rather thin. I am not sure if that is due to him trying to be brief (in order to cover a wide variety of topics in minimal space) or if his some arguments are actually thin. I appreciate that he provides other book references throughout the text so that you can dig deeper into some of the arguments posed and judge for yourself.

I’ll take Murphy’s proposed suggestions as food for thought. I would be interested in reading a book that argues on the other side for comparison. Any suggestions?

* Regnery Publishing is a leading conservative publisher in United States.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (Politically Incorrect Guides). I received a free copy of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism through a DearReader.com giveaway.

Recommended for:

- Readers of Austrian school of economics and pro capitalism literature
- Readers wanting an introduction to basic economic concepts (understanding that this text has a conservative bent) ( )

Robert Murphy masterfully dispels popular myths regarding capitalism and destroys neo-liberal theories of prosperity. Should be required reading in all high school/college economic classes. ( )