Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
THOMAS SOWELL
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of thi
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permissionexcep
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information
Books, 10 East 53’dStreet, New York, NY 10022-5299.
FIRST EDITION
010203/10987
A few lines of reasoning can changethe way we see
Steven E. Lansburg
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
CONTENTS
PreJace
Acknowledgements
1 What Is Economics?
PART I: PRICES
2 TheRoleof Prices
3 PriceControls
4 An Overview
15 National Output
16 Money and the Banking System
17 The Roleof Government
18 An Overview
19 International Trade
20 International Transfers of Wealth
21 An Overview
22 "Non-Economic" Values
23 Prices and Purchasing Power
24 Business and Labor
25 An Overview
Sources
Index
PREFACE
Thomas Sowell
Rose and Milton Friedman
Hoover Institution
Stmzford University
!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ple than can possibly liveat the beach, but often als
For example, computers have been getting both che
ter at a very rapid rate, as a result of the developme
logical ingenuity. Yet the vast majority of beneficia
high-tech advances, insights, and talents have not
idea of what these technical changes are specificall
convey to them the end results-which are all that m
own decision-making and their own enhanced prod
well-being fromusing computers.
Similarly, if vast new rich iron ore deposits were
perhaps no more than one percent of the populati
likely to be aware of it, but everyone would discove
made of steel were becoming cheaper. People thinki
desks, for example, would discover that steel desks
more of a bargain compared to wooden desks and
undoubtedly change their minds asto which kindof
chase because of that. The same would be true whe
various other products madeof steel tocompeting pr
of wood, aluminum, plastic or other materials.
In short, price changeswould enable a whole so
automatically to a greater abundance of iron ore, ev
percent of the people in that society were whollyun
new discovery.
Prices not only guide consumers, they guide p
well. When allis said and done, producers cannot p
what millions of different consumers want. All tha
manufacturers, for example,know is that when they
with acertain combinationof features they can sell
price that covers their production costs and leaves t
but when they manufacture cars with a different co
features, they don’t sell as well.In order to get rid o
cars, they must cut the prices to whatever level is n
them off the dealers’ lots, evenif that means taking a
ternative is to take a bigger lossby not selling thema
While a free market economic system is someti
profit system, it is reallya profit-and-loss system-an
are equally important for the efficiency of the econo
they tell the manufacturers what to stop producing
The Role of Prices
PRICES IN ACTION
Rationing by Prices
There are all kinds of prices. The prices of consum
are the most obvious examples but labor also has pri
wages or salaries, and borrowed money has a price ca
est. In addition to prices for tangible things, there are
services ranging from haircuts to brain surgery and fr
ogy to advice onspeculating in gold or soybeans.
In so far as these prices result from supply and de
free market, they play very similar roles in allocating
sources whichhave alternative uses. So long as people
spend their money for what they see fit, price chang
sponse to supply and demanddirect resources to wher
most in demand and direct people to where their desi
satisfied most fully by the existing supply.
Simple as all this may seem, it contradicts many w
ideas. For example, high prices are often blamed on ”g
people often speak of something being sold for more tha
value, orof workers beingpaid less than they are ”real
To treat prices as resulting from greed impliesthat
set prices wherethey wish, that prices are not determin
ply and demand. It may well be true that some-or all-
prefer to get the highest price that they can. But it is eq
that buyers usually wish to pay the lowest price th
18 BASIC ECONOMICS
week after the Act came into force and are now run
75 percent below last year’s levels.
INCENTIVES
VERSUSGOALS
We ought to be rich.
We have wonderfulsoil. We have th
tific know-how.We have qualified people. But what d
up to?
ADJUSTING TO CHANGES
PROFITS
Profits as Incentives
Let us go back to square one. The hope for pro
threat of losses is what forces a business owner in
economy to produce at the lowest cost and sell w
tomers are most willing to pay for. In the absence o
sures, those who manage enterprises under socialism
incentive to be as efficient as possible under given
much less to keep up with changing conditions an
them quickly, as capitalist enterprises must do if th
survive.
It was a Soviet premier who said that his country
shied away from innovation ”as the devil shies aw
cense.” But, given the incentives of a socialist ec
should these managers have stuck their necks out b
The Role of Profits-and Losses
'During an earlier era, when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union by sheer ter
even less initiative by managers of enterprises in the U.S.S.R., because disob
ders could land a manager in a prison camp in Siberia or in front of a firing
point, there was a severe shortage of mining machinery, while the manager
produced such machines was keeping them in storage after they were pro
than sending them out to the mines. The reason was that the official ord
these machines to be painted with red, oil-resistant paint-and the producer
only green, oil-resistant paint and red paint that was not oil-resistant. Pendi
of the kind of paint he needed, he would just keep the machinery in storage b
explained, "I don't want to get eight years" for disobeying orders.
76 BASIC ECONOMICS
Profit Rates
Profits on sales are very different fromprofits on in
If a store buys widgets for $10 each and sells them fo
some might say that it makes $5 in profits on each wid
course, the store has to pay the people who work there
company that supplies the electricity forthe lights, ca
and other electrical devicesin the store, as well as othe
of other goods and services needed to keep the stor
What is left over afterall these people have been paid
profit, usually a lot less than the gross profit. But that
the same as profiton investment.
When someone invests $10,000, what that person
know is what annualrate of return it will bring, wheth
vested in stores, real estate, or stocks
and bonds. Profits
ular sales are not what matter most. It is the profit o
capital that has been invested in the business that matte
78 BASIC ECONOMICS
COSTS OF PRODUCTION
plane with 200 seats is about to take off with 180 pas
board, the cost of letting 20 “standby” passengers get o
is negligible. That is one reason for radically differen
ing charged to people flying on the same plane. Some
bought guaranteed reservations and others essentiall
chance of getting on board. Different levels of proba
different costs in airline tickets, as elsewhere. The
themselves also differ in how important it is for them
particular place at a particular time. Those on urgen
may want a guaranteed reservation, even at a higher p
others may be in a position where saving money is m
tant than being on one particular flight rather than ano
In many industries and enterprises, capacity must
handle the peak volume-which means that there is ex
ity at other times. The cost of accommodating more u
product or serviceduring the times when there is exc
is much less than the cost of handling those who ar
peak times. A cruise ship, for example, must recei
money from its passengers to covernot only such curr
paying the crew, buying food, and using fuel, it must a
to pay such overhead costs as the purchase price of th
the expenses at the headquarters of the cruise line.
twice as many passengers at the peak season may m
another ship, as well as hiring another crew and buyi
much food and fuel.
However, if the number of passengers in the off sea
one-third of what it is at the peak, thena doubling of the
off-season passengers willnot require buying another
ing ships can simply sail with fewer empty cabins. T
pays the cruise line to try to attract economy-minded
by offering much reduced fares during the off season
retired people, for example, can schedule their cruise
of the year, not being tied down to the vacation sched
jobs or their children’s schools. It is common for
discounts in off-season travel, both on land and at sea.
in general can afford to do this because their costsare l
each particular business is forceddoto it because their
will take customers away from them if they don’t.
84 BASIC ECONOMICS
REGULATORY COMMISSIONS
ANTI-TRUST LAWS
LEADERSHIP
Central Planning
While many examples of the difficulties faced by
planning of economic activity have come from the S
similar results have marked the history of similar eff
countries. One of the classic disasters of government
volved the British government's attempts to grow pea
nial Rhodesia after WorldWar 11. Yet ordinary farmer
world had been deciding for generations whereand
peanuts, each on his own particular land, whose indiv
teristics wereknown directly from personal experie
gle acre of land usually has variations in its chemical
and its slope, whichdetermines how water runs off af
and may vary as wellin the degree to whichis it sha
hills, orother things. All this affectswhat will grow b
No officials sitting in London could know land in
timately. Even a trip to Rhodesia by "experts" could
the widely varying qualities of the soil from place
way each farmer could on his own plot of land, muc
stand all the insects, birds, animals, and rainfall patt
ous localities and whateffect theymight have on the
Yet even an illiterate farmer would almost automat
such things from experienceon his own farm.
Theoretically, the experts could ask each individu
Rhodesia about such things. But, aside from the imp
experts with university degrees deferring to farmer
less formal schooling, the accurate transmission of
would depend crucially on how articulate and precis
ers were in what they said. Since verbal precision is
versal, even among highly educated people, this wou
chancy way to gather information.
A n Overview
Agents
As a scarce resource, knowledge can be bough
various ways in a market economy. Thehiring of ag
tially the purchase of the agent’s knowledge to guid
decisions. Real estate agents commonly charge 6 p
sale price of a home and literary agents typically c
cent of a writer’s royalties. Whywould a writer surr
cent of his royalties, unless 85 percent of what the a
for him is worth more than 100 percent of what h
himself? And why would a publisher be willing to pa
agent than to a writer for the same manuscript? Si
would a home-owner accept 6 percent less for his
sold through a real estate agent, unless the agent co
a higher price or a quicker sale,both of which amoun
thing, since delay and its accompanying stresses are
the home-owner?
Let’s go back to a basic principle of economic
physical object does not necessarily have the same va
ent people. This applies to an author’s manuscript a
house, a painting or an autographfrom a rock star. W
agent knows is where a particular manuscript is like
greatest value. If it is a cookbook, the agent knows w
An Overview
ers and which editors have the knowledge and the conn
promote such a book in places that are very intereste
things-gourmet magazines, cooking programs on t
and the like. This cookbookwould be far more valuab
editors and publishers than to others who specialize i
ogy, social issues, or other subjects, or to editors who
edge of food does not extend much beyond hamburgers
chicken. Evenif an agent is not able to getany more mo
a given publisher than a writer could have gotten, th
knows which publishers are most likely to pay top d
given book, because that particular publisher can pro
more copies.
A real estate agent is similarly more knowledgeabl
average home-owner as to the channels through whic
home can be marketed most quickly and for the hig
price. Often there are little defects in the home that n
corrected, or cosmetic changes that need to be made,
house goes on the market. An agent who keeps up with
fashions in houses is not only more likely to know w
things are but also whether or to what extent money
grading the house will be recouped in a higher sale
whether it is better to sellthe house ”as is” as a bargain
per.” The agent is also more likely to be knowledge
which particular contractors are more reliable or more
in price for doing whatever repairs or remodelling are
as well as which financial institutions are best todeal w
buyer and seller of this particular house. Therefore,
house is likely tobring in more money when sold thro
estate agent, just as a writer’s manuscript is likely to s
through a literary agent.
Franchises
Knowledge is shared in both directions when hote
rants and other businesses are franchised. The knowled
by the chain that does the franchising is based on its e
with similar businesses in various locations around the
is also likelyto be more knowledgeable about where a
116 BASIC ECONOMICS
see what was being put into the meat it was buying
Sanders was notorious for showing up unexpectedly at
Fried Chicken restaurants. If he didn’t like the way th
were being cooked, he would dump them all into a ga
put on an apron, and proceed to cook some chickens h
demonstrate how he wanted it done. His proteg6 Dav
later followed similar practiceswhen he created his ow
Wendy’s hamburger stands. Although Colonel Sanders
Thomas couldnot be everywhere in a nationwide chai
franchise owner could take a chance on seeing his pro
thrown into a garbage can bythe head honcho of the ch
Quality control is of course even more important to
success with more expensiveproducts and services. The
of Linhof cameras-costing thousands of dollars each-
buy their lenses from the world’s leading optical com
also subject each individual lens put on one of their c
their own tests and standards, even though these lense
ready passed testsmade by the manufacturers. Linhof’s
are sufficiently morestringent that an identical makeand
lens on a Linhof camera sells for a higher price,both new
than the same lens sells for when bought independent
the lens is beingbought to beput on another camera, the
came off a Linhof brings a higher pricethan the identic
lens by the identical manufacturer that did not come fro
Behind all of this is the basic fact that a business is
only a physical product, but also the reputation which
that product. Motorists traveling in an unfamiliar p
country are more likely toturn into a hamburger stand
McDonald’s or Wendy’s sign on it than one that does
reputation translates into dollars and cents-or, in this
lions and billions of dollars. People with that kind of
stake are unlikely tobe very tolerant of anyone who w
promise their reputation. Ray Kroc, the founder of th
ald’s chain, would explode in anger if he found a M
parking lot littered.
When speaking of quality in this context, what ma
kind of quality that is relevant to the particular clien
served. Hamburgers and fried chicken may not be re
others as either gourmet food or health food, nor can
BASIC ECONOMICS
FORMS OF PAYMENT
PAY DIFFERENCES
INCOME “DISTRIBUTION”
JOB DISCRIMINATION
JOB SECURITY
”””“.””””
l so BASIC ECONOMICS
Unemployment
Because the government does not hire surplus labo
it buys surplus agricultural output, the labor surplus
form of unemployment, which tends to be higher un
mum wage laws than in a free market. Because peopl
many ways, those who are unemployed are not likely t
dom sample of the labor force. In country after count
the world, those whose employment prospects are redu
by minimum wage laws are those who are younger, le
enced, and less skilled. This same pattern has been foun
Zealand, France, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Uni
for example.
As in other cases, a "surplus" is a price phenomen
"shortages" are. Unemployed workers are not surp
sense of being useless orin the sense that there isno wo
that needs doing. Most of these workers are perfectly
producing goods and services, even if not to the same
more skilled workers. The unemployed are made idle
rates artificially set above the level of their productivity
idled in their youth, they are of course prevented from
the job skills and experience which could make them
ductive and higher earners later on.
Although most modern industrial societies have
wage laws, not all do. Switzerland and Hong Kong h
among the exceptions-and both have had very low u
ment rates, that in Hong Kong being as low as 1.5 perc
mum wage rates in Europe tend generally to beset high
154 BASIC ECONOMICS
Differential Impact
Some countries in Europe have lower minimum w
teenagers than for adults and New Zealand simply e
teenagers from the coverage of its minimum wage law u
This was tacit recognitionof the fact that those workers
mand were likely to behardest hit by unemployment c
minimum wage laws.
BASIC ECONOMICS
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Employer Organizations
In earlier centuries, it was the employers who w
likely tobe organized and setting pay andworking con
a group. In medieval guilds, the master craftsmen co
made the rules determining the conditions under whic
tices and journeymen would be hired and how much
160 BASIC ECONOMICS
Labor Unions
Labor unions often boastof the pay rate and other
have gotten for their members and of course that is
unions to continue to attract members. The wage rat
typically a key indicatorof a union’s success,but the f
cations of that wage rate seldom receive as much at
endary labor leader John L. Lewis, head of the U
Workers from 1925 to 1960, was enormously successf
higher pay for his union’s members. However, an ec
called him ”the world’s greatest oil salesman,” beca
Controlled Labor Markets
SPECULATION
INVENTORIES
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Present Value
Whether a home, business, orfarm is maintained
improved today determines how long it will last an
will operate, and therefore what it will be worth i
However, the owner does not have to wait to seethe
property’s value. These future returns are immedia
in the property’s preselzt value. The ”present value” of
fact nothing more than its anticipated future return
and discounted for the fact that they are delayed.
Conversely, if the city announces that it is go
building a sewage treatment plant next year, on a
next to your home, the value of your home will de
ately, before the adjoining land has been touched.
value of an asset reflects its future benefits or detrim
anything which is expectedto enhance or reduce tho
detriments will immediately affect the price at which
be sold today.
Investment and Speculation
Natural Resources
Present value profoundly affects the discovery and
ural resources. There may be enough oil underground
centuries, but its present value determines how mu
anyone to discover-and that may be no more than
last fora dozen or so years. A failure to understand this
nomic realityhas led to numerous false predictions tha
"running out" of petroleum, coal, orsome other natura
In 1960, for example, a best-selling book said that
States had only a 13-year supply of domestic petroleum
isting rate of usage. At that time, the known petroleum
of the United States were not quite 32 billion barrels. At
the 13 years, the known petroleum reserves of the Un
were more than 36 billion barrels. Yet the original sta
188 BASIC ECONOMICS
INSURANCE
Social Security
Another form of government program that has be
gized to insurance, and is in fact called insurance in th
Insurance Contributions Act," is Social Security. The
premiums deducted from paychecks for Social Securi
mediately spent upon their arrival in Washington-eithe
pensions to existing Social Security retirees or to pay
the many other government activities, fromfighting wa
ing the travel expenses of members of Congress on junk
The reason for the crisis atmosphere surrounding
cussions of how to "save" Social Security comes from th
F.I.C.A. premiums are not invested, like insurance prem
are spent. Therefore, future pensions for those curren
F.I.C.A. premiums will not be paid out of those prem
out of juttire F.I.C.A. premiums paid by people who ar
in the future-and from future general taxes, if and w
F.I.C.A. premiums are insufficient.
That iswhy there is such worry in Washington abo
of the next generation that will have to pay the pensi
current generation. So long as each successive gener
larger than the previous one, Social Security operate
fully like a pyramid scheme in its early phases, whe
new people are joining that their payments in can prov
return on the investment made by earlier members. In
when the relatively small generation born during the
being paid retirement pensions from the premiums rece
the larger postwar "baby boom" generation, they rece
far more than they paid in. However, with the prosp
206 BASIC ECONOMICS
Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or do without.
Prices are not the only things that change over tim
goods and services which make up the national o
change. The cars of 1950 are not the same as the cars o
2000. The older carsdid not have air-conditioning, sea
lock brakes, ormany other featuresthat have beenadde
years. So when we try to measure how much the produc
tomobiles has increased in real terms, a mere count of
cars there werein both time periods misses a huge qua
ference in what we are defining as being the same thing-
same istrue of housing as well. The average house at the
twentieth century was much larger, had more bathroom
far more likely to have air conditioningand other ame
houses that existed in the middle of that century. Jus
how many more houses there wereat both times does
how much the production of housing had increased.
While these are problems which can be left for pr
economists and statisticians to try to wrestle with, it is
for others to at least be aware of these problems, so a
misled by politicians or media pundits who throw
around for one purpose or another.
Over a period of generations, the goods and serv
constitute national output change so much that statis
parisons become practically meaningless, because the
220 BASIC ECONOMICS
INFLATION
DEFLATION
The Framework of L a w s
For fostering economic activitiesand the prosperit
from them,laws must be reliable, above all.If the law
the whims of kings or dictators, with changes in dem
elected governments, or with the caprices or corrup
pointed officials, then the risks surrounding investme
consequently the amount of investing is likely to b
purely economic considerations would produce in a m
omy under a reliable framework of laws.
One of the important advantages that enabled
century Britain to become the first industrialized nati
dependability of its laws. Not only could Britons feec
investing in their country’s economy,without fear that
ings would be confiscated or the contracts they made
240 BASIC ECONOMICS
Property Rights
One of the most misunderstood aspects of law and
property rights. While these rights are cherished as per
efits by thosefortunate enough to own substantial prop
matters from the standpoint of economics is how they
allocation of scarce resourceswhich have alternative u
242 BASIC ECONOMICS
Social Order
Order extends beyond laws. The honesty and rel
people themselves, and their sense of responsibility
tion also influence their economic prospects. Thes
vary greatly between one country and another. A
edgeable observerput it: ”Whileit is unimaginable
in China without paying bribes, to offer one in Japa
est fauxpas.”
During czarist Russia’sindustrialization in the la
and early twentieth centuries, one of its biggest ha
the widespread corruption within the general popu
dition to the corruption that was rampartwithin the
ernment. Foreign firms which hired Russian work
Russian executives made it a point not to hire Rus
tants. This corruption continued under the Commu
become an international scandal in the post-Commu
By contrast, some minority groups have such st
standards and social controls that they are able to
The Role of Government
KNOWLEDGE
Absolute Advantage
It is obvious why Americans buy bananas gro
Caribbean. It ismuch cheaper to grow bananas in the
in places where greenhouses and other artificial me
taining warmth would be necessary. In tropical coun
provides free the warmth that people have to prov
means in cooler climates.
This isjust one example of what economists call
vantage"-one country, for any of a number of reas
International Trade
Comparative Advantage
To illustrate what is meant by comparative advan
pose that one country is so efficient that it is capable of
anything more cheaply than another country. Shoul
countries trade?
Yes.
Why? Because, even in an extreme case where on
can produce anything more cheaply than another coun
do so to varying degrees. For example,it may be twice
at producing chairs but ten times as efficient at produc
sion sets. In this case, the total number of chairs and
sets produced in the two countries combined would be
one country produced all the chairs and the other pro
the television sets. Then they could trade with one an
each end up with more chairs and more television s
they each produced both products for themselves.
As economists would say, country A has an ”absol
tage” in producing both products but country B has a
tive advantage” in producing chairs while A has a ”co
advantage’’ in producing television sets.
Let’s look at this on a small, human scale. Imagin
are an eye surgeon and that you paid your way throu
by washing cars. Now that you have a car of your ow
you wash it yourself or should you hire someone els
it-even if your previous experience allows you to
more efficientlythan the person you hire?
Obviously, it makes no sense to you financially, o
in terms of over-all wellbeing, foryou to be spending
BASIC ECONOMICS
Economies of Scale
While absolute advantage and comparative adva
key reasons for benefits frominternational trade, the
International Trade
“p
284 BASIC ECONOMICS
KINDS OF TRANSFERS
Remittances
Emigrants working in foreign countries often s
money to their families to support them. During the n
and early twentieth centuries, Italian emigrant men we
larly noted for living in terrible conditions and even sk
food, in order to send money back totheir families in I
290 BASIC ECONOMICS
Imperialism
Genuine plunder of one nation or people by ano
all too common throughout human history. Alexan
looted the treasures of the conquered Persians. Sp
and silver by the ton from the conquered indigeno
the Western Hemisphere and forced some of them
dig up more. Julius Caesar was one of many Roman c
International
Transfers of Wealth
Foreign Aid
What is called ”foreign aid” are transfers of wealt
eign governmental organizations to the government
countries. The term “aid” assumes a priori that such tra
in fact aid the poorer countries’ economies to develo
cases it does, but in other cases foreignaid simply ena
isting politicians in power to enrich themselves throug
to dispense largess strategically to others who help to
in power. Becauseit is a transfer of wealth to governme
tinguished from investments in the private sector, for
encouraged many countries to set up government
prises that have failed.
Perhaps the most famous foreign aid program wa
shall Plan, which transferred wealth from the Unite
various countries in Western Europe after the end of
11. It was far more successful than later attempts to im
sending foreign aid to Third World countries. Wester
economic distress was caused by the devastations
Once the people were fed and the infrastructure rebui
Europe simply resumed the industrial way of life whic
achieved-indeed, pioneered-before. That was whol
from trying to create all the industrial skills that were
poorer, non-industrial nations.
Even massive and highly visible failures and coun
tive results from foreign aid have not stopped its co
and expansion. The vast sums of money dispensed by
agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and
Bank give the officials of these agencies enormous in
the governments of poorer countries, regardless of the
failure of the programs they suggest or impose as pre
294 BASIC ECONOMICS
"
"-
296 BASIC ECONOMICS
-
"
298 BASIC ECONOMICS
.S
306 BASIC ECONOMICS
SAVING LIVES
THE MARKET
”UNMET NEEDS”
WHAT IS “WASTE”?
"identical Products
I’
Brand Names
Brand names are another way of economizi
knowledge. When you drive into a town you have n
fore and want to get some gasoline for your car o
burger, youhave no direct way of knowing what is i
that some stranger at the filling station is putting int
what is in the hamburger that another stranger is co
to eat at a roadside stand that you have never seen
the filling station’s sign says Chevron and the res
says McDonald’s, then you don’t worry about it.
something terrible happens, you can sue a multi-
corporation. You know it, the corporation knows it,
dealer knows it. That is what reduces the likeliho
thing terrible will happen.
On the other hand, imagine if you pull into a no
station in some little town and the stranger there pu
Power
Purchasing
and Prices
VOLITIONAL PRICING
”PREDATORY” PRICING
PURCHASING POWER
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
2Nor were automobiles the only products for which this was so. Tou
have been scrutinized to make sure they were not bringing in computers a
tronic devices to sell while they were there, since such devices were cheap
when produced in many more industrial nations with higher wage rates. Th
irony in these bans on imports of computer products, since Indians in the Un
prominent as engineers and entrepreneurs in California’s silicon valley.
340 BASIC ECONOMICS
CHAPTER 4: AN OVERVIEW
Comparisons of bombing and rent control as means of
housing appear on pages 422 and 425 of an article by Walter
”Rent Control”in The Fortulze Encyclopedin of Ecommics, edite
Henderson. The economic problems of the rich ”black earth”
Russia are discussed in Frank Viviano, ”Russian Farmlan
Vine: Politics, Mind-set Keep Nation on a Dietof Imports,” S
Chronicle, October 19, 1998, p. A1 and in Andrew Higgins, ”F
Wall Street Journal, October 1998,pp. A1 ff. Thesteel manufac
equipment automatically shfted from oil to natural gas was
Steve Liesmanand Jacob M. Schlesinger, ”Blunted Spike: Th
Has Doubled This Year; So Where’s the Recession?” Wall St
December 13, 1999, where other fuel economy measuresare
See pages A1 ff. Former food-exporting countries which bec
to feed themselvesare mentioned in innumerable places, incl
ern Times by Paul Johnson, pages 724-727 of the 1992 edition.
ports of wheat underthe czarare shown onpage 62 of The T
bySoviet economists Nikolai Shmelev and Vladimir Po
painfully enlightening examination of the media’s inability
basic economic principles during the gasoline crises of the
their resulting susceptibility to irrational explanationsof wha
pening, see Thomas W. Hazlett, T V Coverage of the Oil Crise
Was the Public Serviced? (Washington: The Media Institute,19
CHAPTER 8: A N OVERVIEW
The historical information about Athe & P grocery chai
Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic G, Pacific Tea Company b
Walsh. Lenin’s estimate of how easy it was to run an en
from his bookThe State and Revolution, written on the eve of
vik revolution. His later changeof mind is from ”The Fli
come the Fuel Crisis,” ”The Role and Functions of Trade U
the New Economic Policy,” ”Five Years of the Russian R
”The Ninth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (B
quoted from the 1951 editionof Selected Works by V. I. Lenin
in Moscow by the Foreign Languages Publishing House. T
tion on the McDonald’s restaurant chain is fromFast Food
Jakle and Keith Sculle, pages 58 and 146-147, and Mast from
prise: From John Jacob Astor and J. P. Morgan to Bill Gates and Op
by H.W. Brands, published in 1999 by The Free Press
slightly more than men who did the same is from page
nomic Role of Women,” The Economic Report of the Presiden
ington, D.C.: US. Government Printing Office, 1973). The
between the earningsof women with and without chld
15 of a valuable compendiumof data on women in the
Wonzelz’s Figures, 1999 edition, written by Diana Furchtgo
Christine Stolba and published by the American Enterp
Washington think tank. Data on male predominance in w
deaths are from the same source, page 33. Data on
tal equipmentin the Soviet Union and in the United State
145-146 of The Turning Point by Nikolai Shmelev and V
internally contradictory claim that people are ”living be
has been madein remarkably numerous, including a boo
the Harvard University Press in 1981,America’s Struggle A
1900-1980 by James T. Patterson, page 42.
CHAPTER 18: A N O V E R V I E W
.
Sources
359
360 Index