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Freedom Book of the Month for June, 2003:
"Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know about Economics and the Environment"
by Richard L Stroup
Cato Institute 2003, paper, 91 pp.
Once a teacher, always a teacher, I suppose. I used to be a teacher, and the quest for high-quality textbooks was neverending. I'm still questing for good teaching materials, but the focus has shifted from collegiate-level psychology to the freedom philosophy. Reaching new minds is as important as informing ones already committed to liberty. Thus, it's great to feature another book that accomplishes both tasks.
Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know about Economics and the Environment is a free-market environmentalism gem. In just four chapters and spanning around 90 pages of text, Richard Stroup makes a clear case for why the free market is a better solution for environmental problems than state-based coercion. Despite the thinness of the tome, and the jargon-free writing style, Eco-nomics is packed with information and insights that will inform many. From environmental and/or libertarian neophyte to educated lay person, Stroup offers observations and perspectives that will have readers thinking long after they finish the book.
Each chapter is organized around ten questions or statements that to some degree reflect commonly-held perceptions about environmental issues. Starting with scarcity, and progressing through rights and coercion, and concluding with choosing, Stroup's four chapters offer a sound introduction to free-market environmentalism. Not only does he avoid academic jargon, Stroup stays away from terminology that can be threatening to collectivist-environmentalists. The result is a book that is easy to read and understand, and can be given to "greenies" without undue fears that one's money will be poorly spent. It's appropriate for a wide age range as well.
Does Eco-nomics cover everything? No, of course not -- the precautionary principle isn't even mentioned, for example (and the book doesn't suffer a bit for its absence). However, examples of principles, problems, and unintended consequences of choices abound, adding texture to the ideas Stroup presents. He supplements his narrative with references to other works, any of which would be a good choice to continue one's education in economic and/or environmental issues.
Despite the lack of today's environmental catch-phrases, it cannot be said that Eco-nomics lacks breadth and sufficient depth. As a book with a single purpose -- to outline "what everyone should know about economics and the environment" -- Eco-nomics meets that purpose, as well as others. This is a book that can be used to help turn resources away from failed "public" solutions to environmental problems, and toward a variety of market-based solutions. With a price of under $15 including shipping, Eco-nomics ought not be a scarce commodity in our efforts to teach others about the compatibility of economics and the environment.
Order Eco-nomics from Amazon.com, $9.95
More book information for June 2003
edited by Sunni Maravillosa May 2003: The Worm in the Apple by Peter Brimelow
April 2003: Shattered Dreams by NCPPR staff
March 2003: The Rule of Lawyers by Walter K. Olson
February 2003: Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths, edited by Ronald Bailey
Freedom Book of the Year 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
December 2002: Blood of the Roses, by Alex Gabbard
November 2002: The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, by Ludwig von Mises
October 2002: The Haunted Air, by F. Paul Wilson
September 2002: Lead Astray and Out of Bounds, Out of Control by Peter Samuel and James V. DeLong respectively
August 2002: Boston's Gun Bible II by Boston T. Party
July 2002: Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
June 2002: Net Assets by Carl Bussjaeger
May 2002: The Ballad of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz
April 2002: Toward Liberty: The Idea that is Changing the World edited by David Boaz
March 2002: Liberty for Women edited by Wendy McElroy
February 2002: The State vs. the People by Aaron Zelman and Claire Wolfe
Freedom Book of the Year, 2001: Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith
January 2002: Death by Gun Control by Aaron Zelman and Richard W. Stevens
December 2001: The American Zone by L. Neil Smith
November 2001: Ayn Rand and Business by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni
October 2001: Junk Science Judo by Steven J. Milloy
September 2001: Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland
August 2001: Hope by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
July 2001: Dissenting Electorate edited by Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner
June 2001: Tethered Citizens by Sheldon Richman
May 2001: Lever Action by L. Neil Smith
April 2001: The Cato Handbook for Congress from the Cato Institute
March 2001: The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand by David Kelley
February 2001: Crypto by Steven Levy
January 2001: Total Freedom by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
Freedom Book of the Year 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
December 2000: The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto
November 2000: Escape from Leviathan by J.C. Lester
October 2000: The Art of Political War by David Horowitz
September 2000: An Enemy of the State by Justin Raimondo
August 2000: The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell
July 2000: A Generation Divided by Rebecca Klatch
June 2000: Law's Order by David Friedman
May 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
April 2000: Reciprocia by Richard G. Rieben
March 2000: The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand
February 2000: Addiction is a Choice by Jeffrey A. Schaler
January 2000: Revolutionary Language by David C. Calderwood
Special December 1999 Feature: The Freedom Book of the Year: Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998 by Vin Suprynowicz
November 1999: Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
October 1999: A Way To Be Free by Robert LeFevre, edited by Wendy McElroy
September 1999: Assassins (Left Behind) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
August 1999: Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet): 101 More Ways to Salvage Freedom by Claire Wolfe
July 1999: The Mitzvah by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
June 1999: The Incredible Bread Machine by R.W. Grant
May 1999: Send in the Waco Killers by Vin Suprynowicz
April 1999: It Still Begins with Ayn Rand by Jerome Tuccille
March 1999: The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics by Fred Foldvary
February 1999: Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand edited by Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra
In December 2004 this page was modified significantly from its original form for archiving purposes. , founded in 1995, is now a part of ISIL.
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