How to Create a Prosperous Society

"Through Nasar's ambitious storytelling, we see Western society evolve from one in which most people live in poverty to one in which government tries to grapple with unemployment and inflation and raise the standard of living for all."
Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times Book Review

This book promises to show us how economic understanding has led to increased prosperity for much of the world over the last 150 years. I started reading it about four years ago and stopped because it seemed like it was not going to keep that promise. Then I started reading it again about two years ago and gave up again.

Finally I started reading it once more a few months ago and read it all the way through and now I think it is one of the best and most important books I have ever read about creating a better society for all.

This book tells the life stories and great ideas of the greatest economists who have taught society how to succeed at producing and distributing greater wealth then older societies ever imagined possible. Syliva Nasar keeps the story very interesting while still teaching us a good deal about economics.

We learn about Beatrice Potter who had a stormy relationship with a powerful British Cabinet Minister who wanted a subservient woman so she married Sidney Webb instead and spent her life promoting the importance of government aid to the poor. We learn about Hayek who taught that governments should leave the economy alone but, in my opinion, went too far in that direction. We learn about Joan Robinson who was a brilliant economist but who fell for communist propaganda and went much too far in the direction opposite to Hayek, as she defended ruthless dictatorships. We learn about Keynes who taught governments how to manage recessions and we meet Amartya Sen who studies "third world" poverty today.

I think the most important thing we learn from this book is that we have to be both smart and moderate in our economic policies. Governments need to promote free and competitive markets while also providing vital infrastructure like stable currencies, roads, schools, electrical power, communications, public health services, law enforcement, court systems, etc.

Governments also have to referee between various economic actors. They have to find the delicate balance that will allow them to promote the well-being of business without hurting the poor while they simultaneously promote the well-being of workers without making it impossible for business to succeed.

To have good and successful lives in a good and prosperous society it is all about being smart and not going to any extreme, either on the left or the right. This book can help us find the path.

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Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Wayne Gadway