ONE OF THE FEW TRULY GREAT ECONOMISTS:
CLAUDE FREDERIC BASTIAT
Donald Anderson - November 7, 2015 - Amazon.com
I had previously read a number of Bastiat’s wonderful essays and so when I saw this huge collection put together by Mark Thornton, I had to take it on. It took me a long time to read as I kept going back to appreciate his wonderful style of exposition and his many novel descriptions. These early translations of Bastiat’s work are extremely well done and convey the master’s clarity and simplicity of expression.
Bastiat corrects the great economists who preceded him in a very gentle but decisive manner, giving them credit for the correct portions of their theory. He was truly the successor of Adam Smith and Jean-Baptiste Say. It is sad that we were deprived of this towering intellect at the age of forty-nine.
He is less generous with the socialists and communists who he demonstrates to be little would-be dictators. They conceal their vapid ideas behind glowing generalities and want to employ the state to force their dangerous mind-farts on their fellow humans.
R. Adams in his Amazon review reproduces the extensive table of contents. There you can see the many very serious topics that this amazing man covered in a writing career of only about eight years.
It is very difficult to choose which essays are the most important. The twenty-five essays in the two books on the “Harmonies of Political Economy” made the most impression on me. No other economist has delved so deeply into the nature of man and the manner in which his many characteristics complement each other. Exchange, capital, competition, responsibility, solidarity, evil, and perfectibility, complement each other in surprising ways to generate an economically positive result.
Reflecting on just one human trait, responsibility, it is sad to see modern government undermining this characteristic by trying to relieve individuals of the consequences of their actions. In doing so, the state weakens the individual actions necessary for the most positive economic results.
All these essays constitute a “must read” for anyone serious about economics. In fact if you read only three economists, I would suggest Frederic Bastiat, Ludwig von Mises, and Jean-Baptiste Say.
The Bastiat Collection
A gigantic collection of Bastiat’s greatest works in a single edition
Claude Frederic Bastiat
Mark Thornton (Editor, Introduction)
• Kindle: 1582 KB
• Print Length: 1065 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 161016205
• Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute (April 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004WLPUQM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Word Wise: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,118 paid in Kindle Store
http://www.amazon.com/Bastiat-Collection-LvMI-Frederic-ebook/dp/B004WLPUQM/
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