CAPITALISM
1. The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution, Ayn Rand, 1971.
2. The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, Ludwig von Mises, 1956. Here is a copy of it at Mises.
3. The Naked Capitalist, Cleon Skousen, 1970.
4. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, 1776.
5. “The Anatomy of a Bank Run,” Murray Rothbard, 1985.
6. Competition and Entrepreneurship, Israel M. Kirzner, 1978.
7. Post-Capitalist Society, Peter F. Drucker, 1994.
8. The Roots of Capitalism, John Chamberlain, 1977.
9. Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, Michael Ruhlman, 2017. From Don Boudreaux’s Cafe Hayek
The great improvement in food retailing in America over the past few decades strongly suggests that the average American supermarket’s customers in 2017 – namely, average Americans – are substantially wealthier than were their counterparts of 40 or so years ago.
10. Books by Joseph Schumpeter. I liked his comment on whiteness, “[Whiteness] stands its trial before judges who have the death sentence in their pockets.” You’re already convicted of racism. All that’s left is that you confess.
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12. Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit, Frank Knight, 2014
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CORPORATIONS
1. In Defense of the Corporation, Robert Hessen, 1978.
2. The Myths of Antitrust: Economic Theories and Legal Cases, Dominick T. Armentano, 1972. The description at Amazon reads
Armentano tackles the myths head-on. He demonstrates that the accused corporations were not raising prices, reducing outputs, producing shoddy products, colluding with competitors, or driving rivals from the market through predatory practices. He exposes court decisions based on ideology and economic fantasy, judging antitrust cases instead on the basis of the actual economic performance of the accused companies. Outlining the operations of the free-market system, Armentano discusses the theoretical tools that economists employ to measure competition and monopoly. He examines the important sections of the antitrust laws, some rationalizations for government intervention, and two early antitrust cases. He then proceeds to an account of the role played by Standard Oil of New Jersey in the early petroleum industry, and the famous antitrust action against the Standard Oil Company
Dominick Armentano, who literally wrote the book against antitrust law (The Myths of Antitrust: Economic Theory and Legal Cases) emails:
Bob,
Tyler Cowen offers a sound and spirited defense of the corporate behavior of both Facebook and Google in this video (which was sent along by Robert Hessen, author of the classic “In Defense of the Corporation.” My only quibble is his failure to rebut the allegation by his opponent that the old Standard Oil Corporation was a “monopoly” and that the SC ordered divestiture in 1911 was good public policy. Aside from that, a quality performance and well worth watching.
Dom
The video to which Armentano refers is this one:
3. The Corporation and the Twentieth Century: The History of American Business Enterprise, Richard Langlois, 2023. Because of this post by Don Boudreaux. … is from page 8 of University of Connecticut economist Richard Langlois’s monumental forthcoming (2023) study, The Corporation and the Twentieth Century
4. “Corporations Can’t Oppress Us Without the State’s Help,” Zachary Yost, November 27, 2017.
5. “How the Progressives Conquered Corporate America,” Chris Calton, February 5, 2021.
6. “The Corporate Form, Limited Liability, and the State,” Edmond S. Bradley, December 24, 2007.
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READING LIST
1. on Competition & Production.
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