Economics and Welfare

The books listed here deal with issues such as capitalism;  socialism;  the welfare state;  poverty and wealth;  the Third World and development;  economics and ethics;  economic history;  economics and culture;  political economy;  and related issues.  Their unifying characteristic is of course the conservative perspective each book represents.  A number of different types of conservative economic thought are featured:  the Austrian School;  the Chicago School;  Supply-Siders;  Monetarists;  Public Choice Theorists;  Anarcho-Capitalists;  etc.  For books on the "gloom and doom-ists" who predict economic and environmental collapse, see Section Ten.

Anderson, Martin, Welfare:  The Political Economy of Welfare Reform in the United States.  Stanford, California:  Hoover Institution Press, 1978.  251pp.

What major changes are needed in welfare reform?  Why have most attempts at change failed?  Is change possible?  In this valuable work Anderson deals with such questions, drawing on his expertise in the field of economics and his experience in the White House under Nixon and Ford.  Anderson concludes that radical welfare reform is politically impossible.  Although over a decade old, this is still one of the most scholarly and detailed studies available on the welfare debate.

Baldacchino, Joseph, Economics and the Moral Order.  Washington, DC:  National Humanities Institute, 1985.  43pp.

Over against those who hold that economic liberty is a virtue in and of itself, the author argues that an economy must be undergirded by a strong moral order, both for its justification and its preservation.  Economic systems, especially capitalism, which are indifferent to morality will not long survive.  The free market must be defended in terms of ethics as much as it is in terms of efficiency.  A brief but cogent study.

Ballve, Faustino, Essentials of Economics:  A Brief Survey of Principles and Policies.  Irvington-On-Hudson, New York:  The Foundation For Economic Education, 1956, 1963.  109pp.

Ballve, a Spanish born economist who died in Mexico in 1958, here presents a brief and readable survey of basic economic history and principles.  A helpful guide to the ideas, leading men and movements, and practice of economic science, by a qualified student of the discipline.

Bastiat, Frederic, The Law.  Irvington-On-Hudson, New York:  The Foundation For Economic Education, 1950, 1984.  75pp.

Bastiat (d. 1850), was a French economist and statesman.  This volume, first published in 1850, is a brief defence of law as a means to protect property and freedom.  Socialism, argues Bastiat, is "legal plunder".  The proper aim of government is to prevent such plunder.  A spirited defence of liberty and a powerful critique of socialism.

Bauer, P.T., Dissent on Development:  Studies and Debates in Development Economics.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Harvard University Press, 1972.  550pp.

This book, by a leading economist on development and Third World issues, covers a number of subjects:  poverty, development, foreign aid, colonialism, imperialism, Marxism in the Third World, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and a number of case studies:  Nigeria, India, etc.  A wide-ranging, detailed and convincingly argued volume.  A very fine book.

Bauer, P.T., Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Harvard University Press, 1981.  293pp.

This is an excellent collection of essays critiquing foreign aid;  dependency theories;  Marxist economics;  and Western guilt manipulators.  Destroys the myth that capitalist nations thrive by exploiting Third World nations.  Bauer's arguments are scholarly, lucid, fact-filled and devastating.  This is fascinating and essential reading.  My highest recommendations.  Bauer is Professor of Economics Emeritus at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bauer, P.T., Reality and Rhetoric:  Studies in the Economics of Development.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Harvard University Press, 1984.  184pp.

The majority of essays in this volume have appeared before in journals and periodicals.  Subjects discussed include:  foreign aid;  development;  Third World economies;  income redistribution;  and market versus planned economies.  An important and stimulating collection of essays by an outstanding economist and observer of Third World development.

Beisner, E. Calvin, Prosperity and Poverty:  The Compassionate Use of Resources in a World of Scarcity.  Westchester, Illinois:  Crossway Books, 1988.  304pp.

Combining a good grounding in economics with sound knowledge of biblical principles, Beisner deals with a number of issues from a Christian perspective:  the nature, causes and alleviation of poverty;  the creation of wealth;  the effects of economic regulation;  the relationship between justice and equality;  and how churches can best help the poor.  A good synthesis of biblical data and economic principles.  Beisner is a specialist in economic ethics.

Bell, Daniel, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.  New York:  Basic Books, 1976.  301pp.

Bell, a Jewish socialist, is only partly conservative:  "I'm a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture".  But this work is important enough to warrant its inclusion.  In it Bell argues that the Protestant ethic which helped to give rise to modern capitalistic society, has been replaced by materialism and hedonism.  Modernism is now exhausted, and Western bourgeois culture is in crisis.  This crisis is in large measure a spiritual one, in need of a religious solution.  An important critique of contemporary culture.  Bell teaches sociology at Harvard University.

Belloc, Hilaire, The Servile State.  Indianapolis:  Liberty Classics, 1977.  207pp.

Belloc (1870-1953) was a British historian, poet, novelist, and Roman Catholic apologist.  Along with G.K. Chesterton, he was a proponent of Distributism, a kind of agrarian libertarianism.  This book, his most important defence of private property and the minimal state, originally appeared in 1912.

Bennett, James T. and Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Destroying Democracy:  How Government Funds Partisan Politics.  Washington, DC:  Cato Institute, 1985.  561pp.

That public interest groups push their agendas in a democratic society is no problem.  That they should do so with taxpayers' dollars is a problem.  The authors document how "Federal, state, and local governments give hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars each year to organizations that use the money for political advocacy ... Given a choice, many taxpayers would not support the political agendas of these recipients of government largesse".  An important exposé of how many left-wing groups are being subsidized by Washington.

Berger, Peter L., The Capitalist Revolution:  Fifty Propositions About Prosperity, Equality and Liberty.  New York:  Basic Books, 1986.  262pp.

Berger is a professor at Boston University, and another intellectual who has moved to the right during the past several decades.  In this volume Berger argues that capitalism, with all its faults, is empirically superior to all other economic systems in raising the standard of living of the masses, while maintaining basic human freedoms.  He argues that many of the defects attributed to capitalism are in fact the products of modernization and industrialization.  Loaded with deep insight, wide-ranging knowledge and empirical fact, this is an excellent volume.  If you can read only one book on capitalism, read this one.

Berger, Peter and Michael Novak, Speaking to the Third World:  Essays on Democracy and Development.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1985.  59pp.

What are the obstacles to economic growth and the development of democracy in many Third World nations?  Novak and Berger dispel many of the prevailing myths surrounding this question in these valuable essays.  Fundamental to economic development and human rights, argue the authors, are certain moral and cultural values and attitudes, such as the dignity of persons, the importance of families, and the place of voluntary associations.  Thus the authors challenge the idea that Third World poverty and injustice are the results of western imperialism and exploitation.  A well-informed and incisive book.

Bernbaum, John A., ed., Economic Justice and the State:  A Debate Between Ronald H. Nash and Eric H. Beversluis.  Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Baker Book House, 1986.  79pp.

This book puts together in one volume a debate carried on over several years in several periodicals.  Nash, a professor of philosophy and religion at Western Kentucky University, argues that a biblical understanding of justice precludes government intervention in the economy, while Beversluis, an economics professor, contends that it does not.  Nash has written a number of works in defence of the free enterprise system (see below).

Bohm-Bawerk, Eugen von, The Exploitation Theory of Socialism-Communism.  South Holland, Illinois:  Libertarian Press, 1960;  Third (Revised) Edition, 1975.  159pp.

Bohm-Bawerk (1851-1914), a leader of the Austrian school of economics, was the teacher of both von Mises and Schumpeter, two leading economists of this century.  This work is an extract from volume one of his monumental three-volume work, Capital and Interest, first published in 1884.  Since most of us will never read the original 1,248 page work, we can be grateful that this smaller excerpt -- one of its key sections -- has been separately published.  It is a thorough and forceful refutation of the Marxian theory of value.

Braudel, Fernand, Civilization and Capitalism:  15th-18th Century.  3 vols.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1981, 1982, 1984.  Vol. 1:  623pp;  vol. 2:  670pp;  vol. 3:  699pp.

Originally published in France in 1979, this important work presents a social and economic history of the world from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution.  Volume one looks at the "Structures of Everyday Life" -- diet, clothing, transport, technology, towns and cities;  volume two, "The Wheels of Commerce", compares "the market economy and the higher activity of capitalism";  and volume three, "The Perspective of the World", is a "chronological study of the forms and successive preponderant tendencies of the international economy", A monumental undertaking, brilliantly executed.  Braudel has taught history at numerous universities throughout the world.

Brookes, Warren T., The Economy In Mind.  New York:  Universe Books, 1982.  240pp.

An enthusiastic defence of supply-side economics by an economic columnist for the Boston Herald.  Brookes argues that the primary elements in the production of wealth are metaphysical rather than material.  They include creativity, imagination, innovation and risk-taking.  This book is loaded with good insights, hard facts, and helpful proposals.  A very good volume.

Brown, Susan Love, et. al., The Incredible Bread Machine.  San Diego:  World Research, Inc., 1974.  192pp.

In this volume six young scholars clearly and entertainingly present the case for capitalism, and the case against interventionism.  Topics discussed include:  price controls, minimum wage laws, labour unions, anti-trust and monopoly, the "robber barons", protectionism, money and the gold standard, inflation, and the Great Depression.  A witty and palatable vindication of free enterprise.

Browning, Bob, The Network:  A Guide to Anti-Business Pressure Groups.  Melbourne:  Canonbury Press, 1990.  266pp.

Browning, a public affairs consultant, here provides a detailed critique of Australian "public interest" groups -- groups such as the environmentalists, consumerists and other single issue lobbyists.  He shows how these organizations use public interest issues to "harness state power for social engineering, which simultaneously advances their special class interest in Big Government".  A careful look at the history, philosophy, government patronage and hidden agendas of a number of groups rightly described elsewhere as "coercive utopians."

Brunner, Karl, ed., The First World and the Third World:  Essays on the New International Economic Order.  Rochester:  University of Rochester Policy Center Publications, 1978.  272pp.

This book contains 11 essays critiquing proposals for a New International Economic Order, and discussing First World and Third World relationships.  Contributing are Brunner, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, P.T. Bauer, Basil S. Yamey, Harry G. Johnson, and Rachel McCulloch.  A lucid and penetrating set of essays, many of which were previously published.

Buchanan, James M., Reagonomics and After.  London:  Institute of Economic Affairs, 1989.  114pp.

On 8 December 1988 the Cato Institute of Washington DC and the IEA co-sponsored a conference in London on the theme of Reaganomics.  Top British and American economists presented papers on the Reagan years and their effect.  Participants included Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts, Patrick Minford and Irwin Stelzer.  An incisive evaluation of the economic policies of Reagan and Thatcher.

Buchanan, James M., What Should Economists Do?  Indianapolis:  Liberty Press, 1979.  292pp.

In 1986 Buchanan won the Nobel Prize in Economics, making him the fourth free market economist to have done so recently, along with Stigler (1982), Friedman (1976), and Hayek (1974).  In this volume there are a number of essays by Buchanan on economics in general, and the theory of public choice in particular.  Intriguing writings by a leading economist at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Butler, Eamonn, Milton Friedman:  A Guide to His Economic Thought.  New York:  Universe Books, 1985.  272pp.

Butler, Director of the Adam Smith Institute, here provides a thorough and understandable analysis of Friedman's economic thinking.  Friedman's theories on inflation, the money supply, unemployment, price controls and related topics are covered, along with critiques made of his theories.  A helpful explanation of the major themes in Friedman's writings.

Butler, Stuart and Anna Kondratas, Out of the Poverty Trap.  New York:  The Free Press, 1987.  264pp.

Conservatives have long written about the shortcomings of the welfare state.  Their critiques have often been mainly negative in nature however.  This volume is a positive approach to welfare policy, providing constructive proposals for change.  The authors, authorities in the field of domestic policy, offer workable and sensible solutions to the problems of poverty and welfare dependency.  A fine example of the practicality and viability of free market economics.

Carson, Clarence B., Basic Economics.  Wadley, Alabama:  American Textbook Committee, 1988.  390pp.

In this non-technical introductory textbook Carson deals with all the basic components of economics:  property, money, the market and prices, competition and monopoly, the elements of production, the distribution of wealth, and international trade.  Major politico-economic systems are also examined:  feudalism, mercantilism, free enterprise, capitalism, welfarism, and communism.  A helpful introduction to economics written from a free market perspective.

Carson, Clarence B., Organized Against Whom?:  The Labour Union in America.  Alexandria, Virginia:  Western Goals, 1983.  112pp.

This is a detailed study of the history, practices and goals of American labour unions.  Carson charges that unions are more harmful than helpful to American workers, and that a free market for labour is beneficial to the worker and consumer alike.  A forceful indictment of union privilege and government interventionism.  Carson has taught American history for a number of years.

Carson, Clarence B., The War on the Poor.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1969.  283pp.

This is a forceful condemnation of the welfare state.  The poor are those who are most harmed by many anti-poverty programs, argues Carson.  The poor can only be lifted out of poverty by economic growth and productivity which can only occur when government interference is kept at a minimum.  Confiscatory taxation deprives workers of the fruit of their labour, thus taking away their motivation to produce.  Therefore redistributionism as a means to help the poor is doomed to failure.

Catherwood, H.F.R., The Christian in Industrial Society.  London:  Tyndale Press, 1964, 1980.  188pp.

This is an important book on the Christian role in the work place, with helpful chapters on labour unions, corporate power, big business, fair trade, just wages, employer/employee relationships, and much more.  An informative and practical volume on how Christian principles can operate in the industrial world.  Includes a perceptive Appendix assessing the Weber-Tawney Thesis.  Catherwood is a respected British industrialist, turned public servant and trade ambassador.

Chafuen, Alejandro A., Christians For Freedom:  Late-Scholastic Economics.  San Francisco:  Ignatius Press, 1986.  207pp.

"The major objective of this thesis is to study the contributions of Roman Catholic writers to the understanding and furtherance of the free society, especially in the field of economics".  The result of this study "suggests that modern free-market authors owe the Scholastics more than they imagine".  The views of Aquinas, Sylvestre, Gerson, Summenhart, Vitoria, Soto and others on subjects like private property, money theory, profits, wages and distributive justice are carefully examined.  Chafuen shows that these thinkers were generally more supportive of the free market than are modern-day Catholic thinkers.  An important study by an Argentine economist.

Chamberlain, John, The Enterprising Americans:  A Business History of the United States.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1961, 1962, 1963.  282pp.

This is an informative and fascinating history of capitalism and capitalists in the United States.  Personalities such as Eli Whitney, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Frank Woolworth, and companies such as Standard Oil, Ford Motor Co., Westinghouse Electric, AT&T, and General Motors are among the topics covered.  An important work on the contributions and achievements of American capitalism.

Chamberlain, John, The Roots of Capitalism.  Princeton, New Jersey:  D. Van Nostrand Co., 1959, revised edition, 1965.  222pp.

In this volume Chamberlain surveys the historical development of capitalism in America.  He defends the efficacy and morality of capitalism, while critiquing the weaknesses of centrally planned economies.  A helpful work on the hows and whys of the growth and successes of capitalism in America.  Chamberlain has taught journalism at Columbia University.

Chilton, David, Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators.  Tyler, Texas:  Institute for Christian Economics, 1981, Third Revised Edition, 1985.  439pp.

This is a full-length, spirited response to liberal economics in general, and to leftist Christian Ronald Sider's book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in particular.  This book is a frontal assault on all those who feel that socialism, interventionism, and liberation theology are the Christian option for helping the poor and establishing justice.  Chilton is part of the Theonomy, or Christian Reconstruction, movement, which seeks to apply Old Testament law to current social problems.

Clouse, Robert G., ed., Wealth and Poverty:  Four Christian Views on Economics.  Downers Grove, Illinois:  Inter Varsity, 1984.  228pp.

This book features the presentation of four views on economics, each of which is responded to by the other three.  Gary North's article and his responses to the other positions comprise the conservative voice in this collection.  North does a more than adequate job of defending free market capitalism, although some may feel that his economics is better than his theology.  A helpful debate.

Cornuelle, Richard, Healing America.  New York:  G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1983.  208pp.

This volume offers an explanation for America's continuing economic crisis.  It evaluates the Keynesian approach to U.S. economics, and traces its harmful effects.  It calls for the expansion of the independent sector (non-governmental, non-commercial) as the means of healing America.  A helpful and challenging work.

Cowen, Tyler, ed., The Theory of Market Failure:  A Critical Examination.  Fairfax, Virginia:  George Mason University Press, 1988.  384pp.

In this collection of articles on market failure -- the supposed failure of the market in providing public goods -- several defenders of this theory (e.g. Paul Samuelson), and challengers to it (e.g. Harold Demetz and James Buchanan) are featured, and a number of case studies of private (market) provision of public goods (e.g. municipal services, education, wildlife management) are presented.  An important set of articles rebutting arguments of market failure and government intervention.

Cromartie, Michael, ed., Gaining Ground:  New Approaches to Poverty and Dependency.  Washington, DC:  Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1985.  79pp.

This collection of essays deals with U.S. social programs and the problem of poverty.  Why the lack of progress despite such massive outlays in welfare and poverty programs?  These essays address this question, and provide alternate proposals for helping the poor without creating dependency.  The five authors are Peter Berger, Charles Murray, Glenn Loury, Michael Novak and Robert Royal.  A helpful and challenging set of essays.

Crozier, Brian and Arthur Seldon, Socialism:  The Grand Delusion.  New York:  Universe Books, 1986.  208pp.

In the first section of this book socialism as a theory and social system is examined and critiqued.  Next, the main exponents of socialism -- Owen, Saint-Simon, Marx, etc. -- are discussed.  Thirdly, Soviet, Eastern European and Third World varieties of socialism are assessed.  The authors demonstrate the bankruptcy of socialism, and show how it inevitably results in numbing bureaucracy, economic inefficiency and loss of freedom.

Davis, John Jefferson, Your Wealth in God's World:  Does the Bible Support the Free Market?  Phillipsburg, New Jersey:  Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1984.  134pp.

A spirited and informed analysis of capitalism from an evangelical perspective.  Davis shows how capitalism is both morally and practically superior to socialism, and he demonstrates how capitalism's principles can be found in biblical truth.  Davis is Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary near Boston.

Duncan, Tim and John Fogarty, Australia and Argentina:  On Parallel Paths.  Melbourne:  Melbourne University Press, 1984.  203pp.

Although some changes have taken place since 1984 (when this book was published), Australia may well find itself still on the road to becoming a banana republic.  This volume traces the similarities between Argentina and Australia in their economic development (or demise).  Argentina, once a prosperous nation before the war, has now become a banana republic through economic and political mismanagement.  The same fate seems to be in store for Australia, unless major changes are implemented.  An important volume.  The authors are both specialists in the political and economic history of Argentina.  Duncan has been a journalist with The Bulletin and Business Review Weekly, and Fogarty is a former teacher in economic history at the University of Melbourne.

Friedman, Milton, Bright Promises, Dismal Performance:  An Economist's Protest.  New York:  Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972, 1975, 1983.  393pp.

This is a collection of articles Friedman wrote between 1968 and 1982.  Subjects covered include:  taxation;  the energy crisis;  protectionism;  inflation;  welfare;  corporations;  and monetary policy.  Friedman won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1976, and is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.

Friedman, Milton, Capitalism and Freedom.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1962.  202pp.

Friedman has written here a trenchant and valuable defence of capitalism.  He examines the important relationship between capitalism and freedom, and argues that economic freedom is a necessary condition for political freedom.  An excellent treatise on political economy.

Friedman, Milton and Rose Friedman, Free To Choose.  New York:  Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.  338pp.

This volume further explores the inter-relationships between economic, political and personal freedom.  The Friedmans argue forcefully for the free market, as they discuss the American school system, the tax system, labour unions, consumer protection, government subsidization, inflation and welfarism.  A witty, convincing, and educated treatise.

Friedman, Milton and Anna Jacobson Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960.  Princeton, New Jersey:  Princeton University Press, 1963.  860pp.

"This book is about the stock of money in the United States.  It traces changes in the stock of money for nearly a century, from just after the Civil War to 1960, examines the factors that accounted for the changes, and analyzes the reflex influence that the stock of money exerted on the course of events".  A massive and scholarly undertaking, crammed full of charts, facts, figures, statistics and notes.

Gilder, George, Microcosm:  The Quantum Revolution in Economics and Technology.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1989.  426pp.

"The central event of the twentieth century is the overthrow of matter.  In technology, economics and the politics of nations, wealth in the form of physcial resources is steadily declining in value and significance.  The powers of mind are everywhere ascendant over the brute force of things".  Gilder demonstrates how ideas and technologies, not land and resources, are the key to international ascendancy.

Gilder, George, The Spirit of Enterprise.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1984.  274pp.

The thesis of this book is that economic growth is fundamentally the product of creative and inventive entrepreneurs.  To illustrate this point, Gilder presents a number of case studies:  examples of individual entrepreneurs who have successfully and profoundly impacted their own lives and the economies they live in.  Gilder is the author of a number of works on economics and social issues.

Gilder, George, Wealth and Poverty.  New York:  Basic Books, 1981.  365pp.

This is one of the most influential and important works written in favour of capitalism in the past decade.  It is a forceful and learned treatise on free market economics.  Both a shattering critique of liberal economics and a major defence of the capitalist system, Wealth and Poverty is a book no one should ignore.  A masterful and eloquent work.

Grant, George, Bringing in the Sheaves:  Transforming Poverty into Productivity.  Atlanta, Georgia:  American Vision Press, 1985.  250pp.

America's welfare system is an abject failure, argues Grant.  Christians have a responsibility to help the poor, but must they support inept government programs?  No, claims Grant.  Churches, voluntary societies and families can play a key role in relieving poverty by promoting productivity.  This is not mere theory, as Grant and the evangelical church he pastors in Houston are actively involved in helping the poor.  A practical book showing how Christians can work for economic justice in a very concrete fashion.

Grant, George, The Dispossessed:  Homelessness in America.  Westchester, Illinois:  Crossway Books, 1986.  283pp.

As a pastor, president of a crisis pregnancy centre, and president of a charitable relief organization, Grant is ably qualified to give practical and biblical answers to the problems of poverty and homelessness.  A number of issues are carefully dealt with in this volume:  mental illness;  housing regulation;  transiency, unemployment, alcoholism;  and the farm crisis.  Also, workable and biblically-based solutions are put forth.  A fine example of evangelical social action.

Grant, George, In the Shadow of Plenty.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson, 1986.  188pp.

This volume seeks to lay out a biblical view of key economic issues such as welfare, poverty and world hunger.  A critique of current liberal programs, as well as practical proposals for alternative courses of action.  This is volume four of the Biblical Blueprints Series.

Gray, John, Limited Government:  A Positive Agenda.  London:  Institute of Economic Affairs, 1989.  84pp.

"The argument for limited government and for the market economy is not in the end an economic argument.  It is an ethical argument -- the argument that, in the conditions of a modern society, only market institutions can give practical realization to the values of liberty and human dignity".  Gray examines the functions and limits of government and sets out a moral and economic philosophy for limited government.  An important defence of political and individual liberty by a teacher of politics at Oxford University.

Griffiths, Brian, The Creation of Wealth:  A Christian's Case for Capitalism.  Downers Grove, Illinois:  Inter Varsity Press, 1984.  160pp.

Griffiths offers a moral and ideological defence of capitalism.  He argues that it is in fact more compatible with biblical ideals than is socialism, and that capitalism is the best means of reducing poverty in the world.  Griffiths is an English evangelical and a noted international economist.

Griffiths, Brian, Morality and the Marketplace.  London:  Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.  160pp.

In this earlier work by Griffiths, both capitalism and socialism are critiqued from the Christian standpoint.  While he finds weaknesses in both positions, Griffiths opts for a "Christianized" capitalism as the most moral and beneficial economic system.

Gutman, G.O., Retreat of the Dodo:  Australian Problems and Prospects in the 80s.  Canberra:  Brian Clouston, 1982.  195pp.

Mediocrity and stagnation describe Australian social and economic progress in the 1960s and 1970s, argues Gutman.  Hope for change in the 1980s and 1990s can only come if major institutional reform takes place.  If problems such as protectionism and industrial strife are tackled;  and if Australia comes to terms with Japan, accepts new technology and reforms its educational system, then it may be able to compete effectively in the modern world.  A challenging and optimistic blueprint for change.  The author is a head of an economic consultant firm.

Gwartney, James D., Richard Stroup and J.R. Clark, Essentials of Economics.  Second edition.  New York:  Academic Press, 1985.  485pp.

This is one of the few college textbooks on economics that comes from a decidedly conservative -- that is, pro-free enterprise -- perspective.  This book, states the authors, "attempts to teach students the economic way of thinking rather than merely acquaint them with a large collection of fact and fiction about economics".  It is "one of a very few texts that teaches students the basics of political economy and uses this knowledge to explain the choice process in the public sector".  A very helpful and easy to use textbook.

H.R. Nicholls Society, Arbitration In Contempt.  Melbourne:  H.R. Nicholls Society, 1986.  347pp.

This volume contains the proceedings of the inaugural meetings of the H.R. Nicholls Society held in Melbourne in February and March of 1986.  Wage fixing tribunals, labour unions, the Arbitration Commission, regulation and deregulation, employment, and related issues are the focus of the book.  Participants include Hugh Morgan, John Kerr, Gerard Henderson, Peter Costello, John Stone and eight others.  A good collection of essays on economics, arbitration and trade unionism in Australia.

Harrison, Lawrence E., Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind:  The Latin American Case.  Lanham, Maryland:  Madison Books, 1985.  192pp.

Harrison claims that culture, "more than any other factor, explains why some countries grow faster and more equitably than others".  In Latin America, the major focus of this study, one finds "a cultural pattern, derivative of traditional Hispanic culture, that is anti-democratic, anti-social, anti-progress, anti-entrepreneurial, and, at least among the elite, anti-work".  These factors, and not Western imperialism, provide the best explanation for Latin America's economic malaise.  An excellent volume, rich in case studies.  Harrison served in the U.S. Agency for International Development for twenty years.

Hayek, Friedrich A., The Fatal Conceit:  The Errors of Socialism.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1988.  180pp.

This volume is actually the first of a projected 22 volumes of the collected works of Hayek, edited by W.W. Bartley.  The Fatal Conceit is a brand new work by Hayek, originally conceived in 1978 as a manifesto for a public debate on the question "Was Socialism a Mistake?"  Socialism, contends Hayek, "is based on demonstrably false premises", and to "follow socialist morality would destroy much of present humankind and impoverish much of the rest".  Moreover, "our civilization depends, not only for its origin but also for its preservation, on ... capitalism".  A fresh and devastating assault on the fatal conceit of socialism.

Hayek, Friedrich A., The Road To Serfdom.  Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press, 1944.  248pp.

In this classic work, Hayek argues that collectivism in any form is incompatible with democracy, and that generally any move towards social planning is a move away from freedom, political and economic.  This is a sharply-penned and memorable defence of individualism and freedom written by a leading economic theorist, a Nobel Prize winner, and major apologist for freedom.

Hayek, Friedrich A., ed., Capitalism and the Historians.  Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press, 1954.  188pp.

In this collection of essays the "anticapitalist bias" of American historians is treated.  Included is an excellent discussion of the standard of living controversy of the Industrial Revolution.  Essays are by Hayek, T.S. Ashton, L.M. Hacker, Bertrand de Jouvenel and W.H. Hutt.  An important set of articles on economic history in general and the Industrial Revolution in particular.

Hazlitt, Henry, The Conquest of Poverty.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1973.  240pp.

This is a major free market approach to the problem of poverty by a learned economic journalist.  Subjects covered include:  poverty in history;  Malthusian economics;  income distribution;  the welfare state;  unionism;  foreign investment versus aid;  private property;  and the cure of poverty.  Hazlitt writes clearly and intelligently.  A helpful, non-technical treatment of a complex subject.

Hazlitt, Henry, Economics In One Easy Lesson.  New York:  Arlington House, 1946, 1979.  218pp.

Perhaps Hazlitt's most famous and important work.  Hazlitt best describes the central thesis of this book:  "The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at longer effects of any act or policy;  it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups".  Hazlitt has the unique gift of being able to deliver complex and difficult subjects in lucid, easy to understand language.  Must reading for a clear grasp of basic economics.

Hazlitt, Henry, The Failure of the "New Economics".  New York:  D. Van Nostrand, 1959.  458pp.

This book is a major refutation of Keynesian economics.  A detailed and thorough analysis and critique of Keynesian thought.  Topics covered include:  the role of prices and money;  wage-rates;  the "trade cycle";  employment;  interest;  income, savings and investment;  inflation;  and taxation.  Hazlitt shows keen insight and thorough knowledge of the failures of Keynesian economics.

Hazlitt, Henry, The Foundations of Morality.  Los Angeles:  Nash Publishing, 1964.  398pp.

Hazlitt originally wrote this book with the "conviction that modern economics had worked out answers to the problems of individual and social value of which most contemporary moral philosophers still seem quite unaware".  However the book soon expanded into a fully-fledged treatise on moral theory.  While dealing with all aspects of ethical philosophy, this book emphasizes the inter-relatedness of moral values and economic values.  A helpful and insightful volume.

Hazlitt, Henry, The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1978.  192pp.

In a readable and informed manner, Hazlitt discusses everything one would want to know about inflation:  what it is;  how it develops;  where it leads to;  and how to overcome it.  Employment, taxation, investment, interest rates, monetary reform and price controls are among the topics covered.  A learned and lucid presentation.

Hazlitt, Henry, Man vs. the Welfare State.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1969.  225pp.

This is a searing indictment of the welfare state in particular, and interventionist economies in general.  The only cure for poverty is production, argues Hazlitt.  This book covers such topics as price controls, tax policy, wage hikes, social security, the corporation, inflation, and foreign aid.  Hazlitt was a leading journalist in the field of economics, and had a column in Newsweek for twenty years.

Hazlitt, Henry, ed., The Critics of Keynesian Economics.  New York:  University Press of America, 1960, 1983.  427pp.

This is a compilation of articles, mainly written in the forties and fifties, which critique Keynes and Keynesian economics.  Over twenty articles are included, penned by such men as Frank Knight, F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, W.H. Hutt, and Hazlitt himself.  A helpful collection of essays refuting a major economic figure and system.

Hessen, Robert, In Defense of the Corporation.  Stanford, California:  Hoover Institution Press, 1979.  133pp.

In this volume Hessen takes on the critics of the modern corporation, chief among whom is Ralph Nader.  He examines the charges made against corporations -- that they are monopolistic, overcharge customers, victimize shareholders, etc. -- and offers an intellectual and moral defence.  A valuable book on the nature, purpose and benefits of the corporation.  Hessen has taught business for a number of years.

Hessen, Robert, ed., Does Big Business Rule America?:  Critical Commentaries on Charles E. Lindblom's "Politics and Markets".  Washington, DC:  Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1981.  74pp.

In this volume James Q. Wilson, David Stockman, Clarence Brown and four others assess Lindblom's book in particular, and the assault on big business in general.  The authors find many problems with Lindblom's thesis and argumentation, and judge big business to be nowhere near as omnipotent as Lindblom and the liberals make it out to be.  A very good set of essays on an important subject.

Higgs, Robert, Crisis and Leviathan:  Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government.  New York.  Oxford University Press, 1987.  350pp.

Why has government grown so rapidly in this century?  Answers Higgs, national crises such as wars and depressions have led to major increases in the size and scope of government, with many of the increases remaining after the crises have passed.  This, coupled with ideological shifts which resulted in a growing acceptance of such expansion of powers, has given rise to the current problems of leviathan.  An important economic and historical study by a libertarian, and professor of political economy at Lafayette College.

Himmelfarb, Gertrude, The Idea of Poverty:  England in the Early Industrial Age.  New York:  Vintage Books, 1983.  595pp.

In this important volume Himmelfarb not only discusses the standard-of-living controversy of the Industrial Revolution, but also examines the concept of poverty in general.  The Industrial Revolution was not just a technological revolution, but an intellectual revolution as well.  Some of the thinkers studied include Smith, Burke, Malthus, Carlyle and Engels.  A wide ranging and erudite work.  Himmelfarb teaches history at the City University of New York.

Hore-Lacy, Ian, Creating Common Wealth.  Sutherland, New South Wales:  Albatross Books, 1985.  103pp.

This volume demonstrates how any ethic of wealth distribution must first be preceded by an ethic of wealth production.  The author shows that wealth creation is a morally justifiable and necessary endeavour, and that the free market is the best system for creating wealth.  A good look at economics and ethics from a Christian perspective.

Huntford, Roland, The New Totalitarian.  New York:  Stein and Day, 1971, 1975.  354pp.

Although somewhat outdated, this is still a valuable work on how socialism has nearly destroyed a modern Western nation.  For most of this century Sweden has experimented with "social democracy".  The rise of the corporate state there has resulted in the loss of many personal freedoms;  economic decline;  regimentation;  and harmful social engineering.  Huntford documents the destructive effects of ever-encroaching statism in Sweden, and warns of the dangers socialism poses to democracy.  An illuminating work on the perils of unopposed bureaucracy.  Huntford has been a journalist in Scandinavia for many years.

James, Michael, ed., Restraining Leviathan:  Small Government in Practice.  Sydney:  Centre for Independent Studies, 1987.  352pp.

As the title implies, this symposium explores various avenues for restricting government intervention in economic life.  The strategies discussed include deregulation, privatisation, the elimination of waste and constitutional checks on government size.  Contributors include Peter Saunders, Patrick Minford, Peter Swan, Ian Harper, Keith Trace, Robin O'Hear and Geoffrey Brennan.

James, Michael, ed., The Welfare State:  Foundations and Alternatives.  Sydney:  Centre for Independent Studies, 1989.  257pp.

This book contains the papers presented at two CIS conferences, one held in Wellington, New Zealand, the other in Sydney, Australia, in 1987.  The first part of the book considers the ethics and objectives of "welfare states", and the problems of coercion and unintended consequences.  The second part evaluates American and British experiences of social security.  In the third section, specific areas are examined, including unemployment benefits and support for single parents.  Contributors include Michael James, Charles Murray, David Willetts and Peter Swan.

Kelly, C.R. "Bert", Economics Made Easy.  Melbourne:  Sun Books, 1981.  179pp.

This volume contains articles written by Kelly for different journals and newspapers throughout Australia.  Tariff issues are the main focus of this book, but articles on economics and politics in general are also included.  A good group of writings -- stimulating and informative.  Bert Kelly is a former Member of the Australian Parliament.

Kelly, C.R. "Bert", One More Nail.  Adelaide:  Brolga Books, 1978.  218pp.

This is another collection of newspaper columns penned by Kelly.  Again, most of the articles centre on Kelly's long-standing crusade against tariffs, and the need for tariff reform.  The economic and political aspects of protectionism in general, and tariffs in particular, are discussed with clarity, wit and insight.

Kirzner, Israel M., The Economic Point of View:  An Essay in the History of Economic Thought.  Kansas City:  Sheed and Ward, 1960, 1976.

Kirzner is a leading representative of the Austrian School of economics.  As the subtitle indicates, this volume traces the history and theory of economic thought.  Using von Mises' phraseology, economics is the science of human action.  This volume defines and elaborates on this theme, as it studies various theories and theorists of economic thought.  Of the many books penned by Kirzner, this is one of his most important.

Knight, Frank H., Freedom and Reform:  Essays in Economics and Social Philosophy.  Indianapolis:  Liberty Press, 1947, 1982.  484pp.

Knight was an original member of the "Chicago School" of economics and an avid writer on economic issues, prior to his death in 1972.  This book contains a number of his more important writings on economics and the social sciences.  Topics covered include:  socialism;  democracy;  economics and ethics;  natural law;  freedom and economics;  and economic history.

Krauss, Melvyn B., Development Without Aid:  Growth, Poverty and Government.  New York:  McGraw-Hill, 1983.  208pp.

In this book Krauss argues that the chief obstacle to Third World development is big government.  He demonstrates how unhindered economic competition and emphasis on the private sector result in far better economic growth and development than does foreign aid and redistribution.  Krauss is a Visiting Scholar of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Kristol, Irving, Two Cheers For Capitalism.  New York:  New American Library, 1978, 1979.  253pp.

This book is a collection of some thirty essays, all of which were published elsewhere.  An excellent assessment and vindication of capitalism and its achievements.  Topics covered include:  taxation;  corporations;  the profit motive;  economics and the environment;  social justice;  the welfare state;  and business ethics.  Full of insights and clear thinking.  Kristol is a leading neoconservative, and co-editor of Public Interest.  This book deserves three cheers.

Lambro, Donald, Land of Opportunity:  The Entrepreneurial Spirit In America.  Boston:  Little, Brown and Company, 1986.  176pp.

"At its core Land of Opportunity is an examination of what has occurred in the economy in the 1970s and 1980s to make the American dream a greater reality:  the social, political, attitudinal, educational and legislative changes that have put America back on the road toward increasing economic growth".  Lambro surveys these changes, and illustrates them with portraits of individual entrepreneurial success stories.  Lambro is a nationally syndicated columnist.

Lefever, Ernest W., ed., Will Capitalism Survive?:  A Challenge by Paul Johnson With Twelve Responses.  Washington, DC:  Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1979.  69pp.

Johnson, an English journalist and historian, gives us here a scholarly and spirited defence of capitalism, calling it "the greatest single blessing ever bestowed on humanity".  Will, and should, capitalism survive?  This question is addressed by Johnson and his twelve respondents, who include Michael Novak, Herman Kahn, Jack Kemp and Paul Craig Roberts.  A valuable and stimulating discussion.

Lepage, Henri, Tomorrow, Capitalism:  The Economics of Economic Freedom.  La Salle, Illinois:  Open Court, 1982.  254pp.

Lepage, a French journalist, first wrote this book in 1978.  In it he charts the rise and development of what he terms the "new economics" sweeping America and the West.  The "new economics" is really what is known as the "Chicago School" associated with Frank Knight and Jacob Viner.  He sees its influence spreading through four main channels:  monetarism (Milton Friedman);  human-capital theory (Gary S. Becker);  the property-rights movement (Armen Alchian and Warren Nutter);  and the public-choice school (James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock).  An important, even prophetic, study.

Lindsell, Harold, Free Enterprise:  A Judeo-Christian Defense.  Wheaton, Illinois:  Tyndale House, 1982.  180pp.

In this book, the Editor Emeritus of Christianity Today presents a spirited defence of free enterprise.  Lindsell argues that capitalism is not inimical to biblical principles, and claims that socialism is the greatest threat to freedom and democracy.  Written for the student and layman, this is a helpful justification of the free market system.

McKenzie, Richard B., Bound To Be Free.  Stanford, California:  Hoover Institution Press, 1982.  201pp.

Constitutional restraints on government are needed for the free market to properly function, argues McKenzie.  Our economic problems today are largely due to the lessening of restrictions on government.  Such loss of restrictions encourages businessmen to seek government favours, which in turn hurts consumers and curtails freedom.  McKenzie documents this insidious process, and offers proposals to reverse the trend.  A persuasive and readable volume.

McKenzie, Richard B., Competing Visions:  The Political Conflict Over America's Economic Future.  Washington, DC:  Cato Institute, 1985.  216pp.

With so many voices calling for extended government intervention in the economy, further protectionism, and less deregulation, this book brings a clarion response.  Supported with extensive empirical and conceptual argumentation, McKenzie clearly makes the case for an unfettered market, while arguing against a centralized national industrial policy.  McKenzie is a professor of business and economics, and the author of several books.

McKenzie, Richard B., The Fairness of Markets:  A Search for Justice in a Free Society.  Lexington, Massachusetts:  D.C. Heath and Company, 1987.  235pp.

Not only is free market economics more efficient than its rivals, but it is more fair and just as well.  Most government attempts to promote fairness and social justice in the economic realm -- e.g., minimum wage laws, affirmative action -- have in fact produced the opposite results.  This is the thesis powerfully argued for in this helpful book.  A welcome volume in the growing amount of literature on ethics, economics and public policy.

McKenzie, Richard B., ed., Constitutional Economics:  Containing the Economic Powers of Government.  Lexington, Massachusetts:  Lexington Books, 1984.  254pp.

This book contains essays by economists, philosophers and political scientists on the subject of limiting government powers and authority.  To preserve economic and personal freedom, certain restraints upon government are necessary.  Authors include:  Friedrich A. Hayek, Mancur Olsen, James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock.  McKenzie is a Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a professor of economics.

Machlup, Fritz, ed., Essays On Hayek.  Hillsdale, Michigan:  Hillsdale College, 1976.  182pp.

These seven essays honour one of the twentieth century's foremost champions of freedom.  Besides making outstanding contributions in the field of economic science (for which he was awarded a Nobel Prize), Hayek has had great influence in a number of other areas:  political philosophy, scientific methodology, legal philosophy, and psychology.  In this volume Machlup, William F. Buckley, George Roche and four others pay tribute to the numerous contributions Hayek made to the cause of freedom.

Malabre, Alfred L., Beyond Our Means:  How America's Long Years of Debt, Deficits and Reckless Borrowing Now Threaten To Overwhelm Us.  New York:  Random House, 1987.  174pp.

The subtitle pretty much says it all.  U.S. debt -- government, corporate, personal -- is over $7 trillion and climbing.  Malabre traces how this came about, what its effects are, and where it will lead.  All in all, not very happy reading.  Or, as one critic put it, Malabre's "sober account of our fiscal and monetery sins ... is scarier than anything by Stephen King".  But necessary reading nonetheless.  Malabre is the economics editor of The Wall Street Journal.

Mises, Ludwig von, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality.  South Holland, Illinois:  Libertarian Press, 1956, 1981.  134pp.

Von Mises, who died in 1973, was a leading member of the Austrian School of economics and was one of the ablest and most profound economists of this century.  In this book von Mises analyses the anti-capitalist bias inherent in so many of today's intellectual circles.  He also demonstrates how capitalism is the best system for raising the standard of living to unprecedented levels, and the best system for guaranteeing human freedoms.

Mises, Ludwig von, Bureaucracy.  New Haven, Connecticut:  Yale University Press, 1944, 1962.  125pp.

In this small book von Mises analyses the two ways in which social affairs can be conducted peacefully:  by bureaucratic management or by profit management.  He demonstrates the superiority of business management and individualism over bureaucracy and socialism.  A fine vindication of capitalism and a vigorous attack on socialism.

Mises, Ludwig von, Economic Policy:  Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow.  Chicago:  Regnery Gateway, 1979.  106pp.

The six chapters of this book were originally lectures delivered by von Mises to a group of students in Argentina in 1958.  Foreign investment, inflation, interventionism, socialism and capitalism are among the topics covered.  Easier to follow than some of his more theoretical writings, these chapters provide a good introduction to the thought of von Mises.

Mises, Ludwig von, Human Action.  New Haven, Connecticut:  Yale University Press, 1949.  889pp.

This is von Mises' magnum opus.  A mammoth, ambitious, masterful sweep of intellectual ability.  Both a discussion of economic theory, and a general philosophy of social behaviour.  As Murray Rothbard noted, "from now on, little constructive work can be done in economics unless it starts from Human Action".  This is a major assault on leftist economic theory and a monumental case for the free market.  Most modern defenders of capitalism are heavily indebted to von Mises and this work.  This is not light reading, but the efforts made to digest it will be amply rewarding.

Mises, Ludwig von, Liberalism:  A Socio-Economic Exposition.  Kansas City:  Sheed and Ward, 1962, 1978.  207pp.

First published in 1927, this work assesses the tenets of liberalism in its economic policy, foreign policy, and political policy.  This work is both a defence of the free enterprise system, and an exposition of the aims and achievements of classical liberalism.  A meaty and informative book.

Mises, Ludwig von, Omnipotent Government:  The Rise of the Total State and Total War.  New Haven, Connecticut:  Yale University Press, 1944.  291pp.

This is a major treatise combating totalitarianism in all forms.  Four major topics are covered:  German Liberalism's downfall;  nationalism;  German Nazism;  and the future of Western civilization.  Both a defence of freedom and an assault on big government, this is an important, though dated, work by a leading advocate of individual and economic freedom.

Mises, Ludwig von, Planning For Freedom:  And Other Essays and Addresses.  South Holland, Illinois:  Libertarian Press, 1952.  184pp.

This volume contains a number of addresses and essays written by von Mises in the 1940s and 1950s.  They all centre on a defence of the free market, along with an indictment of all forms of socialism and planned economies.  Important reading that is still up-to-date.

Mises, Ludwig von, Socialism:  An Economic and Sociological Analysis.  Indianapolis:  Liberty Classics, 1981.  569pp.

Originally published in German in 1922, this massive work is a classic analysis and critique of socialism.  Several chapter titles indicate the range of this important work:  ownership;  the social order and the family;  the nature of economic activity;  the individual under socialism;  socialism and ethics;  foreign trade under socialism;  and Christianity and socialism.  Von Mises' breadth of interest and depth of knowledge is phenomenal.  Included as an epilogue in this edition is another work published separately, Planned Chaos.  To master von Mises is to master economics.

Murchland, Bernard, The Dream of Christian Socialism:  An Essay on Its European Origins.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1982.  74pp.

This is an historical overview and assessment of Christian socialism in England, France and Germany.  Figures studied include Ludlow, Maurice, Kingsley, Temple, Tawney and Lamennais.  A good survey and critique of a basically romantic, idealistic and utopian movement.

Murray, Charles, In Pursuit of Happiness and Good Government.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1988.  341pp.

What do we want government to do?  How do people pursue happiness and how can government help in that pursuit?  Murray answers these questions by appealing to a return to older values of community, local government and self-control.  Massive government programs have failed to solve many of our social problems, and a return to self-help and community help is the best way to go.  A fine blend of political economy, sociology, philosophy, psychology and social policy, this is a creative and insightful volume.

Murray, Charles, Losing Ground:  American Social Policy 1950-1980.  New York:  Basic Books, 1984.  323pp.

This is perhaps the most effective and devastating critique of the welfare state yet written.  Murray argues that American attempts to combat poverty through massive spending programs have not only failed to solve the problem, but have in fact exaggerated it.  Chock-full of charts, statistics, facts and figures, this book demonstrates clearly and empirically the failure of welfarism.  Murray advocates scrapping the entire federal welfare system, but does so by offering alternative proposals.  No person concerned about helping the poor can afford to ignore this book.  Murray is Senior Research Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Nash, Ronald H., Freedom, Justice and the State.  Washington, DC:  University Press of America, 1980.  231pp.

This volume examines the place of the state, the role it plays in promoting freedom and justice, and how various economic systems fit in with these considerations.  Nash argues for only minimal state interference in the economy, and for the moral and practical superiority of the free market over planned economies.  Nash teaches philosophy at Western Kentucky University.

Nash, Ronald H., Poverty and Wealth:  The Christian Debate Over Capitalism.  Westchester, Illinois:  Crossway Books, 1986.  219pp.

In this volume Nash continues his argumentation developed in his two earlier works on economics and justice.  Responding to the growing number of Christians who are opting for socialism, Nash argues that wealth must first be created before it can be distributed.  Capitalism is the best system yet devised for the creation of wealth.  Thus those most interested in solving the problems of world poverty should be the first to promote the free market system.

Nash, Ronald H., Social Justice and the Christian Church.  Milford, Michigan:  Mott Media, 1983.  175pp.

This volume deals with the growing debate over the appropriate Christian response to poverty and injustice.  Nash argues that the free enterprise system is the best cure for poverty, the most moral system, and the best guarantee of freedom and civil liberties.  Socialism, contends Nash, is not the biblical ideal;  and it does not provide the answer to the problem of poverty.

North, Gary, An Introduction to Christian Economics.  Nutley, New Jersey:  The Craig Press, 1973.  413pp.

Gary North is a leading figure in the Christian Reconstruction movement, as well as a top-rate economist.  This book attempts to discuss economic theory from biblical presuppositions.  A number of chapters previously appeared in The Freeman.  A wide-ranging book which deals with such topics as:  banking, the gold standard, inflation, the Depression, taxation, and the Christian concept of stewardship.

North, Gary, Honest Money.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson, 1986.  174pp.

This is the fifth volume in the Biblical Blueprint Series, a conservative Christian approach to major social issues of the day.  In this book North discusses banking, the Federal Reserve System, currency debasing, the origins of money, inflation, and monetary reform.  A helpful volume by an important Christian economist and social thinker.

North, Gary, The Sinai Strategy:  Economics and the Ten Commandments.  Tyler, Texas:  Institute for Christian Economics, 1986.  368pp.

This is the third book in a multi-volume economic commentary on the Bible which North is involved in writing.  This volume is a detailed analysis of the Ten Commandments, with the aim of explicating their economic implications.  North argues that the biblical world view is pro-capitalist and anti-socialist.  An intriguing and revealing study.

Novak, Michael, The American Vision:  An Essay on the Future of Democratic Capitalism.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978.  60pp.

Perhaps no other intellectual of today has done so much thinking and writing on the moral defence of capitalism as Michael Novak.  A former socialist, and now a leading neoconservative, Novak has produced a steady stream of books vindicating democratic capitalism, as these ten works indicate.  This is one of Novak's earliest books on his innovative concept of the three-part system of democratic capitalism:  a democratic political system, a free market economic system, and a moral/spiritual cultural system.  A seminal work which Novak refines and develops over the years.

Novak, Michael, Freedom With Justice:  Catholic Social Thought and Liberal Institutions.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1984.  253pp.

Novak, a Catholic, has provided a valuable service to Catholic and non-Catholic thinkers alike in this fine survey of Catholic social thought.  General discussions of economics and religion are supplemented with detailed studies of Catholic teachings on wealth and poverty.  Novak shows that basic Catholic concerns for justice, liberty, and community can best be realized through democratic capitalism.  Novak is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

Novak, Michael, The New Consensus on Family and Welfare.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1987.  143pp.

This book is the product of the Working Seminar on Family and American Welfare Policy, sponsored by the Institute for Family Studies of Marquette University.  Members of the seminar include Novak, Richard John Neuhaus, Lawrence Mead, S. Anna Kondratas, and Allan Carlson.  The purpose of the seminar is to find ways of reducing welfare dependency, mainly through emphasis on the ideals of community and self-reliance, the implications of which are spelled out in this volume.

Novak, Michael, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1982.  433pp.

Undoubtedly one of Novak's most important and trenchant works to date, this book is a wealth of information, insight and intellectual analysis.  Novak clearly and learnedly states the moral and philosophical case for capitalism.  He defends capitalism empirically, ideologically, and above all, theologically.  This book is filled with original thinking, penetrating insights, and boldness of approach.  One of the most important vindications of capitalism to appear in years.  An extremely articulate, creative, logical and eloquent defence of democratic capitalism.  Anyone who wants to learn about the ideals of democratic capitalism should start here.

Novak, Michael, Toward a Theology of the Corporation.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1981.  57pp.

These essays, originally delivered as speeches, are an attempt to provide a moral and theological defence of, and a set of guidelines for, the corporation.  Novak argues that the corporation is an expression of our social nature, and is an essential part of capitalism and participatory democracy.  An incisive and fact-filled book, which lays some important groundwork for the subject of corporate ethics.

Novak, Michael, ed., Capitalism and Socialism:  A Theological Inquiry.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1979.  193pp.

This book, and the following two, are the products of seminars sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and the Syracuse University Department of Religion.  Lectures and discussion highlights are presented here in this notable appraisal of economic systems.  Participants include:  Michael Novak, Irving Kristol, Peter Berger, Ben Wallenberg and Seymour Martin Lipsel.  An informative, stimulating and challenging book.  An important contribution to the growing body of literature on the moral and philosophical foundations of capitalism and socialism.

Novak, Michael, ed., The Corporation:  A Theological Inquiry.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1981.  234pp.

Participants in this seminar include Timothy Smith, P.T. Bauer, Michael Novak and Oscar Handlin.  The subject here is the corporation -- its nature, function, and relation to religious values.  Subjects dealt with include:  corporate responsibility;  the rise of the corporation;  multinationals;  and the corporation and the churches.  A valuable and innovative set of discussions.

Novak, Michael, ed., Democracy and Mediating Structures:  A Theological Inquiry.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1980.  216pp.

In this book institutions like the family, the church, the corporation, and labour unions are examined.  These institutions, or mediating structures, which stand between the individual and the state, are seen as important components of a healthy democracy.  Participants in this symposium include Novak, Paul Johnson, J. Philip Wogaman, and Brigitte Berger.  Another helpful and creative book from Novak and the A.E.I.

Novak, Michael, ed., The Denigration of Capitalism:  Six Points of View.  Washington, DC:  American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1979.  64pp.

Is there an anti-capitalist bias in Western intellectual circles?  These six participants -- Martin E. Marty, James V. Schall, Bernard Cooke, David B. Burrell, Edward R. Norman and Michael Novak -- address this question in this brief but informative book.  The general consensus is that such a bias does exist.  The authors examine why this is so, and whether it is a fair or valid position to hold.

Novak, Michael, ed., Toward the Future:  Catholic Social Thought and the US Economy:  A Lay Letter.  New York:  American Catholic Committee, 1984.  106pp.

Although officially authored by the Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching and the US Economy, this essay is essentially the product of Michael Novak and William E. Simon.  It is a response to the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on the economy, and is a general vindication of capitalism.  It is a spirited attempt to harmonize basic Catholic social concerns with the workings of the free market.  The authors believe that these are much more compatible than is usually suspected.  A valuable justification of the ideals and realities of democratic capitalism, and a reasonable case for its congruity with basic religious values.

Nutter, G. Warren, Political Economy and Freedom:  A Collection of Essays.  Indianapolis:  Liberty Press, 1983.  314pp.

Nutter, who died in 1979, was a professor of economics and a leading authority on the Soviet economy.  This selection of essays deals with:  economics and freedom;  welfarism;  union power;  regulation;  monopoly and big business;  Soviet industry;  Eastern European economies;  and economics and the Third World.  A good set of essays by a leading proponent of economic freedom.

Oden, Thomas C., Conscience and Dividends:  Churches and the Multinationals.  Washington, DC:  Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1985.  169pp.

This book is an important assessment of the corporate-responsibility movement, composed of activist churchmen from mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations.  Oden surveys the history of this movement, and evaluates its understanding of corporations and theology.  He contends that these activists do not represent the average church member;  their allegiance is often more to leftwing causes than to biblical concerns;  and they denigrate the role Christians can play as corporation leaders and workers.  A very well documented and informative book.

Olasky, Marvin, ed., Freedom, Justice and Hope:  Toward a Strategy for the Poor and the Oppressed.  Westchester, Illinois:  Crossway Books, 1988.  171pp.

This book comes as a result of a conference on relief and development held in Villars, Switzerland in the spring of 1987.  Forty evangelicals met for five days and produced a summary, the Villars Statement.  In this book Olasky, Herbert Schlossberg, Pierre Berthoud and Clark Pinnock present essays on the theme of the conference.  They all recognize the failures of liberation theology, social engineering and radical utopianism in these areas, and call instead for biblical and practical solutions.  A brief but helpful volume.

Olson, Mancur, The Logic of Collective Action:  Public Goods and the Theory of Groups.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1971.  184pp.

Combining insights from the social sciences and economics, Olson develops here a novel theory of how individuals and groups operate.  Subjects discussed include:  special interest groups;  Marxist class concepts;  trade unions;  and economic freedom.  An innovative and provocative work.  Olson is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland.

Opitz, Edmund A., Religion and Capitalism:  Allies, Not Enemies.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1970.  318pp.

In this somewhat disjointed but helpful volume, Opitz argues that Christianity and a free economy are not inimical but compatible.  Christian socialism is not a tautology, argues Opitz, and political and economic freedom -- democracy and capitalism -- are the natural results or expressions of the Christian faith.  Opitz was a Congregationalist minister and has authored numerous works.

Pejovich, Svetozar, Life in the Soviet Union:  A Report Card On Socialism.  Dallas, Texas:  The Fisher Institute, 1979.  101pp.

This slim volume gives a brief survey of Soviet history and politics, and analyses the Soviet economy.  Pejovich clearly demonstrates how the Russian planned economy inevitably results in inefficiency and dwindling productivity.  The only beneficiary of whatever economic productivity does take place is the Soviet ruling elite, not the Soviet people.  A helpful but brief presentation.

Porter, Michael, The Competitive Advantage of Nations.  London:  MacMillan, 1990.  855pp.

The benefits of global competition, innovation and risk-taking are here brilliantly promoted.  Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business school, marshalls a mass of information and detail as he successfully answers the question, "Why do some social groups, economic institutions, and nations advance and prosper?"

Rabushka, Alvin, From Adam Smith to the Wealth of America.  New Brunswick, New Jersey:  Transaction Books, 1985.  237pp.

Focusing on nineteenth century England, modern America, and the miracle economies of southeast Asia, Rabushka shows how the application of Adam Smith's principles have led to economic growth and prosperity.  A helpful history of recent economic development and a forceful defence of the free enterprise system.  Rabushka is a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Rand, Ayn, Capitalism:  The Unknown Ideal.  New York:  Signet Books, 1946, 1967.  349pp.

Ayn Rand's peculiar philosophy, known as Objectivism, was popularized in such novels as We the Living (1936), Anthem (1938), The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).  In this collection of articles the moral and economic implications of Objectivism are set forth.  Both a defence of laissez-faire capitalism and an attack on altruism, this volume is as provocative as it is original.  Rand, who was born in Russia in 1905, died in New York City in 1982.

Rangel, Carlos, Third World Ideology and Western Reality:  Manufacturing Political Myth.  New Brunswick, New Jersey:  Transaction Books, 1986.  180pp.

"Third Worldism" and dependency theories blame the West for the economic problems of the Third World.  Rangel says the international Left exploits issues of Third World poverty, manipulating guilt-feelings to achieve political benefit.  He offers closer contact with, and imitation of, the West -- and not socialism -- as the real answer to the problems of Third World poverty.  An important critique of dependency theories and the Leftist ideological exploitation of problems of inequality and poverty.  Rangel is a Venezuelan journalist and former diplomat.

Rattigan, Alf, Industry Assistance:  The Inside Story.  Melbourne:  Melbourne University Press, 1986.  289pp.

This volume is about Australian protectionism in general, and Rattigan's attempts to steer Australia away from such protectionism in particular.  Rattigan served as chairman of the Industries Assistance Commission and a number of related posts, and knows from first hand experience the problems of protectionism, tariffs, regulation and bureaucracy as they affect Australian industry.  A detailed look at a specific case of government interference in economic growth by an expert in the field.

Robbins, Lord Lionel, Political Economy:  Past and Present:  A Review of Leading Theories of Economic Policy.  New York:  Columbia University Press, 1976.  203pp.

For many years Robbins was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.  This book surveys and assesses past economic theories.  This is a scholary, technical work written by a leading English conservative.  This is not a book for beginning students of economics.

Roberts, Paul Craig, The Supply-Side Revolution:  An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Harvard University Press, 1984.  327pp.

The political birth of supply-side economics began in 1975 with Jack Kemp and became policy with Ronald Reagan's entry into the White House.  Roberts focuses on this period, describing the personalities, philosophies and policies involved.  An inside look at the politics, economics and legislation of the Reagan Revolution.  An important study by a professor of political economy at Georgetown University, and a former member of the Reagan administration.

Roche, George, America By the Throat:  The Stranglehold of Federal Bureaucracy.  Old Greenwich, Connecticut:  Devin-Adair Publishers, 1983.  190pp.

Dr Roche is President of Hillsdale College in Michigan and the Shavano Institute for National Leadership based in Denver, Colorado.  In this work Roche documents and critiques the ever-growing bureaucracy in America and the West.  He views this growth as an ominous "thrust toward all-powerful central government".  Roche also clearly demonstrates the contrast between bureaucracy and free enterprise.

Rockwell, Llewellyn H., Jr., ed., The Free Market Reader:  Essays in the Economics of Liberty.  Burlingame, California:  The Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1988.  400pp.

These articles, which first appeared in the Ludwig von Mises Institute publication, Free Market, represent some of the best of free market (read:  libertarian) thought.  Many of the heavyweights are here:  Rothbard, Reed, von Mises, Higgs and others.  Topics include Reaganomics, taxation, great economists, protectionism, socialism, the gold standard, and privatization.  A good collection of articles in defence of liberty and the free market.

Rockwell, Llewellyn H., Jr., ed., The Gold Standard:  An Austrian Perspective.  Lexington, Massachusetts:  D.C. Heath and Company, 1985.  147pp.

This book is the result of a conference held in November 1983, sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Institute.  The authors argue for a return to the gold standard, and appraise alternative monetary reforms from the perspective of the Austrian school of economics.  The contributors are Murray Rothbard, Hans Sennholz, Richard Ebeling, Roger Garrison, Joseph Salerno, Lawrence White, and Ron Paul.

Rogge, Benjamin A., Can Capitalism Survive?  Indianapolis:  Liberty Press, 1979.  329pp.

In this collection of essays Rogge treats a number of subjects, including:  monopolies;  profits;  the case for economic freedom;  the libertarian philosophy;  Adam Smith and his influence;  Christian economics;  and the durability of capitalism.  An interesting set of articles by an articulate and informed writer.  Rogge taught political economy at Wabash College in Indiana for many years.

Ropke, Wilhelm, A Humane Economy:  The Social Framework of the Free Market.  South Bend, Indiana:  Gateway Editions, 1960.  312pp.

First published in German in 1958, this is a spirited defence of the free market and a defence of Christian values.  Ropke argues that the moral and spiritual values of Christianity are the necessary foundation of an ethical and humane market economy.  Like many other conservatives, Ropke recognizes that values such as self-discipline, honesty, community, charity, moderation and fairness are essential prerequisites to the proper workings of competition and the market.  A valuable work of social commentary and economic theory.  Ropke died in 1966.

Rose, Tom, Economics:  Principles and Policy from a Christian Perspective.  Second Edition.  Mercer, Pennsylvania:  American Enterprise Publications, 1986.  380pp.

This is a high school/college level textbook in basic economics, written by an evangelical.  It is a mixture of standard free market economics and Christian social thought.  A helpful introductory text.  Especially valuable in its handling of relevant biblical material.

Rosenberg, Nathan and L.E. Birdzell, Jr., How the West Grew Rich:  The Economic Transformation of the Industrial World.  New York:  Basic Books, 1986.  353pp.

This is a fascinating and lucid account of how economic growth developed since the Middle Ages.  This growth is not the result of exploitation or imperialism, as many argue, but a product of political and religious decentralization and pluralism.  This is an informative and provocative book on economic history and the value of the open market.

Rothbard, Murray N., America's Great Depression.  Kansas City:  Sheed and Ward, 1963, 1975.  361pp.

In this scholarly survey of the years leading up to and including the Great Deprcssion, Rothbard shatters a number of myths concerning this subject, especially the theory that it was the inherent weakness of capitalism that caused the crisis.  On the contrary, it was government induced inflation that brought on the depression.  An important book for anyone interested in an alternative view to the conventional wisdom concerning the Great Depression.  Rothbard is a major proponent of libertarianism.

Rothbard, Murray N., Man, Economy and the State:  A Treatise On Economic Principles.  Los Angeles:  Nash Publishing, 1962, 1970.  987pp.

Origlnally published in two volumes, this massive tome is a wealth of information and learning from a leading libertarian economist.  In a sense this book is an amplification and/or continuation of the work of Ludwig von Mises, to whose Human Action Rothbard is greatly indebted.  A major economic treatise covering just about every aspect of economic thinking.  Certainly not lightweight reading, but rewarding.

Rydenfelt, Sven, A Pattern for Failure:  Socialist Economies in Crisis.  New York:  Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983, 1984.  175pp.

Rydenfelt, a Swedish economist, has put together a detailed look at socialist economies -- Russia, China, Cuba, Tanzania, Poland, Vietnam, and eleven other countries -- and notes how all are doomed to decay and collapse.  Rydenfelt shows in each of these case studies how planned economies necessarily result in stagnation and loss of productivity.  The cure is not more state planning and intervention, but less, says the author.

Schaeffer, Franky, ed., Is Capitalism Christian?  Westchester, Illinois Crossway Books, 1985.  461pp.

This is a very helpful work, in that it draws together in one volume some twenty different articles written by leading economists and Christian thinkers, all of whom argue for the moral and empirical merits of democratic capitalism.  Authors include Peter Berger, Michael Novak, P.T. Bauer, Paul Johnson, Thomas Sowell, Ronald Nash, and Richard John Neuhaus.  A good compilation of some very fine articles.

Schumpeter, Joseph A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1942, 1976.  431pp.

Can capitalism survive?  Economically it has been a great success.  But, argues Schumpeter, "its very success undermines the social institutions which protect it".  In the arena of culture, values and ideas, capitalism is under attack.  The masses who have benefited so much from capitalism, neither understand nor appreciate it, and the intellectuals are blatantly hostile to it.  Thus capitalism for all its successes may not long survive.  An important analysis of capitalism and culture.  Schumpeter, who was born in Austria, wrote this book in 1942.  He taught social sciences at Harvard, and died in 1950.

Sennholz, Hans E, Age of Inflation.  Belmont, Massachusetts:  Western Islands, 1979.  207pp.

This is a collection of essays written on the history, meaning and effects of inflation.  Sennholz writes from the perspective of the Austrian School of economics.  Topics covered include:  the value of money;  the causes of inflation;  the Federal Reserve System:  unemployment;  and exchange rates.  A learned and perceptive group of essays.

Sennholz, Hans F., Money and Freedom.  Spring Mills, Pennsylvania:  Libertarian Press, 1985.  88pp.

Sennholz, a professor of economics, teaches at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.  This book discusses the loss of freedom in banking, monetary affairs and the economy.  Sennholz argues that the cure for our economic problems is less government interference, not more.  He discusses the Federal Reserve System;  legal tender laws;  the gold standard;  the trade deficit;  and inflation.  An important eall for monetary and economic freedom by a leading economist.

Shann, Edward, An Economic History of Australia, Cambridge:  (Cambridge University Press, 1930.  456pp.

The number of volumes on economics, economic history and political economy not written from a Keynesian perspective are few indeed.  Here is one volume, however, which gives an important review and assessment of Australian economic development from a non-Keynesian, free-market approach.  Although written way back in 1930, this volume is an excellent source book on how so many of modern-day Australia's economic problems -- protectionism, poor productivity, labour strife -- have developed.  The author was Professor of History and Economics at the University of Western Australia.

Sheaffer, Robert, Resentment Against Achievement:  Understanding the Assault Upon Ability.  Buffalo, New York:  Prometheus Books, 1988.  198pp.

Says Sheaffer, "Throughout recorded history the ebb and flow of the love of achievement and the resentment against its successes have been major forces behind the rise and fall of civilizations and empires".  When envy and resentment prevail, economic and social progress come to a standstill.  But when values of achievement such as tolerance, liberty and hard work are predominant, civilizations will grow and flourish.  Sheaffer develops this theme in chapters on education, the arts, sciences, economics and politics.  An ambitious if overstated defence of economic and political freedom from a decidely libertarian perspective.

Simon, William E., A Time For Action.  New York:  A Reader's Digest/Berkley Book, 1980.  151pp.

In this follow-up volume to A Time For Truth, Simon continues his analysis of the erosion of economic freedom in America, and offers a blueprint for its restoration.  A brief but stimulating volume.

Simon, William E., A Time For Truth.  New York:  Reader's Digest/McGraw-Hill Company, 1978.  248pp.

Simon, who served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1974 to 1977, describes in this volume the necessary connection between political and economic freedom.  Drawing upon his experience in the Ford and Nixon Administrations, the author warns of the dangers of the expanding American bureaucracy, and shows how that trend can be reversed.

Smith, Adam, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.  Edwin Canaan, ed. New York:  Modern Library, 1937, 1965.  976pp.

I could not omit this classic.  The Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776, has changed economic thinking markedly, and has made an impact on modern society in untold ways.  The first great treatise on the value of the market place, and the ability of individuals pursuing their own self-interest to create wealth and transform society.  Smith was born in Scotland, taught moral philosophy, and died in 1790.  This edition is edited and annotated by Edwin Canaan.

Soto, Hernando de, The Other Path:  The Invisible Revolution in the Third World.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1989.  271pp.

De Soto, a Peruvian economist, has written a very important book.  Already a best-seller throughout Latin America, this volume shows how mercantilism is the dominant economic system of underdeveloped countries.  Using Lima, Peru as a case study, de Soto shows how such mercantilism favours the state and special-interest groups while neglecting the majority, with black-marketeering as the inevitable result.  Such non-democratic, bureaucratized, parasitic regimes are the real reason why Third World nations remain impoverished and backward, not because of Western imperialism.  Richly documented and argued.  A brilliant appeal to political and economic freedom.

Sowell, Thomas, The Economics and Politics of Race.  New York:  William Morrow, 1983.  324pp.

Sowell analyses race and ethnicity in an international framework in this ground-breaking work.  This book looks at European immigrants, overseas Chinese, and blacks and coloureds from a historical and sociological perspective.  He shows that cultural patterns have much to do with economic performance.  He also examines Third World development, colonialism and imperialism, exploding numerous myths along the way.  A very helpful and provocative study by a leading economist and student of ethnic relations.

Sowell, Thomas, Ethnic America:  A History.  New York:  Basic Books, 1981.  353pp.

Sowell examines nine ethnic groups residing in America and discusses the different ways these groups have related and adjusted to the American experience.  Why these ethnic groups have developed as they have is the subject of this important work.  Sowell has established himself as a leading authority on the relationships between race, culture, and economic achievement.

Sowell, Thomas, Knowledge and Decisions.  New York:  Basic Books, 1980.  422pp.

Pollowing in the steps of von Mises and Hayek, this volume is an incisive treatise on economic theory and social philosophy.  Sowell demonstrates the importance of knowledge in decision-making, and the role it plays in political, economic and legal relations.  This is perhaps the most creative and important work of all Sowell's writings.  A wide-ranging and lucid book.

Sowell, Thomas, Markets and Minorities.  New York:  Basic Books, 1981.  141pp.

This is another important study on the relationship between economic performance and racial and cultural differences.  Sowell demonstrates that attitudes, culture, values and religion play as important a role in economic achievement as do racism and discrimination -- perhaps even more so.  Again, creative analysis and substantial documentation are united to produce a learned and stimulating work.  Reading Sowell is both educational and refreshing.

Sowell, Thomas, Marxism:  Philosophy and Economics.  New York:  William Morrow, 1985.  281pp.

This is a major new analysis of Marxist philosophy and economic thought.  Sowell explains and assesses the basic tenets of Marx's thinking, and critiques many current interpretations of Marxism.  The exposition of Marx is clear and easy-to-understand, and his critiques are especially incisive and penetrating.  An excellent primer on Marxism written by an author who thinks and writes with refreshing clarity.

Sowell, Thomas, Pink and Brown People:  And Other Controversial Essays.  Stanford, California:  Hoover Institution Press, 1981.  150pp.

This is a collection of some of Sowell's earlier (1978-1980) newspaper columns.  Subjects covered include:  the Bakke case;  the ERA;  SALT;  environmentalism;  rent control;  abortion;  and foreign aid.  An interesting set of essays by a perceptive economist and social critic.

Sowell, Thomas, Race and Economics.  New York:  David McKay Company, 1975.  276pp.

Another volume on the interrelationships between economics, ethnicity and race.  Full of compelling and fact-based reasoning on a subject much clouded by ignorance, misunderstanding and emotionalism.  The importance of attitude in economic achievement is again underscored and empirically attested.  Sowell is impressive and convincing as usual.

Stigler, George J., The Citizen and the State:  Essays on Regulation.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1975.  209pp.

This is a collection of essays all centring on the theme of the importance of minimizing the role of government involvement in economic affairs.  Topics covered include:  the nature of economic freedom;  the costs of regulation;  special interests versus public interests;  and welfarism.  An informed and witty set of writings.  Stigler teaches economics at the University of Chicago.

Stigler, George J., The Economist as Preacher, and Other Essays.  Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press, 1982.  259pp.

Stigler, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1982, has written over one hundred books, pamphlets and articles on economic themes.  In this collection of essays Stigler examines the history of economics, showing how and how much economists influence the devising and execution of public policy.  He also studies the relationship between economics and ethics.  Learned and insightful reading.

Tucker, Robert W., The Inequality of Nations.  New York:  Basic Books, 1977.  214pp.

This book is a discussion of international relations in general, and of proposals for a new international economic system.  Tucker argues that any enforced redistribution of the world's goods would not only fail to create more justice in the world, but would result in wide-scale violence and disorder.

Tullock, Gordon, Private Wants, Public Means:  An Economic Analysis of the Desirable Scope of Government.  New York:  Basic Books, 1970.  262pp.

Is government alone able to deal with the public interest?  To what extent should it intervene in individuals' lives to obtain the public good?  Can the market provide some of these goods and services?  Tullock here seeks to provide objective criteria whereby such questions can be answered.  Using examples of zoning regulations, income distribution, property rights and crime control, Tullock demonstrates how often the free market and voluntary associations, rather than government intervention, can best deal with many of today's social problems.  Tullock, along with James M. Buchanan, is a leading "Public Choice" economist.

Tullock, Gordon, Welfare for the Well-To-Do.  Dallas:  The Fisher Institute, 1983.  72pp.

In this slender volume, designed for the general reader, Tullock examines income redistribution in America.  His thesis is that it is not the poor who benefit from such redistribution, but middle class special interest groups.  Monies are basically passed around within the middle class, with the poor receiving very little of them.  A helpful volume on the follies of American welfarism.  Tullock is a professor at George Mason University.

Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., ed., The Future That Doesnt Work:  Social Democracy's Failures in Britain.  New York:  Doubleday and Company, 1975, 1976, 1977.  208pp.

This volume contains a number of essays on pre-Thatcher England.  The authors document and illustrate the shortcomings of welfarism in England, and provide warnings for America to not follow suit.  Contributors include Irving Kristol, James Q. Wilson, Peregrine Worsthorne and Colin Welch.  A fine, but dated assault on England's experiments in economic planning and their disastrous results.

Van den Haag, Ernest, Capitalism:  Sources of Hostility.  New Rochelle, New York:  Epoch Books, 1979.  206pp.

In this volume Van den Haag, Peter Bauer, Nathan Glazer, Dale Vree and three other authors look at those who are enamoured with socialism and appalled by the free market.  Instead of looking at the economic factors, these authors analyse the psychological and social objections raised against capitalism.  A good defence of free enterprise and a helpful examination of its critics and critiques.

Veljanoviski, Cento, ed., Privatisation and Competition:  A Market Prospectus.  London:  Institute of Economic Affairs, 1989.  239pp.

Under the Thatcher Government, privatization of the nationalized industries has been a major priority.  While largely a successful endeavour, there have been some deficiencies.  This collection of essays explores "the most profound weakness of the British privatization program -- the failure to maximize the opportunities to introduce competition in those industries which were the heartland of the nationalized sector -- telecommunications, gas, electricity, water and coal".  Veljanoviski, Irwin Stelzer, Ray Evans, Jack Wiseman and 12 other writers made contributions to this collection.

Wagner, G.A., Business in the Public Eye.  Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans, 1982.  125pp.

In this helpful little volume Wagner discusses ethical principles which must govern big business and individual businessmen.  Topics covered include:  multinationals;  profit accountability;  transnational business relations;  business and the environment;  and the management of business.  Wagner, who is Chairman of the Board of Royal Dutch Shell, uses Shell as an example in much of his discussion.  A good defence of business which recognizes the need of ethical accountability.

Wanniski, Jude, The Way the World Works.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1978, 1983.  345pp.

This is one of the clearest and most comprehensible expositions of supply-side economics to be written.  A major theme is that lower tax rates are the key to economic productivity.  This book is at once a history of economic theory, an analysis of Reaganomics, and a defence of the free market.  A helpful and stimulating book.  Wanniski is a leading thinker and writer in supply-side economics.

Weaver, Paul H., The Suicidal Corporation:  How Big Business Fails America.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1988.  270pp.

Most of the problems affecting big business in America are self-made, argues Weaver.  Corporations themselves are largely responsible for the lack of competitiveness in American industry.  This is because while they preach free enterprise they practice big government, to their own detriment.  Drawing upon his own experience with Ford Motors, Weaver traces the history of the corporate state, and proposes an agenda for change.  An important volume.  Weaver, a neo-conservative turned libertarian, is a Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

West, E.G., Adam Smith:  The Man and His Works.  Indianapolis, Indiana:  Liberty Press, 1976.  254pp.

This volume provides a good introduction to the life and thought of Adam Smith.  Biographical elements are combined with political and economic analyses.  Special attention is paid to his The Wealth of Nations -- its background, philosophy, impact and importance.  A helpful look at one of the most influential figures in modern history.  Dr West currently teaches economics at Carleton University in Canada.

Wiegard, G. Carl, ed., Inflation and Unemployment.  Old Greenwich, Connecticut:  Devin-Adair, 1980.  190pp.

In this book 12 American economists look at the issues of inflation, unemployment, Keynesianism, profits, minimum wages, unions, the gold standard, welfare, and related topics.  Contributors include Henry Hazlitt, Hans Sennholz, John Chamberlain, and Patrick Boarman.  An excellent set of essays on the politics and economics of unemployment and inflation.

Williams, Walter E., All It Takes Is Guts:  A Minority View.  Washington, DC:  Regnery Books, 1987.  189pp.

Newspaper columns written by Williams from 1982 to 1987 are the basis of this book.  Williams comments on such issues as:  the Catholic Bishops' social and economic pronouncements;  protectionist legislation;  the quota system;  sanctions and South Africa;  tax reform;  social justice;  race and economics;  and Constitutional reform.  A good set of incisive, scholarly and biting essays.

Williams, Walter E., America:  A Minority Viewpoint.  Stanford, California:  Hoover Institution Press, 1982.  183pp.

This book contains columns written by Walters from 1977 to 1982.  In it are covered topics like affirmative action, labour unions, taxation, law and the courts, public education, housing for the poor, social security, racism, regulation and human rights.  A good collection of articles written by a black economics professor at George Mason University.

Williams, Walter E., The State Against Blacks.  New York:  McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1982.  183pp.

In this volume Williams demonstrates that discrimination is not a sufficient explanation of the lower standard of living for blacks.  Instead, government interference and economic regulation -- e.g., minimum wage laws -- are the chief obstacles to black economic development.  A forceful critique of government intervention and a much needed defence of the free market.  Rich in documentation and information.

Wright, David McCord, The Trouble With Marx.  New Rochelle, New York:  Arlington House, 1967.  192pp.

This is a clear discussion of the Marxist system, and a critique of its many errors.  Wright has a solid grasp of Marxian thinking, and he makes it accessible and intelligible to the average reader.  Wright points out the many flaws of Marxism and also examines the free market system.  Seeking to be objective and balanced in his approach, Wright shows the superiorities of capitalism over Marxism, although not ignorant of some of the weaknesses of capitalism.  Wright has written a number of books on economics.

Introduction

First, a word of explanation.  The reader may be struck by the fact that the overwhelming majority of books listed in this bibliography are written by American or Australian authors.  Thus this volume focuses on conservatism primarily as represented in America and Australia.  There are, however, a number of English and European authors also included.  Moreover, this bibliography mainly features titles written during the second half of the 20th century, although there are some volumes written earlier (19th and early 20th century) that are included as well.

AMERICAN CONSERVATISM

Historically and ideologically, the term "conservatism" has stood for many things.  In many respects it reflects thinking that has arisen out of the tenets of classical liberalism, with its emphasis on the individual.  Chronologically, many put Edmund Burke and his Reflections on the Revolution in France at the starting point of modern conservatism.

Several varieties of American conservatism can be distinguished in the works presented here.  One major grouping is that known as "traditional conservatism".  This branch of conservatism is represented by such figures as Russell Kirk, William F. Buckley, Willmoore Kendall, Walter Berns and Richard Weaver.  Some major emphases of this group include:

• The importance of the individual and of individual liberty.
• The importance of authority, order and tradition, with a corresponding distrust of utopianism, romanticism, anarchism and radicalism.
• The importance of religion and/or a transcendent moral/spiritual foundation.  The cultivation of virtue, both public and private, is viewed as an important goal.
• The importance of resisting the threat of totalitarianism, especially as manifest in communism.
• The necessity to limit the scope and power of government.
• The rejection of revolution and sudden change as a means of correcting social ills.  Slow reform is preferred to violent upheaval.
• The defence of private property and the free market as a bulwark against statism and as a guarantor of human freedom.

Another major grouping is that of libertarianism.  This group shares with traditional conservatism its stress on individual freedom and its dislike of big government.  Libertarianism finds representatives in such thinkers as John Hospers, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School of Economics.  Libertarians put their heaviest intellectual artillery to use on the encroaching powers of the state.  Indeed, the extreme dislike of statism on the part of some libertarians of the right can at times seem indistinguishable from the anarchism espoused by some of the radical left.

An important area of conflict between libertarianism and traditional conservatism centres on the matter of moral and spiritual concerns.  Most libertarians reject any state control over areas of morals and ethics, and seek to abolish all laws concerning the use of drugs, pornography and the like.  Ayn Rand is an example of one who has so defended moral and civil libertarianism that she has alienated many traditional conservatives.  Her atheism and advocacy of the "virtue of selfishness" has offended most traditional conservatives (including this author), and thus only a small sampling of her works appears in this bibliography.

Another group represented here is known as the neo-conservatives;  men such as Irving Kristol, Michael Novak, Peter Berger and Norman Podhoretz.  Most of these were former radicals and socialists who have now come to embrace conservatism.  Or as Kristol put it, neoconservatives are "liberals who have been mugged by reality".  They tend to be somewhat less supportive of free market capitalism than their traditional conservative and libertarian brethren however.  Thus they tend to be less critical of the welfare state and other means of government help for social problems.

A fourth group that can be mentioned here are those called "fusionists".  These thinkers seek to fuse traditional conservatism with libertarianism, a venture which many regard as a failed endeavour.  Frank Meyer is a leading figure in this group.

One further group which has had an important role in contemporary American conservatism is the New Right.  This group, represented by Richard Viguerie, Paul Weyrich and others, was a major contributor to the Reagan Revolution.  Members of the New Right are populists who make their appeals to the masses.  In this they differ from the Old Rightists (traditional conservatives), who tend to be elitist, more ideological, and somewhat anti-democratic.  The main concern of the New Right is domestic social issues:  issues like media and educational biases;  soft criminology;  welfare spending;  abortion;  high taxes;  racial quotas;  etc.  A close cousin of this group is the Religious Right, led by such men as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

These groupings are by no means exhaustive.  They are also not clearly separate entities, and much overlap can and does take place between them.  Furthermore, some authors listed in this work may not fit into any of the above classifications.  But these groupings show the kinds and varieties of American conservatism included in this bibliography.  Conservatism, far from being a monolithic ideological structure, is a diverse and multi-faceted phenomenon.

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATISM

It is perhaps only recently that Australian thinkers of the Right have come to feel comfortable with the term "conservative".  And it is only recently that conservatism in Australia has come to be regarded as a major intellectual force to be reckoned with.  The number of leading conservative voices still seems to be few and far between.  Nonetheless, a collection of competent conservative voices is beginning to be heard, and some of the best of them are included in this bibliography.  While the conservative scene in Australia may not be quite as diverse as in America, there nonetheless does exist some differences.  For example, many Australian conservatives would find some disagreement with Mr Santamaria on economic issues.  Yet they all tend to find common ground in their distrust of unchecked statism;  their fear of Soviet communism;  and their contempt for revolutionary radicalism.

It should be noted that there are a number of Australian conservative think tanks and organisations -- e.g., The Centre for Independent Studies (based in Sydney), the Australian Institute for Public Policy (based in Perth), Santamaria's National Civic Council (based in Melbourne), the Tasman Institute (also Melbourne) -- which publish quite a few books and booklets of interest.  Except for a few notable (book-length) exceptions, I have not included their publications.  The reader is encouraged to get in touch with these groups for full listings of all their available literature.

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This bibliography is unique in a number of respects.  First, to a large extent it features books which have been recently written.  Most of the books cited here were written within the last ten years.  Some are just hot off the press.  Thus this work is an up-to-date, "state of the art" bibliography.  Future supplements will be forthcoming to keep this a useful reference tool.

Second, a good number of the works listed here -- perhaps a third -- are authored by Christians (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, Evangelical).  Thus both the religious as well as the secular reader will find much of interest here.

Third, as well as giving a brief annotation, I have provided a description of the author and his background for many of the titles.

Obviously this work is not meant to be exhaustive, but merely representative of the top books in several areas written from a conservative perspective.  I am sure that each reader will be asking, "Why wasn't this book included?," or, "Why did he omit that volume?"  I have tried to give some of the cream of the crop, but regretfully many titles had to be left off this list.  Some books, for example, while of value, have simply become too outdated.  A good case in point would be Andrei Amalrik's Will the Soviet Union Survive until 1984?!  Also, books on conservative social thought seem to be pouring from the presses lately.  It is almost a full-time job just to keep up with all this new conservative literature.  However, most of the important conservative titles written up until mid-1990 have been included in this bibliography.

Concerning the classification system:  it is by necessity somewhat arbitrary.  Many works listed under the Economics section, for example, could also fit under the Marxism section.  Also, some volumes do not really fit under any heading, thus the Miscellaneous section.

Most of the books listed here are still in print;  however, a number of them are now out of print and hard to locate.  I have found, nevertheless that (in America, at least), patient and persistent visitations of local second-hand bookstores often result in the discovery of a number of books thought to be long lost.  The reader living in Australia is invited to read the Appendix where help is offered for obtaining the harder-to-find American titles.

* * *

It may well be that the major battle of this age is the war of ideas.  "Ideas have consequences," wrote Richard Weaver in 1948.  An important means of winning this ideological war is to be armed with the appropriate ammunition.  It is my hope that the ideas contained in these books will be of help to all who seek to successfully engage in this battle of ideas.

Modern Conservative Thought: An Annotated Bibliography

FOREWORD

Monthly Review is arguably the most prestigious and scholarly of US Marxist-Leninist publications.  In the October 1989 edition of this journal Otto Latsis, one of the architects of the economic programs implemented by Gorbachev and assistant editor of the main theoretical journal of the CPSU, Kommunist, contributes an article examining the progress of perestroika.

With refreshing candour Latsis acknowledges that perestroika has not been without its disappointments.  What was originally expected was "a transitional period (about three years) of structural changes and mild improvement in supplies, to be followed by an increasingly rapid 'take-off' in which the benefits of the new economic practices and thinking would be fully apparent.  What actually happened was the rapid worsening of the economic situation, growing inflation, and the disappearance of basic consumer goods" (p.19).

Latsis pinpoints what he believes led to this outcome.  He blames "the major monopolies within the Soviet national economy, i.e., the so-called Economic State Ministries (light industy, electric industry, construction, hydraulics, etc., nearly 100 in all).  Their direct interest in budget expansion -- to increase staff and power -- together with their political and manipualtive clout were sufficient to dominate the national economy despite many declarations in favour of financial prudence by the Politbureau, the press, and the country's professional economists" (p.20).

I quote from this article simply to make an all too obvious point.  It would have been unthinkable even a decade ago that a Soviet economist of the stature of Latsis would have so vigorously attacked the central economic planning that, according to Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy, is to supplant a reliance upon markets as co-ordinating mechanisms for a people's economy.  And Latsis is not alone.  The brilliant Marxist theoretician, Jon Elster, states categorically in his volume, An Introduction to Karl Marx (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1986), that "scientific socialism is dead" and that "Marxian economic theory is dead."

Democratic socialist parties of the West have likewise undergone a metamorphosis.  Some such parties have embraced and implemented programs of "deregulation" and "privatisation".  Accompanying this remarkable change in "socialist" practice has been a no less remarkable change in "socialist" theory.  Perhaps the most astonishing expression of the new "socialist" mentality is to be found in a volume penned by the self-styled "socialist" author, Peter Rutland.  In The Myth of the Plan (Illinois:  Open Court, 1985), Rutland seriously suggests that "authentic socialism" demands a Hayekian free market economy!  "It is only in the Hayekian market that the most crucial commodity of all -- information -- is truly socialized" (p.43).

One could amplify the essential point I am making at inordinate length.  In Poland, the works of Friedrich Hayek are being eagerly devoured and defended by some of the brightest minds in that country.  Classical liberalism has almost overnight become not simply intellectually respectable but a source of hope and excitement.  Free markets, individual liberties, and limited constitutional government are widely being perceived as the sine qua non of material abundance and human dignity.

Which brings me to Richard Wood's Modern Conservative Thought:  An Annotated Bibliography.  Once upon a not-so-distant time it was possible for defenders of a free market economy in a free and open society to read almost all new volumes published defending such a vision of the good society.  Such volumes were all too few and far between.

The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic change in the situation.  A plethora of books and articles, both scholarly and popular, advocating conservatism or classical liberalism have been published.  It has become virtually impossible for any one person to "keep up" with the literature.

Richard Wood's Bibliography constitutes an invaluable guide to what one might call the literature of liberty.  Defenders of economic and individual liberty need to be familiar with the economic and philosophical underpinnings of their position.  One side of today's economic and political coin is the failure, both in theory and practice, of socialism.  The other idea is the compelling case being made for limited government, individual liberties, and free markets.  Long-term, it is ideas that win or lose.  Richard has put within our hands a singularly helpful guide to the ideas and ideals that constitute the alternative to the discredited vision of socialism in its many forms.

I happen to know that working on this volume was, for Richard, a labour of love.  Yet defenders of economic and individual liberty are unspeakably indebted to him for what his toils have produced.  He has made the demands properly laid upon the shoulders of such men and women an unspeakably easier burden to carry.  He has brought to our attention a vast library arguing the case for freedom.  May we make full use of this unique work.

- Rev Dr John Williams

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PREFACE

During the tumultuous '60s few of us in the counterculture would have guessed that within two short decades the radicalism of the drop-out generation would be superseded by the conservatism of the Yuppie generation.  Who could have thought, back in 1969, that in 15 years Ronald Reagan would be elected for two terms in the White House, or that Margaret Thatcher would serve multiple terms as Prime Minister?

Moreover, in the 1960s it seemed that Communism was on the march, heading for a glorious future, while capitalist societies seemed to be in a state of disintegration.  Little did we know that by 1990 communism would be in full flight, no longer the wave of the future but the skeleton of the past.  Nor could we predict the remarkable resurgence of free market forces.

Like many others, my personal journey reflected in microcosm the changes going on around me in macrocosm during those years.  I eventually abandoned my agnosticism for Christianity, my radicalism for conservatism.  I therefore replaced my books on the occult, eastern religions, New Left politics and Marxist revolution with books on religion of the more traditional sort, and politics of the more conservative variety.

Many times nowadays I am asked for recommendations of books expressing the conservative perspective on issues of ethics, politics, economics, current events and the like.  Knowing of no single good source or bibliography available on conservative social thought, I have had to produce my own.  Hence this bibliography.

---

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Economics and Welfare
3. Marxism/Communism/East-West Relations
4. Liberation Theology
5. War, Peace and Nuclear Issues
6. Law, Legislation and Constitutionalism
7. Education
8. Religion and Politics
9. Sexual and Bio-medical Ethics
10. Science and the Environment
11. The Media
12. Miscellaneous and General
13. Epilogue

Appendix

The Churches' crisis of credibility

The Kindness that Kills:  the Churches' Simplistic Response to Complex Social Issues
Digby Anderson (ed.)
London, SPCK, 1984.

Socialist thinking has had a pronounced effect on sections of the modern churches, particularly the social justice commissions.  Many of the publications of these commissions demonstrate the unmistakable influence of "liberation theology" which combines misplaced Christian theology with Marxist sociology.  The book, The Kindness that Kills, brings together telling criticisms of the economic, sociological and theological foundations of Church "social justice" programmes and the doctrine of liberation theology, criticisms as relevant to the Australian situation as to England.

These essays by English writers on church social issues' documents leave no doubt about who is doing the killing.  Socially active churchmen are known for their words.  But there remains some doubt about who, or what, is the real victim of current trends within official Christendom.

The book's stated purpose, is to show that those most at risk from church justice pronouncements are the intended beneficiaries of a new ideology of social care.  "Careless care", the message goes, "may hurt the very people its well-meaning exponents claim to help" (p.10).  That is clear enough.  But there is an underlying argument.  Church leaderships (those groups, committees and parties, rather than individiduals themselves, which shape the perceived image of churches in the modern world) have reached the point of moral and intellectual exhaustion.

Each essay in this collection supports this dismal conclusion.  The result, if the authors can be believed, is not simply the diminishing influence of rites and liturgies;  it is more than that, and it affects more than the religious dimension.  The major churches have embraced a political bias not only against their own past, but against the cultural traditions in which they are formed and which, indeed, they helped to form.  The kindness that kills, then, rebounds on the churches no less than on the objects of their compassion.  And on society too.

David Martin's discussion of the Church of England's transition "from established church to secular lobby" may refer to only one denomination among many.  But it should cause even the most ardent nonconformist to recognise the relative insignificance of merely private religious associations (which the Church of England is in danger of becoming) and to weigh the consequences of repudiating the historic "relation between church and Christian commonwealth" (p.142).

The question, of course, applies far beyond the Church of England.  This is what makes these essays important for Australian readers, who might be excused for thinking that arguments between English bishops and their critics must be of purely parochial interest.  On the contrary, no one will fail to hear echoes of recent Australian controversies in these pages.  We have our own clerical champions against multi-nationals and our own socio-theological theorists on poverty, unemployment, racism, declining standards in schools and the creation of wealth.

Part I of The Kindness That Kills examines church statements on all these issues.  There is, for example, nothing specifically English about Lord Bauer's examination of two papal encyclicals in "Ecclesiastical Economics of the Third World:  Envy Legitimised".  The same can be said of Robert Miller's appraisal of statements on unemployment, in which he finds that leap "from assertion of the evils of unemployment ... to an interventionist cure" which is so well-known to readers of Changing Australia, the 1983 document prepared by four Australian church agencies.  Miller might have them in mind when he concludes that "despite claims that a specifically Christian 'input' or 'leavening' is necessary, the values and prescriptions in most statements on unemployment by churchmen are almost identical to those of socialist politicians" (p.75).

However, it is in Part II that the book escapes all geographical limitations.  While it may be said that the arguments in Part I have been heard before, in one form or another, in Part II (Fundamental Issues) the emphasis shifts from critique to construction.  Six essays in this section open avenues for creative debate.  The unstated point is that churches need to rediscover their freedom from ideological constraints, and these chapters show how this is possible.

Brian Griffiths in "Christianity and Capitalism" exemplifies the broad and rigorous scholarship which informs this book.  While denying, against much contemporary theology, that it is possible to deduce socialism from Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom of God, he refuses to give blanket approval to the market economy and finds the libertarian defence of inequality (on the basis of exclusive property rights) to be unacceptable.  Egalitarianism is not "Christian" enough.  And, since the major historic advocacies of capitalism as an economic system all depend on "a thoroughly secular philosophy" he states that the market economy must be rescued from "its narrow secular ideology" (p.114).

It remains for William Oddie to tackle Christian socialism on its own ground of the biblical texts which, it is claimed, establish "God's preference for the (economically) poor".  If there is a single chapter of The Kindness That Kills which Christians of all persuasions should read, this is it.  Oddie links the Magnificat ¹ ("the most frequently misused text of all" p.125) to its Old Testament source in the Song of Hannah ².  This simple piece of exegesis shows that the mother of Jesus has no intention of sanctifying economic revolution.  Nor does Luke's text transform the Old Testament view that wealth is spiritually dangerous for whoever possesses it, but may also be a sign of divine favour.

Oddie traces modern Christian socialism to its roots in Pelagius, the 5th century British heretic, who still wields his influence wherever Christians grow forgetful of the innate imperfection of mankind, and romanticise the possibilities of the collective will to justice.  For these reasons, says Oddie, church leadership today has permitted theology to be absorbed by politics and economics and Christian hope to be located "entirely within the possibilities (real or imagined) for human society" (p.131).

The two final essays offer the beginnings of methodological wisdom for those who regard partisan rhetoric as a fair substitute for knowledge of one's subject.  Rachel Steare urges churchmen to discover the sources which might lend some balance to their opinions.  It is left to Digby Anderson to describe church reports as "hotchpotches, stews and pies" and then to ask why this is so.

His answer recalls a theme that lies just below the surface throughout the book.  Nowhere is it explicit, but everywhere it is implied, that church leaders have lost their confidence in "the more obviously central aspects of our faith" (John Greenwood, p.51).  In another early essay Robert Miller wonders "that the Churches deploy their carefully husbanded resources in areas where they seem to say nothing very different from other interested people rather than where they are qualified to make a distinctive contribution" (p.75).  What might such a contribution be?  Ralph Harris' reply may seem at once too irrelevant and too hard for modern activist clergy.  He writes:

"If the Church had been more successful in elevating human nature, the market in which people work, spend, save and invest would reflect those higher standards of behaviour, the absence of which the more politicised bishops constantly lament and conveniently blame on 'the market'!

Yet their secular gospel for socialism strains after an approach to heaven-on-earth that would make far higher demands on unselfish sharing and self-sacrifice.  The dilemma they dodge is that, in the absence of a transformation of human nature, sharing and sacrifice would have to be ruthlessly imposed by state power that must rob such qualities of any vestige of virtue" (p.97).

The agenda for churches outlined in this book may be only a by-product of its critical purpose, but that only shows how important these essays really are.  Taken as a whole they are a striking demonstration of the latent resourcefulness of the Christian tradition.  That such a book should be written, indeed, may be a small sign that the decline of the churches is neither complete nor inevitable.  We can hope so, in which case society as a whole, including the poorest and weakest, might have cause to be thankful.

SEPARATING CHRISTIANITY FROM SOCIALISM

The following passages from Digby Anderson (ed), The Kindness That Kills, provide an idea of the range of topics addressed in the book as well as indicating the direction of a reasoned, ethically-based case against con Hating Christianity with socialism.  All are responses to British Church documents on social and economic issues.

1) Equality and Social Justice

"Redistribution is advocated on the grounds that wealth has been unequally and therefore unjustly acquired.  There are at least two confusions in this argument.  First inequality is not the same as injustice.  if some people make better use than others of their skills, and do so for the general wellbeing, it would be unjust if everyone were to receive the same rewards.  Just deserts are not the same as equal shares.  The Parable of the Talents is of course an illustration of this point (Matthew 25: 14-30).  The second confusion is the assumption that wealth is simply acquired.  In fact it has to be created, a process which often involves breathtaking imagination and ingenuity ... There can be no moral objection to rewarding the conspicuously able and energetic with a proportionally larger share of the wealth they have helped to create".

Graham Dawson,
"God's Creation, Wealth Creation and the Ideal Redistributors".

2) Compulsory Unionism

"All these attempts to claim support for the morality of closed shops from the standpoint of trade union history, industrial sociology, or the analogy with industrial or political democracy, are entirely spurious.  Instead the matter should be debated on straightforward moral grounds ... Closed shops impose a condition of employment that all employees must be members of a trade union.  The plain objection is that such unnecessary private coercion is a fundamental infringement on the rights of individuals who are compelled to join organisations to which they may not wish to belong, through the fear of losing a job or not obtaining employment".

John Greenwood,
"The Closed Shop and the Closed Conscience".

3) Racism

"The tired old work-horse of cultural relativism has been dragged out of his retirement stable once more.  What, for example, is the origin of the view that racial prejudice is immoral and unjustifiable?  The answer is:  precisely those modern "western" values which the report is questioning.  Interestingly enough, the report nowhere mentions that anti-racism is a product of liberalism".

Dennis O'Keefe,
"Racism:  Neither a Sin Apart nor an Excuse for Hysteria".

4) Unemployment

"From the assertions of the evils of unemployment, the leap to an interventionist cure is frequently made without more ado.  In many cases, this seems less an attempt to connect incarnational theology with collectivist means than a very limited view of economic theory.  The writers have not appreciated the possibility that (government) intervention may actually have helped cause unemployment, tends to perpetuate it, and that the most successful way to reduce it may be to diminish the extensive intervention already imposed by government".

Robert Miller,
"Unemployment:  Putting Faith in the New Princes".

5) Education

"... the Churches have allowed the case for religious education to go largely by default in the (government) maintained schools attended by most of the population.  And they have capitulated despite evidence that such religious education is wholly in accordance with the wishes of the vast majority of parents.  The moral vacuum thus left by the Churches in many schools is now being tilled in some places by other ideologies".

Caroline Cox and John Marks,
"Complaining about Education Cuts:  Materialist Diversions from Proper Concerns".

6) Welfare

"... my plea is to get away from discussing the welfare state as a battleground between 'goodies' who always want to spend more on it and 'baddies' who believe there are better ways to help those who cannot help themselves".

Ralph Harris,
"The Folly of Politicised Welfare".

7) Free Enterprise

"The basic argument for a market economy is that for all its imperfections, it is a system that pays respect to human dignity because it allows human freedom.  It permits individuals the freedom to buy and sell, save and invest, choose their preferred form of employment and develop the skills they feel appropriate.  It allows minorities the same rights too.  Socialism does not".

Brian Griffiths,
"Chrisitianity and Capitalism".

8) Social Utopianism

"The acceptance of the imperfect world where the individual seeks to better himself through the love of God and of his neighbour is a fundamental principle implicit in all Christian tradition.  It is by departing from this principle to a vision of a perfect social system in which any sort of personal betterment is irrelevant that the progressive Christian begins to secularise himself by undermining the very fundamentals of his own beliefs".

Maciej Pomian-Srednicki and Alexander Tomsky,
"Marxism:  The Compulsion to Neighbourly Love".

9) From Established Church to Secular Lobby

"The term 'the Church' as deployed by the bureaucracy, and also as appropriated by the General Synod (of the Church of England), continues to carry a traditional meaning, as denoting the corpus Christianorum or 'the body of all faithful people.  But this traditional usage only conceals a non-traditional intention, which is to attach the label 'the Church' to the opinions of a bureaucratically organised pressure group, especially as embodied in its specialist agencies".

David Martin,
"The Church of England:  From Established Church to Secular lobby".

10) From Individual Responsibilily to Collective Guilt

"(There is) a shift from an emphasis on the individual in his particular situation to an analysis in terms of social structural defects ... Guilt no longer inheres in the responsible person, but in blameworthy collectivities".

David Marlin,
Ibid

FOOTNOTES

1. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
   he has put down the mighty from their thrones,
   and exalted those of low degree,
   he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and the rich he has sent away (Luke 1: 51-3).
2. The Lord kills and brings to life;
   he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
   The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
   he brings low, he also exalts.
   He raises up the poor from the dust;
   he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
   to make them sit with princes
   and inherit a seat of honour (1 Sam 2: 1-10)

A History Of Government Failure

A History of the Modern World:  From 1917 to the 1980s
by Paul Johnson
(Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1983, pp 817) paperback.

Until his break with the Left in the early 1970s, Paul Johnson was editor of the British left-wing periodical, The New Statesman.  Now he contributes regularly to the London Spectator through his column on the press, and has written numerous volumes, including a history of Christianity and a study of modern nihilism, The Enemy Within.  The extent of his erudition, as well as his commitment to a view of history in which state intervention is not cast in the heroic role, is evident in his latest and largest book, A History of the Modern World.

Johnson's history is global drama on a grand scale, tremendously readable and well-researched.  He offers a mass of interesting information.  He often lets major characters speak for themselves, by skillful use of direct quotes.  This revealing technique brings authenticity and freshness to the narrative.

The book deals with every part of the world, and many areas of human achievement.  Johnson makes full-blooded judgments of people and events.  He demonstrates starkly the irresponsibility of yielding to adventurers and misguided do-gooders.  He offers a lesson in the importance of good management in human affairs.  His analysis seems essentially right-headed.

Two government plagues, says Johnson, have blighted man from the twenties to the eighties:  market meddling and social engineering.  In developing these twin themes, Johnson persuasively overturns conventionally accepted assessments that blame capitalism and the market for most twentieth century tragedies.  The zest he brings to the demolition of such misinterpretations is fuelled by his belief that the modern world is dangerously susceptible to well-packaged mythology.

A good example is the great depression.  Conventional wisdom says it was caused by unrestrained capitalism, and cured by Keynesian interventionism under Roosevelt.  Not so, says Johnson.  He argues that the depression was both caused and prolonged by market meddling.

He contends that the major causes were high US tariffs through the 1920s and beyond, combined with policies of continuous credit-inflation and artificially low interest rates.  He also contends that when the depression hit, the interventionist solution was tried not only by Roosevelt, but also by Hoover immediately before him.  Hoover "sought to use government cash to reflate the economy" (244), and "Roosevelt's legislation for the most part extended or tinkered with Hoover policies" (255).

Johnson wryly comments:  "If interventionism worked, it took nine years and a world war to demonstrate the fact" (257).  By contrast, the German economy recovered much more quickly, Hitler having the sense not to try to run the economy (293).  Johnson's overall assessment of interventionist policies is that "political activities rarely promoted economic well-being, though they might, if intense and protracted enough, undermine it.  The most useful function of government was to hold the ring, within which individuals could advance their own interests, benefiting the communal one in the process" (612).

In fact, however, misguided meddling went on repeatedly and disastrously in most countries from the 1920s to the end of the 1970s.  Johnson is encouraged that by then, "most governments were seeking to reduce the public, and expand the market, sectors of their economies" (728).

Johnson shows how some nations have resisted world trends, and lifted themselves out of the ruck.  He cites two particular success stories.  One is the market economies of the Pacific, which are also notable for their lack of natural resources.

The other is the revival of Europe.  This was achieved by Adenauer and de Gaulle, "two old-fashioned conservative Catholics, ... whose view of the world had been formed before 1914, but who had remained astonishingly alert to the changes and opportunities which the tragic events of their lifetimes had brought about" (598).

De Gaulle gets Johnson's accolade as "the outstanding statesman of modern times" (596), because he enabled France to reverse the historic trends of the 1930s and again become a dynamic nation.  Churchill and Eisenhower were "the two greatest statesmen of the mid-century" (463).

Eisenhower carefully understated himself.  His decade was the most prosperous of modern times.  He held federal spending despite enormous pressures (464).  Eisenhower said, "There is no defence for any country that busts its own economy".  This makes an interesting contrast with JFK, who apparently invented the term "big government", and described it as "the problem eliminator" (638).  Lyndon Johnson in turn described his domestic spending as "the beautiful woman".  On a different plane, Jimmy Carter said America's power to influence events was "very limited" (674).  Johnson sums up his assessment of the US in the period between Eisenhower and Reagan in the chapter title:  "America's Suicide Attempt".

Johnson's overall assessment of the performance of government is scathing.  He says that the state, whose share of GDP has risen from 5-10 per cent in 1914 to 45 per cent today, "was the great gainer of the twentieth century;  and the central failure" (729).  It has proved "an insatiable spender, an unrivalled waster".  His observation that the twentieth century state has proved "the great killer of all time" shifts the spotlight to social engineering.

SOCIAL ENGINEERING

Stalin collectivised the Russian peasantry at a cost of *some 10 million human lives (271).  Hitler "murdered at least 5,800,000" Jews in the name of the final solution (415).  There are no figures about how many millions died during the Great Leap, when Mao transformed the "economic, political and administrative life" of 700 million people in 7 months (550).  Soviet and satellite policies made refugees of 9 million people in the 1970s (709).

These are the grosser outbursts of social engineering.  But they highlight a virtually universal trend.  Always and everywhere, says Johnson, there are "plans".  "At the democratic end of the spectrum, the political zealot offered New Deals, Great Societies, and Welfare States;  at the totalitarian end, cultural revolutions" (729).

Accordingly, he regards professional politicians as "the great human scourge of the twentieth century" (510).  Johnson hopes that "the age of politics" died in the late 1970s, along with the belief that politics is "the cure for human ills" (729-30).  But he does not put his hopes very high.

The birth of this "political" age arose from many historical circumstances.  Johnson dates the modern world from Einstein's theory of relativity in 1919, and notes how this theory was rapidly confused with moral relativism.  But the environment in which our world was incubated also included the horrors of the War, a greatly expanded government role, the Versailles peace settlement, the Bolshevik Revolution, Freudian psychoanalysis, the decline of religion, the collapse of legitimacy.  It was a potent breeding-ground.

The 1920s were the "last Arcadia" (Ch.6).  The taciturn Calvin Coolidge, US President from 1923-28, and almost universally denigrated ever since, is one of Johnson's heroes.  "No public man carried into modern times more comprehensively the founding principles of Americanism:  hard work, frugality, freedom of conscience, freedom from government, respect for serious culture" (219).

Coolidge said "economy is idealism in its most practical form".  He made out a good case for his legendary terseness:  nine-tenths of a president's callers at the White House "want something they ought not to have.  If you keep dead still they will run out in three or four minutes".  On resigning the Presidency, he snapped at the Press:  "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business" (221).  But the runs were on the board:  by 1929, the United States was contributing a record 34.4 per cent of total world production (228).

During the locust years of the 1930s, a man like Coolidge shines like a star in hell.  As Hitler and Stalin clawed their way through history, the spirit of the Thirties "repudiated the virtues of capitalist enterprise and embraced those of collectivism" (259).  John Strachey is the epitome of Western blindness.  Strachey said:  "To travel from the capitalist world into Soviet territory is to pass from death to birth" (260).

Then came the Second World War, followed by Soviet expansionism and decolonisation.  The new states, in their desire for rapid development, were particularly fertile ground for social engineering and excessive politics.  The management of international affairs became exceedingly difficult, especially when the predominantly left-wing totalitarian and one-party states became numerically preponderant in the United Nations.  These problems are unresolved.

MORAL RELATIVISM

A major theme of the book is the debilitating impact of moral relativism -- the view that values are a matter of opinion, and incapable of ultimate proof or disproof by rational argument.  Johnson blames moral relativism for Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, and modern terrorism.  This overstates the case, for no arguments, valid or not, would ever cut any ice with these dictators.

But the fact remains that moral relativism has led some people to wash their hands of their responsibilities.  This has produced some disastrous consequences:  one example is the "principle introduced by Hammarskjold that killing among Africans is not the UN's business" (537).

Of course moral relativism in no way removes moral dilemmas.  In particular, if argument is impotent against expansionist tyranny, what are good men to do?  This age-old question is far more acute in a world where the reach of totalitarian technology appears unlimited by time or space.

It is in Johnson's view tragic that nobody has been able to give a better answer than the need to respond in kind.  Johnson does not himself offer a solution -- and who can blame him -- although he toys with the old natural law theory (402-3).  But he does spell out the result in the starkest terms:  "moral corruption operates a satanic Gresham's Law, in which evil drives out good" (428).

Johnson has done far more in this book than merely contribute to historical scholarship.  His free market/ limited government interpretation of the modern world adds enormous weight and conviction to the private enterprise cause.

MACNEILE DIXON'S "The Human Situation"

The Human Situation
by Macneile Dixon
Edward Arnold, London, and Penguin, Harmondsworth.

While the British philosopher, Macneile Dixon, is not well known today, in the 1930s he published a book which the New York Times described "... as perhaps the most important book of its kind which the 20th century has yet produced".  The author was the Regius Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow from 1904 until his retirement in 1935.

The Human Situation by Macneile Dixon was my "best book" for 1990.  It will also be the best book I will read in 1991 or, for that matter, in 1992, or almost certainly in any other year.

Published in the late 1930s, The Human Situation comprises the Gifford Lectures (renowned in philosophical circles) delivered at the University of Glasgow from 1935 to 1937.  It is, to my admittedly limited knowledge, perhaps the greatest book of this century.  It represents an intellectual achievement of a magnitude that staggers the imagination.  The range of knowledge which this great work exhibits would seem to be almost beyond the compass of a single human being.  But even that is not its most impressive feature.  This all-encompassing knowledge is merely the foundation of a philosophical inquiry of extraordinary profundity and penetration, an inquiry enlivened by the humanity, wisdom, tolerance and humour of the author and by the magnificently sustained force and beauty of the prose.

The Human Situation, in essence, represents an irresistible assault on the dogmas and dogmatism -- religious, political, social, scientific -- to which today's world in particular seems peculiarly prone.

This is not a book which one picks up and reads from cover to cover in a few sittings.  It demands far too much of the reader for that.  It is a book that one takes down from the shelves and opens almost at random when one feels the need of the intellectual stimulus and enlightment to be derived from association with a rare and great mind.

Nevertheless, a connecting theme shines through the pages.  The theme is the author's abiding regard for the endurance and courage of the human species and, above all, his deeply felt concern for the individual person and his hatred of systems of thought which would confine the individual within the narrowly restrictive boundaries of some man-made ideology.

While he is not uncritical of religious dogmas, as of all dogmas, the author's sympathies are with the men of religion who accept the wonder and mysteries of the world, rather than with the rationalists and ethical idealists who dispense with the magic and the miracles and all hopes of an existence beyond the present.

Macneile Dixon is, indeed, profoundly sceptical of all man-made systems of thought.  "Not a philospher of them all", he writes, "has, in my opinion at least, written the first sentence in the book of the human soul".  While not uncritical of some aspects of the teachings of the Christian Church, he says that Christianity, "to its eternal honour has stood steadfastly for the sanctity of the individual".  And he goes on, "To imprison the human spirit is the unpardonable sin, the attempt to make men automata, to force them into the same mould.  No means will ever be found to induce human beings to surrender themselves, either body or soul, to a dictated felicity, to satisfactions chosen for them, whatever vulgar Caesars rule the world.  And upon this rock all forms of regimentation, of standardised existence will eventually shipwreck.  Every type of compulsion is hateful, always has been and always will be hateful, as long as men are men".

Macneile Dixon has a fierce contempt and hatred for all forms of collectivism, even those based on humanitarian considerations.  "In their anxiety for human welfare, in their collectivist schemes, the sentimentalists have overlooked the individual man.  They submerge him in the sea of their universal benevolence.  But who desires to live in the pauperdom of their charity ... the last and greatest insult you can offer the human race is to regard it as a herd of cattle to be driven to your selected pasture.  You deprive the individual of his last rag of self-respect, the most precious of his possessions, himself".

To extract the essence of Macneile Dixon's teaching, one must read and study him again, and then again.  But this truly monumental work, The Human Situation, is so full of intellectual treasures, one to be found on almost every page, so rich in purple passages of inspiring, memorable prose, that the effort will be greatly rewarded.  As the New York Times said at the time of its publication, "To read this book is to share an exciting adventure".

Cutting the size of government: the great structural challenge

"The growth of 'big government' and the appropriate 'limits to government' are leading issues in contemporary society, at both popular and academic levels ... government today intervenes widely, deeply and in detail in private decision-making;  private pressures are exerted on government to act to discriminate in favour of special groups, at times intensifying conflict and at other times constraining it:  by no means paradoxically, government now seems less and less able to solve many of the problems that it purports to deal with or which private interests seek to have solved by public (government) action;  yet private interests often appear to be dependent on government to 'solve' their problems by non-market means without full consideration of market possibilities".

N.G. Butlin, A. Barnard, J.J. Pincus,
Government and Capitalism,
George Allen & Unwin 1982

"Wise government will make use of the knowledge and planning capacities of businessmen, volunteers, individuals and provide ways for people to reconcile and harmonise their different priorities.  It will not overburden itself by trying to take away the capacity to plan from individuals and grows and locate this authority in government itself.  For when this happens, we experience not a greater confidence and certainty that we know what policy is -- on the contrary we experience a disruptive and ineffectual government which breeds uncertainty and by undermining predictability or increasing the difficulty of independent action, stultifies decision-making in other social and economic institutions".

Professor David Kemp,
"Problems with Government Planning,"
Autumn 1984.

INTRODUCTION

RESTRUCTURING THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR

The rapid growth in the government sector over the last decade is the most significant structural change in the Australian economy since the Second World War.

Between 1973/74 and 1983/84 government increased its share of national output from almost 32 per cent to just under 42 per cent.  Much of the employment growth during this period has been in the government sector and government subsidised activities.

This paper summarises some of the key aspects of this major structural change in the Australian economy:  measures of big government, forces promoting the on-rush of government, the adverse consequences of government expansion and what can be done about it.  For those wishing to pursue this matter further a brief reading guide is provided.

It has to be pointed out that there is no measure that can adequately indicate the enormous impact of government -- especially government regulation -- on private decision making.

The need to reduce the size of the government sector is now a bipartisan issue.  This reflects the view that government growth and interference are having an adverse effect on our economic performance as well as harmful social consequences.

Governments have responsibility primarily in the provision of services assisting the needy and in providing a framework of laws within which our society can function.

Economic debate over the next decade will certainly focus on such issues as how government can be made more efficient and responsive to community needs, what is the appropriate role for government in the economy, and how community needs can be better met through a more vigorous private sector.

Australia's relatively poor economic growth compared with the more dynamic economies in part results from the stifling effect that big government is having, on private enterprise.  Restructuring and reducing the size of the government sector must occur if our economic health is to be fully restored.

GOVERNMENTS ARE SPENDING MUCH MORE

In the last ten years total government spending has increased almost fivefold -- from $16,147 million to $77,428 million.

• In real terms government spending increased by 70 per cent in the ten years (far outstripping the economy which grew by 28 per cent).

Government Outlays *

	$M
1953/54	2472
1954/55	2681
1955/56	2944
1956/57	3084
1957/58	3278
1958/59	3560
1959/60	3872
1960/61	4195
1961/62	4545
1962/63	4799
1963/64	5321
1964/65	6001
1965/66	6668
1966/67	7359
1967/68	8105
1968/69	8625
1969/70	9685
1970/71	10487
1971/72	11952
1972/73	12312
1973/74	16147
1974/75	22622
1975/76	27521
1976/77	31634
1977/78	35680
1978/79	38567
1979/80	43220
1980/81	49763
1981/82	57318
1982/83	67931
1983/84	77428

* Commonwealth, State and Local governments together with public authorities.

Government outlays have risen sharply -- from 31.6 per cent of GDP in 1973/74 to 41.8 per cent in 1983/84.  In the current year the share of government will rise to over 42 per cent.

All levels of government have contributed to this upsurge in government spending.

SPENDING HAS PUSHED UP TAXES

The massive upsurge in spending has forced governments to increase their overall levels of taxation rapidly.

The tax burden in 1983/84 averaged $3600 per head, compared with $2700 (in 1983/84 dollars) a decade ago.

Income taxes, excises and sales taxes are the most important revenue raisers at the Commonwealth level.  At the State level the most significant taxes include payroll tax, stamp duty, motoring taxes and business franchise levies.

* excluding some minor taxes.

Personal income tax is the fastest growing tax at the Commonwealth level.  It has risen from 54 per cent of total tax revenue in 1980/81 to an estimated 58 per cent this year.  At the State level payroll taxes and, more recently, payments in the nature of a dividend by statutory authorities have grown very rapidly.

GOVERNMENT SECTOR DEFICITS HAVE CLIMBED

Despite the rapid growth of taxation, governments have needed to borrow extensively to finance their activities.

Government Deficits *
(all levels of government)

	$M
1953/54	193
1954/55	279
1955/56	360
1956/57	196
1957/58	159
1958/59	431
1959/60	365
1960/61	229
1961/62	511
1962/63	559
1963/64	583
1964/65	514
1965/66	654
1966/67	926
1967/68	1002
1968/69	671
1969/70	618
1970/71	471
1971/72	556
1972/73	896
1973/74	754
1974/75	3257
1975/76	3923
1976/77	4007
1977/78	5396
1978/79	5511
1979/80	4659
1980/81	4513
1981/82	6006
1982/83	11444
1983/84	14807

* public sector borrowing requirement

Over the years to June 1984, the borrowings of governments and their authorities have accumulated a national debt of $73,000 million -- almost $5000 for each man, woman and child in Australia.  $16 billion of this debt is owed overseas.  The debt is expected to grow by about 40 per cent to $105,000 million in the next two years.

The interest bill to service this debt is one of the fastest growing items in the budgets of governments and statutory authorities.  The Commonwealth government interest bill in 1984/85 will account for 8.8 per cent of Commonwealth budget outlays.  Ten years ago it accounted for less than 5 per cent of outlays.

"... borrowing, through swollen Budget deficits and the like, merely serves to push up or hold up interest rates, inflate further the now very rapidly growing stock of debt, add further in turn to the now leaping cost of servicing that debt, defer further the day when meaningful reductions in taxation can be made and above all defer -- if not fundamentally impair -- the chances of lasting recovery in the longer-run".

J.O. Stone,
Shann Memorial Lecture,
27 August 1984.

THE TAX BURDEN ON INDIVIDUALS HAS SOARED

Three decades ago the individual receiving average weekly earnings paid some 10.2 per cent of his earnings in income tax.  Today he pays nearly 24 per cent.

For every extra dollar earned the marginal tax rate for the person on average weekly earnings was 19.2 per cent in 1953/54.  Today it is 47 cents in the dollar.

The impact of taxes on the individual can be gauged from the following example:

An individual on average weekly earnings who decides to undertake overtime work in order to buy a $10,000 car would have to earn an additional $18,870 -- $8,870 being tax at the rate of 47 cents in each dollar.

But his or her tax burden is in fact higher than the $8,870.  The car carries a sales tax of some 20 per cent at the wholesale level so that around $1,300 of the purchase price also goes to the government.  Thus in order to purchase the car the prospective buyer must work more than one hour for the government for each hour he works for himself.

MORE PEOPLE ARE WORKING FOR GOVERNMENT

Most of the increase in employment in the last decade has been in the area of government or government subsidised jobs -- the "non-market sector".

• Some 533,000 jobs were created in the non-market sector, compared with 177,000 in the market sector.
• Over a quarter of all employed persons are in the non-market sector.

Market and Non-Market Employment (000's)

	1974	1984	% Annual Change
Market Sector   Agriculture   Mining   Manufacturing   Construction   Wholesale & Retail   Transport & Storage   Communication   Finance   Recreation & Other Services	404.8 73.8 1374.3 506.3 1165.7 243.9 130.7 429.4 355.5	411.5 94.8 1159.2 441.8 1311.7 263.9 138.1 609.9 430.9	0.2 2.5 -1.5 -1.2 1.2 0.8 0.6 3.6 1.9
Total Market	4,684.4	4,861.8	0.4
Non-Market Sector   Electricity, Gas & Water   Public Administration   Community Services   Rail Transport	104.1 250.5 746.7 69.5	142.4 318.3 1157.5 86.0	3.2 2.4 4.5 2.2
Total Non-Market	1170.8	1704.2	3.8
Total	5855.2	6566.0	1.1

Note:  The figures are based on ABS data.  In several categories precise separation between market and non-market employment is not possible because of limitations of the available data.

The non-market sector is that part of the economy -- where the earnings of workers are not (mainly) derived from the sale of goods and services in a competitive environment.  The output of the non-market sector is either sold by a monopoly (e.g. electricity and water supplies) or more often paid for by government out of consolidated revenue and distributed "free" or at below cost to consumers (e.g. education and public health services).

The market sector encompasses that part of the economy where the sale of goods and services must yield receipts sufficient to meet the wages (and other) costs involved and adequately service the capital invested to ensure continued employment in the enterprise concerned.

"At almost every point of comparison of minimum salaries within the clerical and administrative structure ... [those] for the private sector are markedly less than those from the public sector ... This fact lends very strong support to the view that there exists two separate albeit interconnected markets -- one for the public sector and the other for the private sector".

Arbitration Commission decision on Public Service Union Claims,
10 January 1985.

"... the real underlying issue for our society is the increasing division between the circumstances of those people who produce goods and services which are sought and priced in competition in the marketplace, and those who produce nothing of the kind, but who nonetheless are sustained, rewarded and guaranteed their security by governments.  These are the 'two nations' of the 1980s".

Charles Copeman, Chief Executive, Peko-Wallsend,
"Two Nations",
Spring 1984.

INFLATION HAS BEEN FASTEST IN THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR

In recent years the price of goods and services under the control or influence of the government has risen more rapidly than for items where prices are determined in the market place.

This trend reflects three factors:

• Indirect taxes on items that already carry a heavy tax burden, (petrol, cigarettes, and alcohol) have been further increased and are now raised automatically every six months.
• Public sector suppliers are generally monopolists in their fields and as such are not subject to the discipline of market competition.  They, therefore, have little incentive to resist wage and other cost pressures, with the inevitable consequence of high costs which are passed on to consumers.
• Governments are increasingly using pricing policies as a means of general revenue raising.  The outstanding example is the "dividend" requirement imposed by the Victorian Government on its major authorities.

"... Governments agree to exercise, as far as possible, restraint in their charges".

National Economic Summit Communique,
April 1983.

THE NETWORK OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Statistics of government outlays, employment and taxation only measure part of the impact of government on the economy.

Governments have enacted laws concerning minimum wages, maximum interest rates, employment conditions, building regulations and virtually every other area of enterprise.  Some regulations may be so severe as to discourage certain activities entirely.

Some indication of the burden of regulation can be gauged from a survey conducted in 1979 by the Confederation of Australian Industry.

• In the twenty years 1969 to 1979, the Federal and State Governments passed 16,631 Acts of Parliament and 32,551 regulations, making a total of almost 50,000 statutory instruments created in 20 years.
• For every dollar the Federal Government spends on business regulation the private sector must spend at least three dollars just to comply with the regulation.
• The cost to the private sector of Federal and State business regulation in 1978/79 has been estimated at $3720 million.  This was equal to 10 per cent of the outlays of all governments and their authorities and 3.6 per cent of GDP.
• The private sector at that time was estimated to have had to provide 16,000 people to comply with Federal Government regulations and a further 38,000 people to comply with State government regulations.
• Such estimates however cannot hope to capture the true cost of regulation in terms of its influence upon the whole process of business and personal decision-making.

"I am convinced that after eighty four years of Federation we have accumulated an excessive and often irrelevant and obstructive body of laws and regulations. ... We see the removal of unnecessary regulations as contributing significantly to improved economic growth performance".

Prime Minister Mr. Hawke,
Speech to Business Council of Australia,
21 September, 1984.

"... Our company is the largest jam maker in Australia.  A few years ago we were going to make a really high quality jam -- it would have contained 65% fruit and a very low sugar content.  We believed we had a very innovative product that would sell at a premium and meet market demand.  We went to the Victorian Government to obtain the permission to market the product.  We found we couldn't call it jam.  The reason:  the product did not contain 45% sugar.  This law was introduced in the 1920s to help stimulate the sugar industry.  We would not be able to have it repealed for another two parliamentary sessions and to sell it outside Victoria we would have had to get all the States to agree.  It would have taken us three years expense and work to do so, without any guarantee that we would be successful.  So we dropped the product, lost potential profit growth and jobs."

John Elliott,
"The Need for Deregulation in Australia",
The James N. Kirby Paper, 1983

"The Victorian Government in its ten year plan published last year set out its intention to critically review economic regulation.  The Commonwealth supports that approach and has itself made important moves in that direction.  The uncritical belief that regulation necessarily enhances justice and efficiency should never have been accepted and is indefensible in the face of decisive evidence that in some areas it does neither."

Senator Peter Walsh, Minister For Finance
The Optimist,
March/April 1985.

BIG GOVERNMENT BUSINESS UNDERTAKINGS

Some of Australia's largest business undertakings are owned by governments.

• 19 out of the top 100 business undertakings (on the basis of revenue) are government owned.
• Government business undertakings dominate in the areas of power generation and water supplies, and governments own some of the major gambling operations (TABs).
• Governments also own:

  6 of the top 10 transport undertakings
  4 of the top 10 insurance undertakings
  3 of the top 10 banking and finance firms
  3 of the top 10 communication undertakings

In 1984 the major government businesses were:

	Revenue $M	Employment
Telecom	3,636	88,524
Commonwealth Bank	2,505	31,713
Elcom (NSW)	1,441	11,120
Qantas	1,340	11,612
State Rail (NSW)	1,280	40,367
SEC (Vic)	1,274	22,798
TAB (NSW)	1,226	1,361
Australia Post	991	32,583
Government Insurance Office (NSW)	989	1,541
TAB (Vic)	903	n/a

"... the problems of controlling state enterprises are serious ones, but they are problems of our own making.  Private enterprise coupled with competition and a variety of other protective measures can surely provide a more satisfactory outcome than state enterprises can ever hope to achieve".

Professor C, Littlechild,
"Problems of Controlling State Enterprises", State Enterprise and Deregulation,
Centre for Policy Studies, Monash University, 1983.

THE COSTS OF BIG GOVERNMENT

The most obvious costs of big government are the increased levels of taxes and public sector borrowings required to support it.  But some of the most important costs are non-monetary.  These are the distortions introduced into private decision making by government regulation which reduces efficiency, growth, jobs and opportunities.

There is no dispute that governments can benefit particular sections of the community and they of course play a vital role in assisting the disadvantaged.

The real cost of government expenditure is rarely weighed in the balance and often there can be more efficient ways to provide government services.

INEFFICIENCY

• Government provision of some goods and services reflects special interest group pressure with little regard to market forces.  Resources employed in response to political pressures are more liable to be used inefficiently.
• Even where government services are sold in response to market demand, the absence of market discipline causes the provision of these services to be more costly than similar services produced in the market sector.

WRONG INCENTIVES

• Regulations and subsidies change the relative costs of resources to business and hence obscure the real costs of inputs.  This induces businesses to use an inefficient mix of inputs.
• Some welfare payments and high taxes can discourage work effort.

REDUCED PRIVATE ACTIVITY

• Large deficits financed by borrowing from the public, raise interest rates and "crowd out" private investment.
• A rising burden of taxes and charges tends to reduce business profits and inhibit entrepreneurial activity.  Many regulations have the same effect.

SOCIAL EFFECTS

• Big government creates enormous incentives for corruption.
• Young people are particularly hard hit by the expansion of government.  Most jobs in government are not suitable for the young and people with little training.  In the past decade teenagers have missed out on tens of thousands of jobs because of the growth of government.

INEQUITIES

• Government employees have become a privileged section of the workforce enjoying unjustified benefits not available to the rest of the community such as tenure and excessive retirement benefits.

THREATS TO FREEDOM

• Big government with its excessive powers to impose sanctions and grant benefits has increased the scope for compulsion and, inevitably, the use of that scope by bureaucracies.

CORRUPTION

"One of the features of 'Big Government' is that it creates enormous incentives for individuals to exploit 'the system' whether in their role as taxpayers, or as receivers of public funds such as doctors, lawyers, public servants, politicians, pensioners or other welfare beneficiaries".

Sir Jams Balderstone,
November 1982.

FREEDOM

"Newspaper managements have, I fear, put themselves and their editors at hazard.  The interconnection between newspaper ownership and investment in other activities subject to government control or influence (radio, television and films, agriculture and mining and civil aviation, to say nothing of organised gambling and property development) has left active editorial independence vulnerable to political pressure".

Creighton Bums, Editor, The Age,
Speech at Conference of Australian and Japanese editors,
8 March 1984.

WHY GOVERNMENT HAS GROWN

The simplistic view is that the growth of Government merely reflects the wishes of the people.  But when they face the people directly governments rarely, if ever, promise to increase taxes.

A growing body of academic work argues that our system of government has a bias towards excessive expenditure.

An important reason why government grows is that the benefits to special interests are concentrated on relatively few (in each case) while the costs are diffused among large numbers of individual taxpayers.  In order to build support politicians have an incentive to distribute favours and benefits to special interests.

As a result growth in the size of government does not come about through deliberate decisions that there should be a larger government sector and smaller private sector.

Another defect in government policy making is that there is no way in which private priorities can be properly weighed against government priorities -- the growth of Government is largely unplanned.

Rather than responding to the will of the electorate as a whole much of the expansion in Government reflects:

• new pressure groups and lobbies demanding government action (environmental, consumer and so on)
• special interest groups demanding government props and finance
• the increased power of government bureaucracies to expand themselves
• growth of welfare entitlements
• monopolistic statutory authorities using their power to grab resources

"In view of the growing deficits, why do we keep doling out huge sums to aid special interests -- and let the general public go hang?

Special interest groups are well-organised;  they fight to guard their benefits.  The general taxpaying public, on the other hand, is unorganised;  it doesn't protect its interests.

Each concession to a special interest group costs relatively little.  But the spending pile-up for these groups propels the government into consuming greater shares of the economic pie -- and to increased taxation of the general public."

The President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control (The Grace Commission)

"... if you are an interest group that doesn't want to get hit, here is some advice:  scream very loudly.  If you haven't a loud voice or some clout, well, that could be bad luck".

Michele Grattan, on the Government's attempt to settle the doctor's dispute,
The Age,
3 April, 1985.

THE FUTURE

If governments continue their spending patterns of the last twenty years then more and more of the community's resources will be diverted to or through government.

• By the year 2000 the government sector will be spending some 55 per cent of the community's resources (today the figure is almost 42 per cent)
• Taxes and borrowings will have to rise sharply to finance this expansion in outlays.

Government in the Year 2000
(in l983/84 dollars)

	1984		2000
	$M	% of GDP	$M	% of GDP
GDP	185,235		340,822
Government outlays	77,428	41.8	187,718	55.1
Government Receipts	62,621	33.8	145,809	42.8
Deficit*	14,807	8.0	41,909	12.3

* public sector borrowing requirement

If government outlays were restricted to an annual growth rate of 2 per cent they would increase to $108,418 million in the year 2000 (in 1983/84 dollars).  This would bring the government's share in total outlays down to 31.8 per cent of GDP.  This figure is certainly achievable;  indeed a lower average growth rate would be desirable.

The table below shows that in the life of the previous government Commonwealth budget outlays were restricted to an annual rate of 2.2 per cent.

PAST PERFORMANCE

Expenditure trends have varied significantly between various governments.

Government Expenditure Performance

	Years	Average Real Growth in Budget Outlays (p.a.)
Menzies	16	3.2
Holt	2	7.7
Gorton	3	4.7
McMahon	2	3.9
Whitlam	3	11.1
Fraser	7	2.2
Hawke	2	7.1 (e)

Note:  The Menzies figures have been adjusted to exclude the distortions arising from the Korean War (the unadjusted figures would be 4.0 per cent for budget outlays).

THE GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT CAN BE HALTED

Restraining and ultimately reducing the size of the public sector will require not only changes in community attitudes but also major institutional reforms.

No political party as yet has a comprehensive programme to reduce government.  Elements of such a programme would be:

• elimination of waste and extravagance (the approach of the Grace Commission in the U.S.A.)
• abolition of excess privileges of public sector employees (Grace Commission)
• subjecting government commercial activities to market pressures by removing monopoly privileges (e.g. Telecom, Australia Post, public transport)
• selling government business undertakings (e.g. TAA, Qantas) to the public ("privatisation")
• fixing deliberate limits to overall government spending (of which the trilogy represents a small first step)
• changing the constitution to place limitations on government spending
• substituting private contract work for government employment
• deregulation to cut excessive direct and indirect costs
• more careful testing and review of new regulations
• policies to reward and stimulate private enterprise

"The impact of big government on the economy is especially striking.  A recent cross-national study by the World Bank of the link between taxation and economic growth has suggested that each additional $1 in government expenditure today may cut the standard of living of Americans by nearly $5 (measured in constant dollars) only ten years in the future.

"During its first four years, the Reagan administration met with defeat after defeat in Congress on budget votes because it took the position that the only way to reduce government spending was to reduce services.  It is not the only way.

"Private firms, for instance, can provide many Government services -- either under contract or completely within the private sector -- much less expensively than Federal workers.  The Reagan administration must offer the American people the alternative prospect of a reduction in spending with the same, or even better, levels of service."

Mandate II,
The Heritage Foundation,
November 1984.

"... a government determined to reduce the share of government spending in the economy does not need to make any large immediate cuts in spending programmes.

"What is required is a determination not to introduce new programmes (at least without offsetting savings) or more extensive services than currently exist.

"... even relatively small differences in the real growth of spending can lead to budgets of vastly different sizes over a comparatively short period."

"Government Expenditure Control ... the first steps:  stop new programmes",
Summer 1985

BIG GOVERNMENT BY INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

International comparisons must always be treated with caution because of different methods of statistical collection.

PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT

On this basis Australia has a very large government sector indeed.  The OECD indicates that some 25.4 per cent of the Australian workforce is employed by government.  The figures for some other countries are:

	%
Canada	18.8
Denmark	28.1
France	15.1
Germany	14.9
Italy	15.1
Japan	6.6
Netherlands	14.9
U.K.	21.7
U.S.	16.7

• The bulk of the difference between the outlays of Australian Government and those of other countries can be explained by expenditures on pensions and benefits, health and housing.  These three areas of expenditure account for virtually the whole of the difference between Australia's expenditure and that of the average for the major OECD countries.
• It does not follow that Australia is less well catered for in these areas than other countries.  Indeed, Australia's standards in these areas are among the highest in the world.  The reason is that Australia's public sector outlays form only a part of the total community provision in the fields of health, housing and welfare.
• In any case, most of the European economies are suffering from the same problems (summed up in the term "Eurosclerosis") of economic inflexibility, lack of innovation and growing unemployment from which Australia today is also suffering.  That a larger public sector might exist in these countries than in Australia does not mean that we can be complacent about our own case.  Indeed, the trend of events in these countries provides the clearest possible warning to any country, such as Australia, which might be tempted to follow their footsteps.

SHARE OF G.D.P.

This measure is often used to suggest that Australia has a smaller public sector than many countries.

Note:  The figures in the chart are compiled from an OECD study which used the latest figures available.  They relate only to the budget sector, off-budget authorities are excluded.  The table on page 4 refers to total outlays, budget and off-budget.

A READING GUIDE

There is a vast range of literature dealing with the problems of big government.  This selection should give readers a useful introduction to the range of issues which must be addressed.

GOVERNMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

"Achieving Full Employment", by Professor P. Dixon, Autumn 1984

"Barriers to Youth Employment", Winter 1984

"Legalise Full Employment", by Professor M. Porter, Spring 1984

"How 50,000 Youth Jobs Were Lost", Spring 1984

"Public Sector Employment", Spring 1984

"Special Interest Protection & Unemployment", by Professor H. Arndt, Spring 1984

"Life Without an Arbitration Commission", by Peter Samuel, Spring 1984

"Governments & Job Destruction", by Jacob Abrahami, Summer 1985

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

"Economic Regulation", Autumn 1984

"Economic Crimes", Autumn 1984

"Government & Small Business", by Professor G. Meredith, Autumn 1984

"Busting Monopolistic Practices:  The Budget Story", by Bob Ansett, Autumn 1984

"The Current Attack on Private Property", by Barry Maley, Winter 1984

"Attacking Excessive Government Regulation", by Senator A. Missen, Spring 1984

"Nationalising Workers Compensation", Summer 1985

"The Interfering Itch", Summer 1985

GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES

"Railways:  Haemorrhage of the Body Politic", Professor P. Swan and J. Nestor, Winter 1983

"Public Authorities as Taxing Mechanisms", by Jacob Abrahami, Autumn 1984

"Privatisation:  Agenda for the Next Decade", Autumn 1984

"Two Nations", by Charles Copeman, Spring 1984

"On the Buses", by P. Kain, Summer 1984

"The Bicentenary:  Celebration or Apology?", by Dr. K. Baker, Summer 1985

"Marketising the Mail", by Dr R. Albon, Summer 1985

"Costs of the Telecom Monopoly", by Chris Trengove, Summer 1985

"Turning Cheap Resources Into Expensive Energy:  The Role of the State Electricity Commissions", Dr. P. Hartley, Summer 1984

AUSTRALIAN ATTITUDES TO BIG GOVERNMENT

"The Middle Ground", Winter 1984

"Do Australians Want Freedom or Security?", by Michele Levine, Spring 1984

GOVERNMENT PLANNING

"Problems with Government Planning", by Professor D. Kemp, Autumn 1984

"A Major Failure of Policy", by John Stone, Summer 1985

GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND TAXES

"Malcolm Fraser and the Size of Government", Spring 1983

"Constitutional Expenditure Limitation", by Professor A. Wildavsky, Spring 1983

"Welfare Illusions", Professor R. Parish and L. Gropp, Summer 1984

"Government Expenditure Targets", Spring 1984

"Welfare Lobbies and Taxes", Winter 1984

"Risk Taking and the Resource Rent Tax", by Professor R. Ball and J. Bowers, Winter 1984

"Government Expenditure Control", Summer 1985

EQUITY AND GOVERNMENT

"Commonwealth Superannuation:  Time to Restore Equity", Summer 1984