A World of Wealth: How Capitalism Turns Profits into Progress

By Thomas G. Donlan

Discussing money, wealth, power and society, this title explains contemporary issues from a capitalist perspective and provides historical depth for understanding the issues. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0132350009
• ISBN13: 9780132350006
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Ft Pr
• Length: 215 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Energetic defense of capitalism

Journalist Thomas G. Donlan is one of the U.S.'s strongest advocates of capitalism. The editorial page editor of Barron's, he is a convinced, and often convincing, champion of free trade, free markets, deregulation and investment. These ideas went into something of an eclipse in the U.S. following the disastrous events in the real estate and asset-backed securities markets. However, getAbstract finds that Donlan's book presents a spirited explanation of why these events were essential to putting the world back on course for economic growth and rising global prosperity. His style is concise, clear, pointed and frequently witty. True believers in the church of capitalism will value his defense of their doctrine; skeptics will likely respect his well-argued points, though they may conclude that he can be as much an apologist for capitalism as a proponent of it.

Simple Explanations of Economics Should be Required Reading for Politicians and Voters

The author of this book sets out with a noble cause: to explain economics in simple, easy to understand terms, and to apply it to issues currently facing our country. Although at times the book is a bit dry, a bit simplistic, and draws some questionable conclusions, he does a decent job at accomplishing this. Overall, however, it is a good basic read that should be required reading for political candidates and voters in general. The thing about Economics is that it takes all the emotion out of problems and describes them in simple terms like supply and demand. With oil, for instance, the pure economic solution is simply to charge the market price that perfectly matches the supply curve with the demand curve. Since people don't like paying $4 a gallon for gas, all sorts of imperfections have complicated the market, but the true capitalist response is simply to charge $200 a barrel for oil if the market requires it. Alternative energies will be developed and be cost effective once the market price is high enough. The author also applies this sort of thought to global warming (with some very controversial conclusions), huge corporate profits, market regulation, health care, poverty, and more. The subject matter is all very timely and I wish everyone who will take part in politics would read this book. Understanding what true capitalism in a free market economy should be would help citizens understand how to implement such things, or whether they actually want what they say they do.

A very timely book

Given the current state of affairs in the world's economy I can't think of a better time to read this. Others have already debated the validity of the ideas in the book so I won't go over that. I have not given economics books much reading since college but even without that the book is an easy read going over the main forces shaping economics. The topics that the author focuses on are also very relevant to today. The examples used are simple but not oversimplified and should give the reader a good understanding of the basic consequences of the pursuit of wealth.

Mandatory Reading for an Informed Electorate

This is an easy read, but also an incredibly important one. The author provides a clear-headed view on many important current issues. Instead of appealing to emotions, he applies clear and consistent reasoning in his examination of many complex issues. This is important because he cuts through a lot of the emotional sophistry surrounding so many issues. Reading this book "less than part time," (while waiting for flights/trains/busses,during breaks/lunches, etc.,) I needed less than two weeks to get through it. I imagine that if I read it 'full time,' I could have gotten through it in a day or so. The author writes in an easy manner, and he provides a lot of anecdotes to keep the book moving along smoothly. This is much easier to read than many books on either economic policy or current events. I open with this because many people don't want to read about economic policy, fearing that is is too arcane to be relevant and too complex and convoluted to understand. This book is neither complicated or irrelevant; infact the exact opposite is true. In this election year, it may be the most important current events book you could read. This is a simple book which explains how free-market capitalism moves us forward. In this day of government regulation - an over regulation of markets, it is important to understand how capitalism is supposed to work. Obviously, the economy in the US is not a true market economy, but a mixed market, with government regulating the free market. What is the impact of that interplay of government and the market? Donlan gives us several glimpses of the answer. His book is a collection of essays of various current issues including immigration, taxes, energy, the environment, health care, etc. In each, he analyzes the issue from a free-market perspective, and then he shows how a free and unregulated market would/could respond to those societal and governmental pressures. Some people may not like his answers, but his reasoning is valid and consistent. His portrayal of the market may be characterized as economic Darwinism. It is however, both evolutionary and revolutionary. His basic premise is that the market is far too constrained by government regulation. In a day and age when too many major policies are based entirely on the idea of "Big Government Fix Ups," this is an important read. A big idea in American Government is an informed electorate. Read this book - inform yourself. Empower Yourself.

Straight Talk

I find it very easy to accept the Washington Times review posted here. It is a very good overview of Mr. Donlan's book. Too good, perhaps, as it almost convinced me not to bother writing one of my own, but this book deserves some comments. Tom Donlan has done an exceptionally good job of describing the capitalist system and its operation in terms that are, at one and the same time, sufficiently sophisticated to attract specialists, yet intelligible to a much broader public. Mr. Donlan's viewpoint is very obvious; he's "pro-capitalism" and not ashamed to say so, yet he does not beat you over the head with it. When discussing climate change, for example, he presents Vice President Gore's viewpoint and his own, but without the overly-emotionally, anti-intellectual verbiage so common these days from both sides of this issue. Rather, he discusses what Gore's conclusions may mean in terms of the capitalist system's response. As he says, "Global warming is not just an environmental problem; it is also an economic problem." Donlan rightly emphasizes a subject that will become increasingly important as we move from debate to action. "A World of Wealth" is not a polemic so much as it is a patient and intelligent explanation of a system that most of us think we understand, but few of us can explain in any detail. By focusing on how capitalism and free markets work in a straightforward manner, Donlan brings us back to the basics of the system that has provided is with so much wealth to enjoy and to squander. His emotional commitment to capitalism is clear, but it is his plain-spoken analysis that makes this book worth reading by anyone, socialists included. I enjoy reading books on finance and economics. Books like Mohamed el-Erian's "When Markets Collide," Nicholas Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness," and Robert Shiller's "Irrational Exuberance" inform me and provide deeper insight into important ideas and trends. But I would liken Thomas Donlan's "A World of Wealth" to Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World". They stand in a somewhat different class. They are intelligent, thought-provoking, and deal with very important topics, yet they are also eminently readable and understandable by anyone with a decent education, regardless of their technical training. This should be no surprise. Both Zakaria (formerly editor of Foreign Affairs and currently editor of Newsweek International) and Donlan are professional journalists and both have many years of editorial experience for publications that demand excellence. They know how to communicate their thoughts clearly and succinctly on topics of great importance. That is worth the price of a book like "A World of Wealth" in itself.