Chapter VII: Part 7

This book, a diagnosis of the long-run crisis in international economic relations, was finished in 1942, when World War II was still going on. It begins with a careful examination of the state of affairs at the time, and goes on to explain the powerful forces which created it--the disintegration of the framework of world economy, the military aspect of economic nationalism, the effort of industrial countries to “agrarianize,” the effort of agricultural countries to “industrialize,” the disturbances in the monetary and financial mechanism of the world economy, and the influence of policies that aim at national economic “stabilization.” It is the most thorough and penetrating analysis of international economic disintegration up to the time of its appearance, and is particularly impressive because it sees the problem in its wider implications.

RÖPKE, WILHELM. _The Social Crisis of Our Time._ University of Chicago Press. 1950. 260 pp.

This book, first published in Switzerland under the title _Die Gesellschaftskrisis der Gegenwart_, is the first volume of a trilogy (though each of the volumes is self-contained), and it is the most available to American readers. Röpke is outstanding, not merely for the acuteness of his analysis, but for the breadth of his learning and the breadth of his view, which go much beyond the purely economic field.

Some readers are likely to have difficulties because Professor Röpke repudiates not only “collectivism,” but “capitalism,” and advocates a course that he has called “The Third Way.” This, however, does not mean a “middle-of-the-road policy” as commonly understood. When Röpke comes to specific issues he nearly always advocates the solution of “the free market economy.” But he makes a sharp distinction between a free market economy as an ideal, and its actual historical embodiment in “capitalism.” This seems to me a semantic separation which, in face of the established usage of the words, is likely to be more confusing than clarifying. Röpke quite properly contends that while economic liberty is a _necessary_ condition of “the Good Society” it is not always a _sufficient_ condition. This in itself is true enough, but it sometimes leads him into irrelevant or dubious recommendations. Yet every individualist and true liberal will profit from reading him. Frank H. Knight has rightly called this “a tremendously impressive book.”

RÖPKE, WILHELM. _Civitas Humana._ London: Hodge. 1948. 235 pp.

This is the second volume of the Röpke trilogy. It seeks to outline the requirements of “a humane order of society.” It discusses such questions as moral foundations, the place of science, the criteria of the healthy and the sick government, counterweights to the power of the State, the problem of “decongestion” and “deproletarianization,” the decentralization of industry, and the elimination of business-cycle fluctuations. It pleads for the maintenance of a “peasant agriculture” and briefly outlines the requirements of a new international order.

RÖPKE, WILHELM. _Internationale Ordnung._ Erlenbach-Zürich: Eugen Rentsch Verlag. 1945. 337 pp.

Although this volume has been translated into French under the title _La Communauté Internationale_ (Geneva: Éditions du Cheval Ailé), no English translation is available. It is concerned, as its title implies, with international economic problems. It discusses the decay of a world economy, the general fear of competition, the fear of a “passive balance” of payments, and the steps necessary to establish a new world economy. Among these steps the author puts courageous emphasis, in view of present fashionable Keynesism, on the need of restoring an international gold standard. “If the existence of a neo-liberal movement is known far beyond the narrow circles of experts, the credit belongs mainly to Röpke, at least so far as the German-speaking public is concerned.”--F. A. Hayek.

ROGERS, JAMES E. THOROLD. _The Economic Interpretation of History._ London: Unwin. 1888. 548 pp.

“Thorold Rogers was, perhaps, the most broad-minded of the Victorian economists who followed Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill; he refused to be tied by the abstractions of Ricardo, and unlike the majority of the economists, he had a command of pure and vigorous English.... The above work is most valuable.... The preface will repay careful study. It is the work of a strong Individualist.... The chapter on _Laissez-faire_ (XVI) should be especially noted.”--PI.

ROGERS, SHERMAN. _Why Kill the Goose?_ Irvington, N. Y.: Foundation for Economic Education. 1947. 78 pp.

A former socialist, converted to the benefits of the free private enterprise system, argues that we have in it a goose which lays golden eggs, and will continue to produce in abundance the economic necessities of life--if we do not kill it through impatient and ignorant policies. He presents a long list of popular misconceptions and fallacies and of the facts which correct them. Elementary, simple and very readable.

ROOT, E. MERRILL. _Collectivism on the Campus._ Devin-Adair. 1955.

The theme of this book is “the battle for the mind in American colleges.” Professor Root argues that American college faculties today are dominated by collectivists--whom he calls “State liberals”--and that conservatives, libertarians, or true individualists on those faculties are not only in a minority but have a difficult time.

ROSENBERG, ARTHUR. _A History of Bolshevism._ Oxford University Press. 1934. 250 pp.

This is a translation from the German. Dr. Rosenberg wrote the book as a disillusioned communist. “Theory dominates Russian politics to an extent almost incomprehensible to the ordinary, practical Englishman; and Professor Rosenberg analyzes, with skill and knowledge, the theoretical foundations of the struggles of the past seventeen years. They revolve, of course, round the interpretation of Marxism.”--John Hallett, in _The Spectator_. “One of the most instructive books yet published on the history of bolshevism.”--W. L. Langer, in _Foreign Affairs_.

ROSSI, ANGELO. _The Communist Party in Action._ Yale University Press. 1950. 301 pp.

“This analytical study of the French Communist Party is one of the most important books on political theory and practice that have appeared in recent years.... Professor Kendall is to be congratulated not only for his translation but for his thoughtful introduction which challenges some of the premises of Rossi’s own alternative position as well as those of its critics.”--Sidney Hook, in _Annals of the American Academy_.

ROSTOVTZEFF, MICHAEL IVANOVICH. _Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire._ Oxford University Press. 1926. 696 pp.

Not a history in the ordinary sense, but a study of the social and economic life of the Roman Empire. “Unquestionably the most solid and also the most brilliant contribution which has ever been made toward the interpretation of the Roman Empire.”--R. P. Blake, in the _American Political Science Review_. “Professor Rostovtzeff’s book will probably rank among the most notable contributions to the subject since Gibbon’s.”--A. J. Toynbee, in the _Nation and Athenaeum_.

ROUGIER, LOUIS. _Les Mystiques Économiques._ Paris: Librairie de Médicis. 1938. 1949. 278 pp.

This is a penetrating study of the steps by which liberal democracies have been or can be transformed into totalitarian states. By _“mystiques”_ the author refers to economic doctrines that are mere rationalizations of prejudice, passion or sentimentality, and rest neither on reason nor experience. Special chapters are devoted to an examination of the older liberal _mystique_, the _mystique_ of a planned economy, of the corporative state, of Marxism, etc. M. Rougier advocates what he calls _“le libéralisme constructeur,”_ which implies liberty within a carefully constructed framework of law, constantly safeguarding competition, and “is not to be confused with the theory of _laisser faire, laisser passer_, which ends in the suppression of liberty through the very excess of liberty.”

ROUSSEAU, JEAN JACQUES. _The Social Contract._ 1762. Many editions. 227 pp.

There is a discussion of the great influence of Rousseau in the introductory essay to this list, “Individualism in Politics and Economics.” Although Rousseau’s ideas deeply colored subsequent development of the philosophy of individualism, his peculiar type of rationalistic individualism, as F. A. Hayek has pointed out, mainly led to the opposite of true individualism--i.e., socialism or collectivism.

RUEFF, JACQUES. _L’Ordre Social._ Paris: Recueil Sirey. 1945. 2 vols. 747 pp.

A profound and original book, which makes a searching analysis of fundamental economic, political, legal and moral concepts. It draws a constant contrast between a regime of economic liberalism with true rights, and a statist, socialist or authoritarian regime with its system of “false rights.” It is especially effective in demonstrating the demoralizing economic and political effects of the cycle of deficit financing, monetary inflation, exchange control and price control that has marked the policies of so many “free” countries of the West since World War II.

RUEFF, JACQUES. _Épître aux Dirigistes._ Paris: Gallimard. 1949. 120 pp.

This is a “letter” addressed in a conciliatory tone to the Economic Planners, and more particularly to those who think that they can halt inflation or control an economy largely through the control of prices. M. Rueff shows the many evils to which attempts at price-fixing lead, and points on the other hand to the benefits brought about by freedom of the markets and a policy of economic liberalism.

RUEFF, JACQUES. _The Fallacies of Lord Keynes’ General Theory. Quarterly Journal of Economics._ May, 1947. 24 pp.

An important analysis.

RUGGIERO, GUIDO DE. _The History of European Liberalism._ Oxford University Press. 1928. 476 pp.

The author defines liberalism as neither democracy, in the sense of the rule of the mere majority, nor authoritarianism, in the sense of the irresponsible rule of those who happen to be in power. “An excellent exposition of modern liberalism.”--_Boston Transcript._

RUSSELL, DEAN. _The TVA Idea._ Irvington, N. Y.: Foundation for Economic Education. 1949. 108 pp.

“With surgical skill, Dean Russell dissects not only the Tennessee Valley Authority in operation, but the philosophy of industry socialization, which the TVA represents. In a mere 100 pages, packed with supporting data, Russell thoroughly debunks the blatant claims made for TVA by its starry-eyed supporters. He then raises a warning that the TVA is more than just dams and power plants--it’s an idea, the extension of which involves loss of individual freedom and drastic political, social and economic consequences.”--John Fisher, in the _Chicago Tribune_.

SALTER, F. R. _Karl Marx and Modern Socialism._ Macmillan. 1921. 260 pp.

“In some ways this is the most useful account and criticism of Karl Marx that we have. Prof. J. Shield Nicholson in his _Revival of Marxism_ can hardly hide his complete contempt for Marx’s inconsistencies and confusions, and he admits that he finds him ‘hopeless and depressing.’ But _Das Kapital_ has had an immense influence, and Mr. Salter is more sympathetic. In fact, one might almost say that he is clearly out to paint as favorable a picture of Marx as his conscience will allow. In spite of this and his constant attempts to explain away or minimize errors, he cannot avoid exposing the false assumptions and the structure of false reasoning on which Marxian theories are built.”--PI (1927).

SAMUELSON, BERNARD. _Socialism Rejected._ London: Smith, Elder. 1913. 330 pp.

“A satirical examination of Socialism, written in a mock heroic style.”--PI. The author considers “art” socialism, “Christian” socialism, political and ethical socialism, utopian socialism, “natural” socialism, and syndicalist socialism, and rejects them all.

SANBORN, FREDERIC ROCKWELL. _Design for War._ Devin-Adair. 1951. 607 pp.

A study of secret power politics from 1937 to 1941. “The basic contention of the book is that a President of the United States ought to consult freely and publicly with the Cabinet and Congress before making foreign engagements of any consequence. The author expresses the belief that the U. S. should follow more nearly the pattern of Britain, where foreign policy decisions generally are made only after a thorough airing in Commons, and where the Prime Minister is always directly accountable to the elected representatives of the people. The book is heavily documented.”--_Springfield Republican._

SAY, JEAN BAPTISTE. _Treatise on Political Economy._ 1803. (Philadelphia: Grigg & Eliot. 1834.)

Jean Baptiste Say (1767-1832) was the founder of the classical school in France. Although an ardent disciple of Adam Smith, he made it his mission to reduce the “vast chaos” of Smith’s ideas to more orderly and simplified form. Among his original contributions were the introduction of the famous term _entrepreneur_ into economic terminology, his emphasis on and explanation of the role of the entrepreneur, and his theory of markets. Say was the originator of “Say’s Law,” which points out that ultimately goods and services must be bought and paid for with other goods and services. This is a truism. But many errors resulted from ignoring it, as Malthus and others did, in their theory that depressions are caused by a _general_ overproduction. And many present-day fallacies result from actually _denying_ Say’s Law, as the Keynesians do. In short--although this truth must, of course, be understood with the proper qualifications--supply creates its own demand.

SCHAPIRO, J. SALWYN. _Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism._ McGraw-Hill. 1949. 421 pp.

An admirable history of social and intellectual forces in England and France from 1815 to 1870. The book is unsatisfactory in its interpretation and understanding of economic developments and the contribution of the classical economists; but it is excellent in its shrewd and balanced judgments of the political, philosophical and literary currents of the period. It is distinguished by a ripe scholarship and is very well written.

“This book is devoted to a study of the formation of the pattern of liberalism in England and France, where its ideals and policies became a model, followed more or less by the other nations of Europe. It also treats of the origins of fascist ideology in these countries ... Chapters 13 to 15, dealing with the Heralds of Fascism, aim to throw a new light on Louis Napoleon, Proudhon, and Carlyle--the light of the present on the past. The system established in France by the strange and enigmatic Emperor cannot be understood without its being seen as a historic preview of the fascist state with its popular, even socialist, appeals cloaking a ruthless personal dictatorship.”--From the Preface.

SCHATZ, ALBERT. _L’Individualisme économique et social._ Paris: A. Colin. 1907. 590 pp.

“This great work of 590 pages is one of the most exhaustive studies of Individualism that exists and probably the most complete history.”--PI. “An excellent survey of the history of individualist theories.... Deserves to be much more widely known as a contribution not only to the subject indicated by its title but to the history of economic theory in general.”--F. A. Hayek.

SCHNABEL, F. _Deutsche Geschichte im 19. Jahrhundert._ Freiburg i.B. 4 vols. 1929-37.

“A remarkable recent work on the modern history of Germany which is not so well known abroad as it deserves.”--F. A. Hayek.

SCHUMPETER, JOSEPH A. _Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy._ Harper. 1942. 381 pp.

An attempt to compare the relative merits and defects of capitalism and socialism, explain their respective relations to democracy, and indicate the type of society probable or possible in the future. I include this book in the present list with misgivings. Much of it is deliberately paradoxical. Professor Schumpeter seems to me unduly pessimistic about the future prospects of capitalism. He airily grants to socialism a practicability that no complete socialism could possess; and he never seriously comes to grips with the main economic argument against it. Yet this is nonetheless a remarkable book, rich in scholarship, witty, and often penetrating and profound. At least one college professor of my acquaintance, who himself ardently supports the principles of free enterprise, tells me that this book more than any other has shaken some of his students out of previous pro-socialist leanings. It can probably be recommended, therefore, to advanced economic students already acquainted with the work of von Mises, and possessing analytical powers of their own.

SCHUMPETER, JOSEPH A. _History of Economic Analysis._ Oxford University Press. 1954. 1,260 pp.

“A monumental achievement of scholarship, without equal in its field.... Readers of this journal will probably be irritated by the unnecessary condescending, if not contemptuous, manner in which Schumpeter usually refers to nineteenth-century liberalism and _laissez-faire_. But they should remember that it comes from an author who knew as well as anybody ‘that capitalist evolution tends to peter out because the modern state may crush or paralyze its motive force,’ yet who seems to have had an irrepressible urge _pour épater les bourgeois_.”--F. A. Hayek, in _The Freeman_.

SCHWARTZ, HARRY. _Russia’s Soviet Economy._ Prentice-Hall. 1950. 592 pp.

A careful description of the historical and ideological background of Soviet Russia, its economic plan, its industry, agriculture, and transportation. “The true value of this book lies in its solidly informative presentation of the Soviet economic machine and its pernicious effects upon the individual human Russian. A lucid introductory essay is contributed by William Henry Chamberlin.”--David Hecht, in the _Saturday Review of Literature_.

SCHWARZ, SOLOMON M. _The Jews in the Soviet Union._ Syracuse University Press. 1951. 380 pp.

“In the first part of the book Dr. Schwarz exhaustively analyzes Communist doctrine on minority nationalities in general, and on the Jewish people in particular; the history of the Soviet treatment of the Jewish community since the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in 1917; the successive Soviet programs for solving the Jewish problem; the story of the province of Birobidzhan; and the present situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union. In the second part of the book, the author makes a study of the evidences of antisemitism in the USSR from the first years of Communist rule until today.”--From the Publisher’s Note. “For the time being, it can be called the definitive study on the subject.”--Hans Kohn, in _The New Republic_.

SCHWARZSCHILD, LEOPOLD. _The Red Prussian._ Scribner’s. 1947. 422 pp.

“A biography of Karl Marx, mostly based on the enormous Marx-Engels correspondence, along with a critique of Marx’s _Capital_ and of the Marxian theory of value. Mr. Schwarzschild does not present a kindly portrait of his subject; he convicts Marx, by quoting him, of virulent anti-semitism, and makes him out to be a petty, dishonest, completely unscrupulous and opportunistic man, a loose thinker, and a very bad prophet--in other words, the archetype of the totalitarian exponent of power who has become such a common figure in our times.... In holding the Marxian economic theory up to a strong light, the author uncovers some grave flaws in it, which have been noted by other critics but rarely so sharply illuminated. An important and well-presented book.”--_New Yorker._

SCOVILLE, JOHN W. _Labor Monopolies or Freedom._ Committee for Constitutional Government. 1946. 167 pp.

A vigorous criticism of “collective bargaining” as commonly interpreted in practice. The author contends that competition will ensure fair wages. His final conclusion is: “Employers and employees should be free to make voluntary agreements with each other. The employer should be free. The worker should be free. Neither should be subject to coercion, intimidation, or compulsion from any source.”

SCOVILLE, JOHN W., AND SARGENT, NOEL. _Fact and Fancy in the T. N. E. C. Monographs._ National Association of Manufacturers. 1942. 812 pp.

During the administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Temporary National Economic Committee was set up, held hearings, and published forty-three monographs, running to 12,400 pages, which attempted to prove the existence of great concentration of economic power. This is a documented answer. The authors declare: “Many, but not all, of these monographs are impregnated with hostility to corporations and individuals of wealth. These reviews expose those statements and conclusions which, in the opinion of the reviewers, are fallacious or unsupported by evidence.... The monographs vary greatly in quality; they run the gamut from scholarly and comprehensive exposition to political claptrap.”

SENNHOLZ, HANS F. _How Can Europe Survive?_ Van Nostrand. 1955. 336 pp.

This is one of the very few books of recent years to give a realistic analysis of the numerous schemes for European and Western unification, and to show how virtually all of these schemes have been rendered futile by internal interventionist and socialist policies that inevitably intensify and perpetuate nationalism. The author points out that the only feasible alternative is international cooperation based on individual liberty and free enterprise.

SENNHOLZ, MARY (ed.). _On Freedom and Free Enterprise._ Van Nostrand. 1956. 333 pp.

Essays in honor of Ludwig von Mises, on subjects ranging from “The Road to Totalitarianism” to “Progressive Taxation Reconsidered,” by nineteen authors from the United States, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Mexico, and France: Jacques Rueff, William E. Rappard, Henry Hazlitt, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Hans F. Sennholz, F. A. Harper, Wilhelm Röpke, Faustino Ballvé, Carlo Antoni, Louis M. Spadaro, Fritz Machlup, L. M. Lachmann, Leonard E. Read, W. H. Hutt, William H. Peterson, Murray N. Rothbard, F. A. Hayek, Percy L. Greaves, Jr., and Louis Baudin.

SERGE, VICTOR. _The Case of Comrade Tulayev._ Doubleday. 1950. 306 pp.

On a cold winter’s night a young clerk, on impulse, shot and killed a highly placed member of the Communist party in Russia, Comrade Tulayev. The young man escapes, but, in the far-flung investigations of the “plot,” three other men, of far greater importance, are pursued to their death, men who are not guilty of this crime, at least, but men who have roused the distrust and enmity of the rulers of Russia. The author, who died in 1947, was an old revolutionary who had lived in exile, in France and Mexico, after the mid-thirties. “This is a novel in the great Russian tradition. Its theme is the modern tragedy of the old Bolsheviks, faced with the insoluble problem of reconciling their abiding faith in the original Communist ideal with acceptance of the tyranny, injustice and misery of the Soviet world they made.”--Freda Utley, in _Human Events_.

SHADWELL, ARTHUR. _The Socialist Movement, 1824-1924._ London: Allan. 1925. 2 vols.

“Dr. Shadwell has been described as ‘the greatest authority on the Socialist movement,’ and outside the Socialist camp this is probably true. These volumes constitute the best short history of the movement, and the only one which brings the account up to 1924.... The work includes an excellent refutation of Marxism, and the errors and illusions of Socialism are constantly indicated.”--PI (1927).

SHADWELL, ARTHUR. _The Breakdown of Socialism._ Little, Brown. 1926. 272 pp.

“A valuable study of recent Socialist experiments in Europe.”--PI.

SHUB, DAVID. _Lenin: a Biography._ Doubleday. 1948. 438 pp.

“Mr. Shub’s biography is the book you must read if you want to know what Communism is.... You will learn that Lenin’s superiority as a politician lay in the fact that he alone realized that social democracy is not the ultimate state of liberalism, but its antithesis; and you will learn by that token--though not directly from Mr. Shub, who sticks to his job as the biographer of a doctrine--how to deal with Communism effectively.”--Asher Brynes, in _The Saturday Review of Literature_.

SIDGWICK, HENRY. _The Principles of Political Economy._ Macmillan. 1883. 592 pp.

“In economics Sidgwick tends to follow John Stuart Mill; but his was an independent type of mind and he is always anxious to unearth new truths.... In the second ... section ... he begins by referring to the ‘sweeping doctrine,’ mainly derived from the Physiocrats, that ‘the sole function of an ideal government in relation to industry is simply to leave it alone.’ While giving this a certain general approval, he holds that it postulates a large amount of human virtue and unselfishness, and that there must be cases ‘in which its optimistic conclusion is inadmissible.’ Monopolies, for instance, are often urgent matters for Government interference. He gives a list of the familiar exceptions, e.g., Government must interfere for the purpose of national defense, the preservation of public health, etc., etc. Much of what he lays down is too well recognized to need recapitulation.”--PI.

SIDGWICK, HENRY. _The Elements of Politics._ Macmillan. 1891. 665 pp.

“Henry Sidgwick was a thinker of very high ability; possibly his influence is below his merits, because he possessed a cautious and noncommittal mind which did not favor vivid and popular treatment of his subjects; and further, his style is dry. This book from Chapters III to XII has much to say about the respective provinces of the Government and the individual. He is too cautious to go much beyond empiric methods, and is content to allow the questions to be determined largely by the circumstances of each particular case. However, his bias is towards Individualism. He points out several dangers in Government interference--(1) That of overburdening the governmental machinery with work. (2) That of increasing the power capable of being used by governing persons oppressively or corruptly. (3) The danger that the delicate economic functions of government will be hampered by the desire to gratify certain specially influential sections of the community. He adds: ‘When, along with these dangers, we take into account that the work of Government must be done by persons who--even with the best arrangement for effective supervision and promotion of merit--can only have a part of the stimulus and enterprise which the independent worker feels, it will be easily understood that we are not justified in concluding that governmental interference is always expedient, even where _laissez-faire_ leads to a manifestly unsatisfactory result; its expediency has to be decided in any particular case by a careful estimate of advantages and drawbacks, requiring data obtained from special experience.’”--PI.

SIMONS, HENRY C. _Economic Policy for a Free Society._ University of Chicago Press. 1948. 353 pp.

Reviewing this book in _The New York Times_ of Aug. 1, 1948, I wrote: “As an economic theorist Simons was far from first-rate; his originality lay in the realm of phrase-making rather than in that of thought; and while his style was vigorous, epigrammatic and witty, it was also interrupted, discursive and often pedantic.... [But] no one could deny Simons’ disinterestedness, or the depth of his desire for a better and freer society. Though many of his ideas were eccentric and crotchety, and neither adopted nor expounded with the patient, step-by-step reasoning which mark the work of Adam Smith, Mill, Marshall and most of the others to whom he felt himself to belong, he shared with these great figures their deep concern for freedom and a suspicion everywhere of concentrated power.”

A more favorable verdict is given by F. A. Hayek: “One need not agree with the whole of this work and one may even regard some of the suggestions made in it as incompatible with a free society, and yet recognize it as one of the most important contributions made in recent times.”

SIMONSON, GUSTAVE. _A Plain Examination of Socialism._ London: Swan Sonnenschein. 1900. 155 pp.

“A short and handy criticism, written by an American, of the general Socialist position. The writer contends that it is based upon absurd postulates. It rests on the undemonstrable and untenable assumptions that we can possibly right in the present supposed wrongs of the past; that each one who is born has a ‘natural right to the free use of the instruments of production which others may own; that labor is the sole cause of the value of anything and everything produced; that all values in property are not founded on demand-and-supply; and that a large share of these values has been produced by, and wrongly withheld from, those who have created them--in other words, that most of the present private property is the accumulated plunder from unrewarded past labor, and that this plunder must go on forever as long as the instruments of production are in private ownership.’”--PI.

SMITH, ADAM. _The Wealth of Nations._ 1776. Many editions. (London: Methuen. Edited by Edwin Cannan. 1904.) (Modern Library. 1937.) 2 vols. 462 pp. 506 pp.

Adam Smith is not merely the founder of political economy, but the father of economic liberty. In the 180 years since _The Wealth of Nations_ appeared, the case for free trade, for example, has been stated thousands of times, but probably never with more direct simplicity and force than in that volume.

Gide and Rist, in their _History of Economic Doctrines_, have admirably summarized the qualities that make _The Wealth of Nations_ unique: It “instantly eclipsed the tentative efforts of [Smith’s] predecessors.... His discussion of ... questions is marked by such mastery of detail and such balance of judgment that he convinces without effort. His facts are intermixed with reasoning, his illustrations with argument. He is instructive as well as persuasive. Withal there is no trace of pedantry, no monotonous reiteration in the work, and the reader is not burdened with the presence of a cumbersome logical apparatus. All is elegantly simple.... In addition to this, Smith has been successful in borrowing from his predecessors all their more important ideas and welding them into a more general system. He superseded them because he rendered their work useless. A true social and economic philosophy was substituted for their fragmentary studies, and an entirely new value given to their contributions.”

SMITH, BRADFORD B. _Liberty and Taxes._ Irvington, N. Y.: Foundation for Economic Education. 1947. 20 pp.

The author argues against the progressive income tax and in favor of proportional taxation. “The one thing always to dread is the laying of a tax burden on minorities by majorities which the majority itself escapes. That is tax despoliation.”

SMITH, WALTER BEDELL. _My Three Years in Moscow._ Lippincott. 1950. 346 pp.

An account of three years of the cold war in Russia as viewed by the former United States ambassador to Moscow in the period from March 1946 to March 1949. Among the subjects discussed are Soviet industry and agriculture, the cultural purge, slave labor, anti-Semitism, the Berlin blockade, the Yugoslav situation, and the possibility of war.

SNYDER, CARL. _Capitalism the Creator._ Macmillan. 1940. 473 pp.

“The thesis here presented,” writes the author, “is that there is one way, and only one way, that any people, in all history, have ever risen from barbarism and poverty to affluence and culture; and that is by that concentrated and highly organized system of production and exchange which we call capitalistic.”

In reviewing this book in _The New York Times_, I wrote: “It is frankly and belligerently a defense of capitalism, and as such it is one of the most original and interesting this reviewer has ever seen. Mr. Snyder is one of the country’s best known statisticians; he is full of all sorts of miscellaneous learning.... He uses epithets freely and he has a habit of deliberately leaving out the verbs in most of his sentences, so that the reader is bumped and jolted rather than carried along.

“Mr. Snyder has a profound faith in the probative value of statistics.... Impressive are the statistics and reasoning by which Mr. Snyder contends that wages are determined primarily by the product per worker; and that the product per worker is determined in the long run by the capital investment per worker, which makes possible the use of new machinery, new processes and new methods of production.”

SOLOVIEV, MIKHAIL. _When the Gods Are Silent._ McKay. 1953. 506 pp.

“The author, a former editor of _Izvestia_, tells a moving story of the development of the Russian revolutionary movement from its beginnings before World War I until a period just after World War II. It depicts, through the eyes of members of a Russian peasant family deeply involved in the whole movement, the growing blind obedience and the final realization that Russia must be saved but cannot be by the Communists.”--_Library Journal._

SOMARY, FELIX. _Democracy at Bay._ Knopf. 1952. 171 pp.

William Henry Chamberlin calls this “a profound and searching little book” which “deserves a place on the same shelf with Hayek’s _Road to Serfdom_.” Somary measures the ills of the modern world against the standards of old-fashioned liberal individualism. He condemns the contemporary erosion of property rights, the tendency of direct taxation to reach confiscatory levels, and the general abandonment of the gold standard for unlimited paper inflation. “The more functions the state assumes,” he contends, “the less it is possible to control the administration.”

SOUVARINE, BORIS. _Stalin: A Critical Survey of Bolshevism._ Alliance. 1939. 690 pp.

“This book is one of the most remarkable biographies of our times.... It is the best critical history of Bolshevism from Lenin to Stalin that has been written to date.... Lesser men would have been borne down by the weight of M. Souvarine’s vast erudition, but the author has a keen mind, a delightful sense of humor, and knows how to etch in acid.”--Sidney Hook, in _Books_.

SPENCER, HERBERT. _The Man Versus the State._ 1884. Many editions. (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers. 1940.) 213 pp.

One of the most powerful and influential arguments for limited government, _laissez faire_ and individualism ever written. The prophetic insight of such essays as “The Coming Slavery,” pointing out the then unrecognized threat of socialism to the freedom of the individual, has led to a strong revival of interest in Spencer after long neglect.

“Dictatorial measures, rapidly multiplied,” he wrote in the preface to this volume in 1884, “have tended continually to narrow the liberties of individuals.... Regulations have been made in yearly-growing numbers, restraining the citizen in directions where his actions were previously unchecked, and compelling actions which previously he might perform or not as he liked; and at the same time heavier public burdens ... have further restricted his freedom, by lessening that portion of his earnings which he can spend as he pleases, and augmenting the portion taken from him to be spent as public agents please.”

Spencer contended that the sphere of government should be “confined to the duty of preventing aggressions of individuals upon each other, and protecting the nation at large against external enemies.” It should, in other words, be confined to maintaining security of life and property, and the freedom of the individual to exercise his faculties. He warned against all efforts by the State to confer positive benefits upon citizens. He objected even to sanitary supervision. Even most individualists today would regard Spencer’s individualism as in many respects extreme. Yet no one concerned with individual freedom can afford to ignore his work. Every student of the subject should be familiar with it.

Hardly less important in its bearing on individualism is Spencer’s Social Statics, published in 1850. But the theme of individualism runs through all his writings--through _The Study of Sociology_, _The Principles of Ethics_, and the _Autobiography_.

SPERBER, MANES. _The Burned Bramble._ Doubleday. 1951. 405 pp.

A novel about the Communist party in Europe in the 1930’s. “An impassioned and profound picture of Communist experience in the years before Stalinism had fully shown its face--of the faith and exaltation; the monstrous erasure of human decency and truth; the incredible loyalty and self-sacrifice whose eventual reward was a disillusioned soul, a cheated mind, and a bullet in the neck.”--C. J. Rolo, in _The Atlantic_.

SPITZBERGEN, HENRY E. (HENRY PLOWDEEPER). _“Liberals” and the Constitution._ Washington, D. C.: Liberty & Freedom Press. 1950. 301 pp.

A defense of free enterprise, private ownership of property, limited government, and the doctrine of constitutional “separation of powers.”

SPRADING, CHARLES T. (ed.). _Liberty and the Great Libertarians._ Los Angeles: The author. 1913. 540 pp.

An anthology on liberty. Among the authors from whom passages have been selected are: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, John Stuart Mill, Emerson, Thoreau, Ingersoll, Henry George, Bernard Shaw, Olive Shreiner, and Maria Montessori.

STAMP, SIR JOSIAH. _Wealth and Taxable Capacity._ London: King. 1922. 195 pp.

“An analysis of the fundamental factors determining the relation of price, taxation and public debt to the total national income and capital.... Like Prof. Bowley’s works on national income, this is a book with which all who are seriously concerned about the problem of distribution ought to be acquainted.”--PI.

STAMP, SIR JOSIAH. _Inheritance as an Economic Factor. Economic Journal._ September 1926.

“The best analysis of the economic significance of inheritance that has yet been made. Of the conclusions, the following is of fundamental importance in modern controversy. ‘I think it probable that, through the inequalities due to the system in which inheritance has a part, the average man has a slightly smaller proportionate share of the aggregate than he would have had if there had been no inheritance system, but a substantially larger _absolute_ amount because he shares a larger aggregate.... Whether under the circumstances he is justified in having a sense of injustice ... is a matter lying beyond economics.’”--PI.

STANNARD, HAROLD MARTIN. _Two Constitutions._ Van Nostrand. 1949. 210 pp.

A comparative study of the written American constitution and the unwritten British one. It attempts to show a unity of purpose underlying the two.

STEINBERG, JULIEN. _Verdict of Three Decades._ Duell, Sloan & Pearce. 1950. 634 pp.

“An integrated and well-edited collection of writings about Soviet Communism, drawn mostly from the works of men and women who have revolted against it and believe that Lenin and Stalin cynically betrayed a revolution that they did not start in the first place.... If there are any people around who still do not believe the accusations made against Lenin and Stalin, this book should dispel their doubts.”--_New Yorker._

STEPHEN, SIR JAMES FITZJAMES. _Liberty, Equality, Fraternity._ London: Smith, Elder. 1873. 350 pp.

“A considerable portion of the book is devoted to J. S. Mill’s essay _On Liberty_. Stephen was a utilitarian and an admirer of Mill’s earlier writings. Mill, he says, ‘is the only modern author who has handled the subject with whom I agree sufficiently to differ from him profitably.’ Stephen delights in logical controversy. Here is an example: ‘To force an unwilling person to contribute to the British Museum is as distinct a violation of Mr. Mill’s principle as religious persecution.’ Stephen emphasized the necessity for definitions and the difficulty of finding a satisfactory definition for liberty. It is an interesting and useful book by a clever and vigorous writer with a good legal brain, who leans to the individualistic side and despises sentimentalism in economics and politics.”--PI. There are chapters on “Equality,” “Fraternity,” and “The Doctrine of Liberty in Its Application to Morals.”

STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE. _History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century._ 1876. London School of Economics. 1950. 3 vols. 1,233 pp.

“No single work quoted will be more useful to a beginner than this. Chapter X, ‘Political Theories,’ and Chapter XI, ‘Political Economics,’ are indispensable, but the whole is very valuable, because a knowledge of the intellectual conditions of the eighteenth century is all important for an understanding of English Individualism.”--PI.

STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE. _The English Utilitarians._ Putnam. 1900. 3 vols. 326 pp. 382 pp. 525 pp.

“Written when Stephen’s health was failing, these volumes have less vigor and merit than the previous work. But almost every chapter bears on our subject, and much useful information and criticism may be extracted.”--PI.

STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE. _The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart._ London: Smith, Elder. 1893. 504 pp.

“Stephen, who in later life became a judge, was long a busy journalist, writing much for the _Saturday Review_ and _Pall Mall Gazette_. His brother and biographer says: ‘He had sat at the feet of Bentham and Austin, and had found the most congenial philosophy in Hobbes.’ He had two counts against Mill--(1) That he had forsaken the straightforward principles of utilitarianism and _laissez-faire_. (2) That though he had diverged into a sort of sentimental Socialism, he would not permit the State to use the force it had at its disposal, for the purpose of restraining evil. Stephen was a convinced Individualist. His creed was to allow as much scope as possible to liberty and the individual, under the protection of a strong Government for purposes of police and security.”--PI.

STIGLER, GEORGE J. _Five Lectures on Economic Problems._ Longmans, Green. 1949. 65 pp.

These lectures, delivered before the London School of Economics by a professor of economics at Columbia University, are distinguished for pithy wisdom and shrewd analysis. They discuss “equality,” monopolistic competition, classical economics, mathematical economics, and the status of competition in the United States. This last lecture is particularly notable for the deftness with which it punctures the popular myth that competition has been declining steadily (and in many versions, drastically) for a half century or more. Professor Stigler estimates that competitive industries were producing seven-tenths of the national income in 1939, and utilizing more than four-fifths of the labor force. In his lecture on the classical economists he shows how much more they knew, and how much more humane and realistic they were, than it has been fashionable for our generation to believe.

STOWE, LELAND. _Conquest by Terror._ Random House. 1952. 300 pp.

A study of the countries behind the Iron Curtain: Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria. The author, an American newspaperman, bases his work on his own knowledge, plus material gained from journalists in exile, recent refugees, former officers, specialists of various kinds, and the underground. “Mr. Stowe has written a book to alarm the West, to make it aware of the important changes which five to seven years of Soviet control have already produced, not in the satellites alone but also in the balance between East and West in Europe. It is a grim story and one which needs to be widely reflected on.”--Philip Mosely, in the _New York Herald Tribune_.

STRAUSZ-HUPÉ, ROBERT, AND POSSONY, STEFAN T. _International Relations in the Age of the Conflict Between Democracy and Dictatorship._ McGraw-Hill. 1950. 947 pp.

“The long title of this book suggests its massive character. The almost unlimited subject of international relations is examined in almost one thousand pages of text, buttressed with vast erudition and illuminated by many flashes of perceptive wisdom. The authors are scholars connected respectively with the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University.... However, the book is far from being a colorless collection of undisputed facts. It should be, but probably will not be, required reading for all utopians. For much learning has made the authors profoundly skeptical about the value of one-idea panaceas. And they are ruthless with attempts to make platitudes a substitute for policy.”--W. H. Chamberlin, in _Human Events_.

STRIPLING, ROBERT E. _Red Plot Against America._ Drexel Hill, Pa.: Bell Publications. 1950. 282 pp.

“The author of this book was the chief investigator for the House Committee on Un-American Activities from 1938 to 1948. Mr. Bob Considine has ‘edited’ the story of Mr. Stripling’s adventures first for a newspaper syndicate, then for publication in the present book. The final 113 pages are lifted, by permission, from ‘primers’ against communism published by the committee in 1948 and obtainable from the Government Printing Office.”--_The New York Times._

STRUNSKY, SIMEON. _Two Came to Town._ Dutton. 1947. 219 pp.

A fantasy, speculating on what Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, respectively (introduced under the thin disguises of “Mr. Alexander” and “Mr. Thomas”), would say and think about New York and the ideology of present-day America if they could pay us a visit from the grave. Under a surface of playful humor, the author conveys a wise and penetrating message on how recent fashionable ideas and phrases could cause us to surrender our liberties.

STYPULKOWSKI, ZBIGNIEW F. _Invitation to Moscow._ McKay. 1951. 359 pp.

The author, a Polish lawyer and political prisoner, describes his long session in the notorious Soviet Lubianka prison, and the methods used to obtain a confession of his non-guilt. “It would be unfortunate if this volume were catalogued as merely another book on Soviet political terror. It is much more than that. An important half of the book is devoted to the author’s experience in the Polish underground, fighting against the German invaders.... Finally, this book is valuable because it gives the detailed story of Soviet perfidy toward the Polish underground in the closing days of World War II.”--Harry Schwartz, in _The New York Times_.

SULLIVAN, LAWRENCE. _Bureaucracy Runs Amuck._ Bobbs-Merrill. 1944. 318 pp.

A study of the confusion and overlapping in hundreds of the United States war emergency bureaus and agencies.

SULZBACH, WALTER. _National Consciousness._ Washington, D. C.: American Council on Public Affairs. 1943. 168 pp.

“Whoever reads it should have a more lively and discerning understanding of contemporary nationalism.”--Garland Downum, in the _American Political Science Review_.

SULZBACH, WALTER. “_Capitalistic Warmongers._” University of Chicago Press. 1942.

Punctures with facts and economic analysis the socialist superstition that “capitalism creates war.”

SUMNER, WILLIAM GRAHAM. _What Social Classes Owe to Each Other._ 1883. (Yale University Press. 1927.) 169 pp.

Few men have ever exposed the fallacies of state paternalism with more gusto and devastating logic than the American sociologist and economist, William Graham Sumner (1840-1910). The lucidity of his style and the humor of his illustrations are comparable to those of Bastiat. This little book contains among others the famous essay on “The Forgotten Man”--a phrase later perverted by politicians to mean exactly the opposite of what Sumner meant by it: “The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D.... I call C the Forgotten Man.... The state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man.”

Sumner also wrote valuable essays on free trade, protectionism and _laissez faire_. He was more celebrated in his own lifetime for his sociological work--his _Folkways_ (1907), and his monumental four-volume study, _The Science of Society_, with A. G. Keller, which appeared in 1927.

SWANSON, ERNST W., AND SCHMIDT, EMERSON P. _Economic Stagnation or Progress._ McGraw-Hill. 1946. 212 pp.

A critique of recent doctrines on the mature economy, oversavings, and deficit spending. It is also a critique of the Keynes-Hansen school of economic stabilization--which held that the American economy was stagnant because of “lack of investment opportunities,” and that therefore deficit spending by government on a more or less continuous basis was necessary to sustain prosperity. Basically, this is a book of readings from other economists, but these are linked together by commentaries and supplemented by the authors’ own summaries and conclusions. The book covers much of the same ground as George Terborgh’s _The Bogey of Economic Maturity_ (q.v.).

TALMON, L. J. _The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy._ Beacon Press. 1952. 366 pp.

This study seeks to show how totalitarian ideas grew out of utopianism, and how the extreme democrats of the French Revolution turned into the most ruthless dictators. “A book of great wisdom which I recommend to anyone who not only wants to broaden his basic knowledge of the French Revolution but also wishes to understand the basic--that is the intellectual--causes of the modern world crisis. Dr. Talmon’s work meets the highest academic standards.”--S. T. Possony, in the _Annals of the American Academy_.

TANSILL, CHARLES CALLAN. _America Goes to War._ Little, Brown. 1938. 731 pp.

A study of the reasons why America went to war in 1917. “The great value of Professor Tansill’s book is that it shows with incontestable detail just how independent of Congressional check is the President’s control of foreign affairs, and how this control can lead to war.”--John Chamberlain, in _Books_. “Mr. Tansill’s book ... is critical, searching and judicious.... It is presented in a style that is always vigorous and sometimes brilliant. It is the most valuable contribution to the history of the pre-war years in our literature, and one of the notable achievements of historical scholarship of this generation.”--H. S. Commager, in _The Yale Review_.

TANSILL, CHARLES CALLAN. _Back Door to War._ Regnery. 1952. 690 pp.

The author is professor of American diplomatic history at Georgetown University. This volume on the origins of World War II is based on extensive research, including access to the confidential files of the State Department. “Prof. Tansill sketches briefly American foreign policy from Versailles to 1933, then gives many details and biting comments on the actions and attitudes of F. D. Roosevelt, Hull, Stimson, Ambassador Dodd, etc.”--_Library Journal._ “When he is at his best, he is unfolding a diplomatic narrative with considerable skill, and with an excellent command of his sources.”--Dexter Perkins, in _The New York Times_.

TAUSSIG, F. W. _Principles of Economics._ Macmillan. 1911, etc. 2 vols. 545 pp. 576 pp.

“Characterized by an exquisite sanity. We do not recall any work in which these subjects are discussed with an equal degree of lucidity. Professor Taussig’s book from beginning to end is intensely readable.”--_The New York Times_, in 1925. “The reviewer is impressed anew with the maturity and breadth, as well as with the literary style, which are outstanding characteristics of Taussig’s _Principles_.”--R. T. Bye, in the _Annals of the American Academy_, 1940. “A fine picture of classical doctrines.... All in all, Professor Taussig’s _Principles_ remains an important part of economic literature--as it has been for over a quarter of a century. That is a distinguished record, almost unique for textbook writers in the field.”--T. F. Haygood, in the _Southern Economic Journal_, 1940.

TAUSSIG, F. W. _International Trade._ Macmillan. 1927. 425 pp.

The outstanding exposition, after the period of Bastable, of the “classical” theory of international trade. “What gives this book its great value--apart from gifts of exposition which recall the seductive clarity of the best pages of Stuart Mill--is the analysis and description of a multitude of facts drawn from his practical experience and which, even if one does not accept his general theory, have a special flavor and provide rich information of all sorts.”--Charles Rist. “Clarity of exposition is perhaps the first of the characteristics that will make the book supersede other treatises on the subject.”--London _Times Literary Supplement_.

TAYLOR, REGINALD. _The Socialist Illusion._ 1920.

“A study of the illusions and delusions from which Socialists suffer. Ideas such as ‘surplus value’ and the ‘something for nothing attitude’ are attacked. It is pointed out how much worse off all classes would be under a Socialist regime than under one which is primarily individualist.”--PI.

TCHERNAVIN, MME. TAT’YANA. _Escape from the Soviets._ London: Hamilton. 1934. 320 pp.

“By all odds the most vivid and inspiring--and compassionate--human document that has come out of the whole Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent regime.”--F. H. Britten, in _Books_.

TCHERNAVIN, VLADIMIR. _I Speak for the Silent Prisoners of the Soviets._ Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint. 1935. 368 pp.

In _Escape from the Soviets_ Mme. Tchernavin told the story of her escape to Finland with her husband and her young son. In this book Vladimir Tchernavin recounts what happened before the escape, of his work as a scientist in a northern fishing center, of his arrest and the long months during which the GPU tried to wring a “confession” out of him, of his sentence to five years hard labor, and of the conditions of the prisons and concentration camps in which he was held. “It is a book which no lover of human liberty can read without being moved to horror and indignation.”--J. D. Adams, in _The New York Times_.

TENNIEN, MARK A. _No Secret Is Safe._ Farrar, Straus, 1952. 270 pp.

“No book has yet appeared which compels more belief than does Father Mark Tennien’s account of the ordeal of contemporary China. Speaking as both observer and victim, Father Tennien, a Maryknoll priest, provides us with a model of dispassionate reporting.”--Julien Steinberg, in _The Saturday Review_.

TERBORGH, GEORGE. _The Bogey of Economic Maturity._ Chicago: Machinery & Allied Products Institute. 1945. 263 pp.

The doctrine of economic maturity was born in the depression years of the thirties. It held that the passing of the frontier, the tapering off of population growth, the improbability of any further revolutionary inventions, left a dearth of opportunity for private investment, and that therefore the government must either expand “public investment” through deficit financing, or tax out of existence the excess savings poisoning the economy. Reviewing this book in _The New York Times_ of Aug. 27, 1945, I wrote: “One by one, with closely reasoned arguments, with historic illustrations, and with a wealth of statistical documentation, the author kicks all the props from under the mature economy doctrine.... A first-rate contribution.”

THOMAS, IVOR. _The Socialist Tragedy._ Macmillan. 1951. 254 pp.

“Mr. Ivor Thomas is a former member of the Labor government in Britain turned Conservative.... He attacks the ‘myth’ that socialism is a barrier against communism. He recalls the actions of the Socialist parties in Eastern Europe and France and Italy as examples of how the socialists were not only powerless against the Communists but allied with the Communists. Mr. Thomas believes the only difference between socialism and communism is in degree; adoption of either results in loss of civil liberties and in reduced standards of living.”--_Current History._

THOREAU, HENRY D. _Civil Disobedience._ 1849. Many editions. 29 pp.

Thoreau (1817-1862) was an extreme nonconformist and individualist--so extreme that the doctrine of this essay (inspired by a night spent in jail for Thoreau’s refusal to pay his poll-tax) comes close to anarchism. “I heartily accept the motto,” he begins, “‘That government is best which governs least’; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--‘That government is best which governs not at all.’”

He claims the right of personal secession. “The authority of government,” he declares, “can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it.” If everyone claimed the right of withdrawal and noncooperation, and disobedience of whatever laws did not entirely accord with his own ideas of justice or wisdom, government would become impossible. (On the other hand, I do not mean to imply by this objection that the individual is _never_ under _any_ circumstances justified in refusing obedience to a government or a particular law: such refusal may sometimes be the only method of reducing injustice or preventing despotism.)

Thoreau’s case is powerfully argued in a taut and elevated prose. Although some of the conclusions at which he arrives are too sweeping, he gives us many pearls of truth along the way.

TOCQUEVILLE, ALEXIS DE. _Democracy in America._ 1835. Many editions. (Knopf. 1945.) 2 vols. 452 pp. 518 pp.