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Satan's Bushel
This dazzling work in economic fiction is the third of Garet Garrett's novel trilogy, written and first published in 1924. Like the others, Satan's Bushel is a splendid book, not just from the point of view of economics but also as a piece of literature.
What is Satan's Bushel? It is the last bushel that the farmer puts on the market, the one that "breaks the price" — that is, reduces it to the point that wheat farming is no longer profitable. The puzzle that afflicts the wheat farmers is that they sell their goods when the price is low and have no goods to sell when the price is high. Withholding goods from the market is one answer but why would any farmer do that?
What is the answer to this problem? Working from this premise, then, as implausible as it may sound, but the central figure in this book is the price of wheat. It is the main source of drama. The settings are the wheat pit at the Chicago exchange (circa 1915) and the Kansas wheat fields. Linking those two radically different universes is the mission of this book.
The action further explores the meaning, morality, and utility of wheat speculation. The plot is centered at the turn of the 20th century, a critical period when the agricultural economy was completely giving way to the fully industrialized one, and farmers were panicked about the alleged problem of falling prices. The allegory might equally apply to the computer industry today, so there is nothing lost in the passage of time.
It tells the story of one man's discovery of a brilliant speculator and his relationship with an old and legendary farmer/mystic and his daughter. The mystic embodies both the highest wisdom and the greatest economic fallacies of the day. The question that must be confronted is how to make farms profitable in times of falling prices, and the novel shows that speculation, even with all its human foibles, makes a contribution to stabilizing the market.
Here is one of hundreds of brilliant passages describing the speculator:
"No rule of probability contains him. To say that he acts upon impulse, without reflection, in a headlong manner, is true only so far as it goes. Many people have that weakness. With him it is not a weakness. It is a principle of conduct. The impulse in his case is not ungovernable. It does not possess him and overthrow his judgment. It is the other way around. He takes possession of the impulse, mounting it as it were the enchanted steed of the Arabian Nights, and rides it to its kingdom of consequences. What lies at the end is always a surprise; if it is something he doesn't care for, no matter. Another steed is waiting. Meaning to do this, living for it, he has no baggage. There is nothing behind him. If he has wealth it is portable. He is at any moment ready."
In a plot twist that foreshadows the New Deal, one person attempts to destroy the wheat crops with a poisonous fungus, thinking that he is doing the farmers a favor by reducing supply! The reader is confronted with a challenge of coming to understand whether this is really so, and if not, why? Keep in mind that this is written a full decade before FDR attempted the same tactics from the federal level!
Another dramatic scene involves the arrest of an opponent of World War I. Further, there are plot twists that turn on romance, sorcery, criminality, mob behavior, psychological possession, the war, price controls, government interventions, and other surprises and wholly unimaginable things like water witchery and a teak tree in Burma. The central action, however, deals with the core of economics and the place of production and speculation.
To search for Mises Institute titles, enter a keyword and "LvMI" (short for Ludwig von Mises Institute); e.g., "Depression LvMI"
What is Satan's Bushel? It is the last bushel that the farmer puts on the market, the one that "breaks the price" — that is, reduces it to the point that wheat farming is no longer profitable. The puzzle that afflicts the wheat farmers is that they sell their goods when the price is low and have no goods to sell when the price is high. Withholding goods from the market is one answer but why would any farmer do that?
What is the answer to this problem? Working from this premise, then, as implausible as it may sound, but the central figure in this book is the price of wheat. It is the main source of drama. The settings are the wheat pit at the Chicago exchange (circa 1915) and the Kansas wheat fields. Linking those two radically different universes is the mission of this book.
The action further explores the meaning, morality, and utility of wheat speculation. The plot is centered at the turn of the 20th century, a critical period when the agricultural economy was completely giving way to the fully industrialized one, and farmers were panicked about the alleged problem of falling prices. The allegory might equally apply to the computer industry today, so there is nothing lost in the passage of time.
It tells the story of one man's discovery of a brilliant speculator and his relationship with an old and legendary farmer/mystic and his daughter. The mystic embodies both the highest wisdom and the greatest economic fallacies of the day. The question that must be confronted is how to make farms profitable in times of falling prices, and the novel shows that speculation, even with all its human foibles, makes a contribution to stabilizing the market.
Here is one of hundreds of brilliant passages describing the speculator:
"No rule of probability contains him. To say that he acts upon impulse, without reflection, in a headlong manner, is true only so far as it goes. Many people have that weakness. With him it is not a weakness. It is a principle of conduct. The impulse in his case is not ungovernable. It does not possess him and overthrow his judgment. It is the other way around. He takes possession of the impulse, mounting it as it were the enchanted steed of the Arabian Nights, and rides it to its kingdom of consequences. What lies at the end is always a surprise; if it is something he doesn't care for, no matter. Another steed is waiting. Meaning to do this, living for it, he has no baggage. There is nothing behind him. If he has wealth it is portable. He is at any moment ready."
In a plot twist that foreshadows the New Deal, one person attempts to destroy the wheat crops with a poisonous fungus, thinking that he is doing the farmers a favor by reducing supply! The reader is confronted with a challenge of coming to understand whether this is really so, and if not, why? Keep in mind that this is written a full decade before FDR attempted the same tactics from the federal level!
Another dramatic scene involves the arrest of an opponent of World War I. Further, there are plot twists that turn on romance, sorcery, criminality, mob behavior, psychological possession, the war, price controls, government interventions, and other surprises and wholly unimaginable things like water witchery and a teak tree in Burma. The central action, however, deals with the core of economics and the place of production and speculation.
To search for Mises Institute titles, enter a keyword and "LvMI" (short for Ludwig von Mises Institute); e.g., "Depression LvMI"
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1924
6 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Garet Garrett
61 books28 followersGaret Garrett was born in 1878 in Illinois. By 1903, he had become a well known writer for the Sun newspaper (1833–1950) in New York. In 1911, he wrote a fairly successful book, Where the Money Grows and Anatomy of the Bubble. In 1916, at the age of 38, Garrett became the executive editor of the New York Tribune, after having worked as a financial writer for The New York Times, the Saturday Evening Post, and The Wall Street Journal. From 1920 to 1933, his primary focus was on writing books.
Between 1920 and 1932 Garrett wrote eight books, including The American Omen in 1928 and A Bubble That Broke the World in 1932. He also wrote regular columns for several business and financial publications.
Between 1920 and 1932 Garrett wrote eight books, including The American Omen in 1928 and A Bubble That Broke the World in 1932. He also wrote regular columns for several business and financial publications.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2020
I have read a number of descriptions of this novel, and not one of them mentions a key element: fantasy.
This is a fantasy novel.
Not a medieval fantasy. Not horror. Not science fiction — unless the science were economics. It is a fantasy with magical, mystical elements, but set in the world of the grain trade.
Utterly brilliant. Unexpected. Unique.
It does amuse me that so many people (not on this platform, I should add) can talk about this book without mentioning the fantastic element.
Very odd.
This is a fantasy novel.
Not a medieval fantasy. Not horror. Not science fiction — unless the science were economics. It is a fantasy with magical, mystical elements, but set in the world of the grain trade.
Utterly brilliant. Unexpected. Unique.
It does amuse me that so many people (not on this platform, I should add) can talk about this book without mentioning the fantastic element.
Very odd.
Currently reading
April 13, 2010I am reading the free ebook (epub) version on my ipad available here:
http://mises.org/books/SatansBushel.epub
http://mises.org/books/SatansBushel.epub
November 26, 2024
Dreadwind is a commodities broker like Randolph and Mortimer from Duke & Duke. Except instead of frozen concentrated orange juice, he trades in wheat futures. He trades in wheat that hasn't yet been planted and becomes rich. Then he realizes he doesn't know anything about wheat and would like to see it. He goes to Kansas, finds wheat, and falls in love with it. He walks through the fields like Maximus touching the kernels. Then he meets Absalom Weaver.
Weaver is a mystery man who travels from place-to-place giving advice and speeches like a tent preacher. The farmers treat him like a prophet. He has a plan for the farmers and also has a daughter.
Dreadwind falls for the daughter but then she and Weaver disappear. He tracks them for months, learns who Weaver is, and makes a disturbing discovery. Eventually he confronts Weaver and learns his master plan.
This book is something of an allegory which covers several topics. First it covers the commodities speculators, and how they trade in imaginary crops that do not even exist. He hits on how the traders control the price of a product and the farmers have little choice but to accept it. He moves on to the psychology of gambling, how it's not at all about money but the thrill of the chase, and how no amount of winning or losing can ever be enough. And then to Weaver's plan to empower the farmers, which has the unexpected additional result of enriching the traders as well.
Garrett has an intricate knowledge of economics and does well in explaining esoteric places like the stock exchange and commodities pit. He does well in spelling out the benefits of a regulated free market while also telling a good story.
Weaver is a mystery man who travels from place-to-place giving advice and speeches like a tent preacher. The farmers treat him like a prophet. He has a plan for the farmers and also has a daughter.
Dreadwind falls for the daughter but then she and Weaver disappear. He tracks them for months, learns who Weaver is, and makes a disturbing discovery. Eventually he confronts Weaver and learns his master plan.
This book is something of an allegory which covers several topics. First it covers the commodities speculators, and how they trade in imaginary crops that do not even exist. He hits on how the traders control the price of a product and the farmers have little choice but to accept it. He moves on to the psychology of gambling, how it's not at all about money but the thrill of the chase, and how no amount of winning or losing can ever be enough. And then to Weaver's plan to empower the farmers, which has the unexpected additional result of enriching the traders as well.
Garrett has an intricate knowledge of economics and does well in explaining esoteric places like the stock exchange and commodities pit. He does well in spelling out the benefits of a regulated free market while also telling a good story.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews