Mexico: A Study Of Two Americas

by Stuart Chase, Marian Tyler, Diego Rivera (Illustrator)

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

338 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1931

About the author

Stuart Chase was an American economist and engineer trained at MIT. His writings covered topics as diverse as general semantics and physical economy. His hybrid background of engineering and economics places him in the same philosophical camp as R. Buckminster Fuller. Chase's thought was shaped by Henry George, Thorstein Veblen and Fabian socialism. Chase spent his early political career supporting "a wide range of reform causes: the single tax, women's suffrage, birth control and socialism." Chase's early books The Tragedy of Waste (1925) and Your Money's Worth (1928) were notable for their criticism of corporate advertising and their advocacy of consumer protection. Although not a Marxist, Chase admired the planned economy of the Soviet Union, being impressed with it after a 1927 visit. Chase stated that "The Russians, in a time of peace, have answered the question of what an economic system is for." It has been suggested that he was the originator of the expression a New Deal, which became identified with the economic programs of American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He had a cover story in The New Republic entitled "A New Deal for America", during the week that Roosevelt gave his 1932 presidential acceptance speech promising a new deal, but whether Roosevelt's speechwriter Samuel Rosenman saw the magazine is not clear.

Reviews

[Robin Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book about Mexico was written by an American economist in the 1930s. I expected there might be some ugly-Americanisms or politically incorrect observations made in some parts of the book, but I was pleasantly surprised by the author's objective points of view and even-handed analysis with no cringe-worthy opinions or quips that are sometimes found in older texts covering Mexico and/or Latin America. As someone who has studied Mexico, lived there, taught there, and married a Mexican over 40 years ago, I really enjoyed reading it and have recommended it to my husband and others despite its age. There's a good dose of history rounded out with cultural observations made by the author that make it a very good read!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this over 5 years ago and only remember that it was very accurate to what I thought at the time.