Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics

by George Reisman

Literally encyclopedic--almost the length of a volume of the Britannica in terms both of number of pages and content per page--Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics is the philosophically and intellectually strongest and most comprehensive book in the defense of laissez-faire capitalism that can be found anywhere in the world at the present time. It is state of the art in economic theory and political philosophy.

The intelligent, open-minded reader who seeks to understand the economics and politics of the modern world (along with much of its closely related history and social and cultural phenomena), and what is required to improve mankind's lot in these two vital areas, need look no further than to this book.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy

1085 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

George Reisman, Ph.D., is Pepperdine University Professor Emeritus of Economics, and the author of Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics (Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson Books, 1996; Kindle Edition, 2012), The Government Against the Economy; Warren Buffett, Class Warfare, and the Exploitation Theory; The Benevolent Nature of Capitalism and Other Essays; Labor Unions, Thugs, and Strom Troopers; and, most recently, Piketty's Capital: Wrong Theory/Destructive Program. His website is capitalism.net. His blog is georgereismansblog.blogspot.com. See his Amazon.com author's page and follow him on Twitter @GGReisman.

Dr. Reisman is married to Edith Packer, J.D., Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, with whom he lives in Laguna Hills, California.

He was personally a student of Ludwig von Mises, whose NYU seminar he attended for eight years and under whom he obtained his doctorate in economics in 1963. He is the translator of von Mises's Epistemological Problems of Economics (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1960). From1957 until her death in 1982, he was an associate of Ayn Rand.

Reviews

[Eric Rasbold · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gets an honorable mention in "Books that don't suck."

If EVER you wanted to know the proper application of capitalism in its purest form - this is the read for you. Exceedingly dry, but awesome - even if you are not an economist.

The Ludwig von Mises Institute has a true scholar and philosopher here in Professor Reisman.

I recommend the hard copy.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive apologia of capitalism. Taken together with Principles of Economics by Karl Menger and Human Action by von Mises, we have here a quite complete little library of economic master-works.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a layman with limited time, I have only read portions of George Reisman's lengthy and analytical, yet in parts bold and dramatic, book "Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics," but what I read provided great insight and solid evidence of the rightness of Capitalism for human life. Reisman's mentors were Ayn Rand and Ludwig Von Mises.

[Hugo Dantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma das apologias mais sólidas e mais completas do capitalismo de "laissez-faire". Não há praticamente nenhum grande problema da ciência económica que não seja tratado no livro com inexpugnável coerência. O autor faz o tratamento dos temas de uma forma que por vezes transcende o âmbito da Economia, casos esses em que se percebe o quão fortemente está o seu entendimento ancorado numa filosofia mais vasta, que para Reisman é o Objectivismo de Ayn Rand.

Particularmente interessantes são a sua reformulação das teses da escola clássica (na qual recupera a doutrina dos fundos do capitalista como origem dos salários), a sua comparação entre as teses da escola clássica e a economia política marxista, a sua refutação da teoria da mais-valia marxista (que supera a de E. Böhm-Bawerk), a reabilitação do papel do empresário na produção económica (por oposição à excessiva ênfase conferida à "soberania dos consumidores") e a crítica implacável do keynesianismo.

Fora das considerações técnicas, Reisman presenteia ainda o leitor com uma breve memória, inserida na introdução da obra, das suas relações pessoais com Mises, Rothbard e Rand, e das relações de cada um destes entre si (especialmente a de Rothbard com Rand, que viria a resvalar para inimizade declarada). São apontamentos biográficos de grande interesse que compõem um retrato do ambiente intelectual nos círculos em que Rand e Rothbard ascenderam à proeminência enquanto defensores intelectuais do livre mercado e de uma ética individualista.

[Juan Fernando Carpio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most comprehensive and potent Economics treatise out there. Prof. Reisman creates a swiping synthesis of British Classical, Austrian Continental and Randian insights with components that prof. Jesús Huerta de Soto has described as "brilliant". Prof. Reisman refutes the errors in several schools of economics and adds contributions of his own to the edifice that his late teacher, Ludwig von Mises, set for humane and realistic economics. A master's course and a doctoral program both compressed in a book.

[John Boettcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a defense of capitalism as it is the entire explanation of capitalism, freedom, life, liberty, and the markets, and those forces that seek to under-mind that freedom for their own gain. Reisman does an amazing job of taking the reader line by line through every single topic imaginable in this amazing tome. I rate it third only next to Human Action by Mises and Man, Economy, and State by Rothbard.

[Zachary Moore]

An excellent defense of economic freedom and fascinating for its integration of Austrian and Classical economics. Extraordinarily thorough, though this double-columned 1,000 page tome is definitely a long-range reading project.

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

:)