The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

Jim heartfield jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk
Fri Oct 23 03:19:58 PDT 1998


In message <362FCF37.BE61099D at Lorainccc.edu>, Tom Lehman <uswa12 at lorainccc.edu> writes
>Dear Doug and the LBOers,
>
>Does anyone have any comments on the book The Wealth and Poverty of
>Nations by Harvard economics prof David Landes.
>
>The book has gotten some so-so reviews. Personally, I found it to be
>entertaining light reading. How would Landes stack up against List?
>
>Sincerely,
>Tom Lehman
>

Many years ago Landes wrote Prometheus Unbound, a history of industrialisation. The book is a brilliant example of the way that traditional economics distills human relations into relations between things. It is full of phrases like 'the coal industry built the railways' and 'steam power opened up the seas' (a bit like Mark Jones recent contribution on the struggle between carbon and hydrogen). That said it is a very good and comprehensive history. I look forward to Wealth and POverty of Nations. -- Jim heartfield



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