Wealth and poverty A new edition for the twenty-first century

In 1981, just as the Reagan revolution got underway, Gilder published his original Wealth and Poverty. He now reenters the fray with an expanded, updated "new edition for the twenty-first century." The well-known author is a passionate voice for capitalism, free markets, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation, which he views as both moral and "essential for the very survival of the planet with an ever-growing population." (His closing sentence in the epilogue proposes the remedy: "We just need to adopt a full supply-side solution.") A 30-page prologue is followed by 21 chapters grouped into three broad themes: "The Mandate for Capitalism," "The Crisis of Policy," and "The Economy of Faith." This book is long on missionary zeal and short on specifics; not a single graph, figure, or table interrupts this paean for free enterprise and Gilder's disdain for Obama, forced redistribution, and Keynesian economics (though there are 30 pages of endnotes and a lengthy selected bibliography). But that is not all bad: it is what it is--for the author and his loyal following. However, it has far more in common with convention speeches than the work of academic seminars or think tank panels. See related, Allan Meltzer's Why Capitalism? (CH, Sep'12, 50-0401). Summing Up: Optional. General readers, undergraduate students, professionals. A. R. Sanderson University of Chicago