Review (PDF) Eat The Rich: A Treatise On Economics
In the tradition of his contemporary classic Parliament of Whores, the man who The Wall Street Journal calls "the funniest writer in America" is back with Eat the Rich, in which he takes on the global economy. P. J. O'Rourke leads you on an hysterical whirlwind world tour from the "good capitalism" of Wall Street to the "bad socialism" of Cuba in search of the answer to an age-old question: "Why do some places prosper and thrive, while others just suck?" With stops in Albania, Sweden, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Tanzania, P.J. brings along his incomparable wit and finds hilarity wherever he goes.
File Size: 814 KB
Print Length: 274 pages
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (December 1, 2007)
Publication Date: December 1, 2007
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B008UX2W78
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #379,693 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #338 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional #532 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Essays #807 in Books > Business & Money > International > Economics
I got hooked on P.J. O'Rourke through his work in "RollingStone." Each of his books have usually just been expandedversions of his gonzo-style of journalism. He is definitely the sicklove child of Hunter S. Thompson (another "Rolling Stone"family member) and Dave Barry--of course with a twist of RushLimbaugh's conservatist flare. His dry wit is interlaced with a keeneye for the bizarre. He has attacked politicians and Congress in"Parliament of Whores" (still his best book to date) and the"hawks" and "doves" in "Give War aChance" (enjoyable though not as memorable). This time he takeson economists who apparently win Nobel prizes simply by boring themost people. However, he does this by actually bouncing around theglobe, from Wall Street to Havana. And Albania to Hong Kong. Andseveral other points in between.He gets deep into acountry. Immersing himself within society itself to develop his theoryof why a country's economic ills are what they are. This is usuallydone by attending the local watering holes. If anything else isredeeming to an O'Rourke work, it's certain that you will always walkaway with an unquenchable urge to have a stiff drink--or maybefour.O'Rourke examines and compares several societies andcountries that exhibit the most free of the free market (Hong Kong) orthe country with "good" socialism (Sweden) and"bad" socialism (Cuba) and several other nations likeTanzania, Albania and Russia. As well as the U.S. and Shanghai.
I have never met P. J. O'Rourke, though I've always wanted to. (We probably wouldn't get along, as I don't drink much and wear a hat.) So I have no reason to say this other than the fact that it's true: He is the funniest man on Earth.It's my contention that humor that is *about* something is far funnier than humor that is nothing more than a grab-bag of exaggerations and incongruities, Dave Barry style. Dave Barry is good--I have all his books too--but every time I get another one, I have this feeling that I've heard all these jokes before. Only the words are different.P. J. O'Rourke's books are almost always about something--GIVE WAR A CHANCE was about the Gulf War, mostly--that matters. War matters, even dumb wars like Vietnam, though they don't all matter the same way. ALL THE TROUBLE IN THE WORLD was about a lot of things that matter in a hurtful sort of way, though the king on that throne is bad government. The significance of the subject matter is what makes the humor so pointed--the absurdities of the Gulf War are far funnier than talking about pigeons letting go on some slob's head.So in his latest volume P. J. takes on economics. This matters more than anything else on Earth, pretty much, because life on Earth is about work and wealth and what's for supper. I never learned economics because it's taught by men who are basically mummies without the wrappings. The books are unreadable, the graphs devoid of any connection to the real world. Finally, 25 years after getting out of school, I find an economics book by a guy who's still breathing. Furthermore, it's so painfully funny that two days later it's etched so firmly in my head I can still remember nearly all the points he made.Many of these points are made in the course of P. J.
As supply increases prices fall; the demand curve moves in inverse proportion to supply; and economics is as dry as the bleached bones of Adam Smith. At least that is what you were lead to believe by that stringy-haired Marxist who taught ECON101. In his humorous, pointed and informative treatise, "Eat the Rich", P. J. O'Rourke has contravened at least one rule of economics - He has established that it is by no means boring. Indeed he has elevated it to a spectator sport.In "Eat the Rich" O'Rourke builds economic theory from keen observation of various governmental, social and economic systems. He begins with the bustling center of American capital, Wall Street, where he vividly describes the chaos inherent in the capitalist system. In the course of his exposition of the money capitol, he notes that he found the one thing he never expected to find, "Transcendent Bliss". Yet transcendent bliss does not seem so far out of line when one considers that John Locke, an eighteenth century political philosopher, concluded that the right to property was the guarantor of liberty, and Thomas Jefferson took the notion a step further equating it with happiness. While O'Rourke clearly expounds such economic truisms he manages to avoid the ponderous philosophic explanations constraining most commentators.From Wall Street "Eat the Rich" visits Albania, Sweden, Russia, Tanzania and Cuba. The description of each country is on-the-mark. In his description of Moscow, for example, he notes, "The traffic signals are timed to let three battalions of crack airborne troops and a hundred missile launchers through before the yellow caution light comes on.
Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics Exploring for Oil and Gas Traps (Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Handbook of Petroleum Geology Series) (Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Handbook of Petroleum Geology Series) Living Rich with Coupons: Empowering Smart Shoppers to Live Rich Start Your Own Corporation: Why the Rich Own Their Own Companies and Everyone Else Works for Them (Rich Dad Advisors) Guía para invertir / Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Spanish Edition) Wetland Economics, 1989-1993: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography (Bibliographies and Indexes in Economics and Economic History) Stochastic Methods in Economics and Finance, Volume 17 (Advanced Textbooks in Economics) Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss Eat Smart in Poland: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart) Eat & Explore Ohio Cookbook & Travel Guide (Eat & Explore State Cookbook) Summary Of Eat Fat, Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health by Mark Hyman M.D. Eat Right For Your Blood Type: A Guide to Healthy Blood Type Diet, Understand What to Eat According to Your Blood Type Blood Type Diet: Eat Right for Your Blood Type: The simple way to eat for weight loss and live a healthy life Eat Out, Eat Well: The Guide to Eating Healthy in Any Restaurant Eat Smart: What to Eat in a Day - Every Day Low-Fodmap and Vegan: What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything Eat, Pray, Die (An Eat, Pray, Die Humorous Mystery Book 1) Handloader's Manual - A Treatise on Modern Cartridge Components and Their Assembly by the Individual Shooter Into Accurate Ammunition to Best Suit his Various Purposes Handloader's Manual - A Treatise on Modern Cartridge Components and Their Assembly by the Individual Shooter Into Accurate Ammunition to Best Suit His
