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Freedom Book of the Month for March 1999:
The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics
by Fred E. Foldvary
Edward Elgar Press, 1999, 307 pp., $85.00
Until recently, I kept two basic but important books within arm's length when writing on economic issues: "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt and "Free to Choose" by Milton and Rose Friedman. "The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics" makes three.
Like most libertarians, I consider myself a little more economically literate than the average Joe. I have a basic grasp of how the market works. But the more abstruse concepts of economic theory have always floated in the darkness, just beyond my vision. Fred Foldvary's compendium is illuminating the subject for me.
"The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics" is functional on many levels.
It is a well-rounded and comprehensive lexicon. From a posteriori through Zube, John, Foldvary covers the names, terms, and concepts of free-market economics. It pays special attention to the free-market schools of thought -- the Austrian, Chicago, Law and Economics, and Public Choice schools, and even the Henry George school.
While not intended as a primer or tutorial as such, it can be used to good effect in following a concept through its interrelations and conflicts with other ideas. The cross-referencing is so extensive, and the concepts unfold so seamlessly, that the book can be read rather than simply referred to.
Just as importantly, Foldvary's work may be key to expanding one's understanding of the classics of economic thought. I'll never again open Ludwig von Mises' "Human Action" -- or, for that matter, Marx's "Capital" or Keynes' "General Theory" -- without having it handy.
Additional Links:
edited by Thomas L. Knapp
June 2000: Law's Order by David Friedman
May 2000: Forge of the Elders by L. Neil Smith
April 2000: Reciprocia by Richard G. Rieben
March 2000: The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand
February 2000: Addiction is a Choice by Jeffrey A. Schaler
January 2000: Revolutionary Language by David C. Calderwood
Special December 1999 Feature: The Freedom Book of the Year: Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998 by Vin Suprynowicz
November 1999: Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell
October 1999: A Way To Be Free by Robert LeFevre, edited by Wendy McElroy
September 1999: Assassins (Left Behind) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
August 1999: Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet): 101 More Ways to Salvage Freedom by Claire Wolfe
July 1999: The Mitzvah by L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman
June 1999: The Incredible Bread Machine by R.W. Grant
May 1999: Send in the Waco Killers by Vin Suprynowicz
April 1999: It Still Begins with Ayn Rand by Jerome Tuccille
March 1999: The Dictionary of Free-Market Economics by Fred Foldvary
February 1999: Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand edited by Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra
In December 2004 this page was modified significantly from its original form for archiving purposes.
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