Book Reviews

The world may reject him as odd, impractical, and even irrational; but he clings to his prin ciples, regardless of the world around him. There is boldness, a spirit of daring, in the heart of a reformer. ' , Our transfer system is based on political ex pedience' but it is also founded in political im morality. Here Hans Sennholz invokes the eighth and tenth Commandments. Theft and covetous yearnings cannot be justified by bringing government into the picture. There won't be much change until individuals begin to take Mosaic law seriously. Sennholz sug gests that individuals should be informed of the nature and source of their Social Security ben efits. Every check should carry a stub that re veals the cumulative amount of benefits re ceived as of that check. The shocking revela tion that one has withdrawn $69,501.15 when he or she has contributed a paltry total of $817.15 would "soon silence the most common defense: 'I paid in.' "

When the total benefits received in retire ment exceed the contributions made during working years, a Social Security recipient should submit to a means test. Those who can cover their own expenses should be expected to do so. Millionaires should be expected to pay their own bills. Anyone willing to assume self responsibility for old age and medical expenses should be encouraged to do so. Sennholz, seeking a dismantling of Social Security and Medicare in an orderly fashion, suggests beginning with a spending freeze that would call a truce in the political struggle. Sen ator Domenici of New Mexico has proposed that Congress freeze Fiscal Year 1988 budget authority at Fiscal 1987 levels. Fiscal 1987 spending has been estimated at $1 trillion and revenues at $850 billion. Predictably revenues will rise to $996 billion in 1989 and to $1.058 trillion in 1990. Assuming a freezing of expen diture levels at 1987 levels until 1990, the Fed eral budget would then be in the black.

The Domenici proposal is better than nothing, but Sennholz says it still attacks symptoms instead of the disease. The root cause of evil, the transfer mentality, would re main to generate outlays under conditions of surplus faster than revenue can be collected. 0 120 ECONOMIC LIBERTIES AND THE JU~ICIARY Edited by James A. Dorn and Henry G. Manne George Mason University Press, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 • 1987 •414 pages • $28.00 cloth; $15.75 paperback Reviewed by Tommy W. Rogers E conomic Liberties and the Judiciary consists of twenty-three essays by scholars from academia and jurispru dence who deal with the theory and practice of constitutional interpretation and the manner in which economic issues have been handled by the courts. They address such issues as the growing failure of the judiciary to protect eco nomic liberties of human rights in property; the legitimate role of the judiciary-and of gov ernment and law generally-in a free society; and the implications of the demise of substan tive due process when dealing with economic relationships and the market order. This volume challenges and reassesses attitudes that have long dominated constitutional law and have provided the operative notions for public policy. Now, for the first time in a generation, disciples of the current doctrine of "misguided judicial activism" are being forthrightly chal lenged on doctrines they have accepted on faith since the New Deal. This confrontation is im portant because the debate over the Constitu tion with respect to its guarantees of human rights in property and in economic liberty is, as the editors put it in their Introduction, "a debate over whether the Constitution will survive as a charter for limited government and indi vidual freedom .... " D AMERICA'S MARCH TOWARD COMMUNISM: FORSAKING OUR HERITAGE by Mark W. Hendrickson Libertarian Press, Spring Mills, PA 16875 • 1987 • 102 pages $6.95 paperback Reviewed by CarlO. Helstrom, III M ark Hendrickson systematically dis cusses the ten points of the Commu nist Manifesto in light of twentieth century legislation and popular opinion in the United States, and makes a strong case for his thesis: "The United States has marched far down the road to Communism," in the sense that we have enacted into law the very agenda proposed by Marx in 1848. At the same time, Hendrickson makes a strong case for the free market economy.

Following the step-by-step treatment of the Communist Manifesto, the author suggests ways to reverse the "march." He recommends three constitutional amendments and adds "A Call to Action." This monograph will be useful to anyone reading or rereading the early works of Marx and it carries a powerful message for those who may have forgotten that the important battles are in the realm of ideas. D THEFREE IDEAS ON LIBERTY 124 Equal: But Not the Same Edmund A. Opitz A look at economic and political equality. 131 Mom's Monopoly, Part I Susan J. Osburn A mother teaches her 14-year-:-oldson some basic economics. 133 Entrepreneurs and the State Burt Folsom Federally aided firms rarely outperform those who have to succeed on their own merits. 136 The Myth of Japanese Industrial Policy C. Brandon Crocker The reasons behind Japan's postwar boom. 140 Who Should Support the Arts? Melvin D. Barger Sustaining culture through voluntary, peaceful means and processes.