The Economic Wisdom of a Connecticut Yankee; R. Shannon

In Twain's Camelot, the rosy romantic hue in which modern presentations bathe Arthur's Professor Shannon teaches in the Economics Depart ment, Clemson University. regime is totally missing. We find that a person's position, power, and prestige depend solely on his parentage. All economic activity is carefully con trolled, including wages, which are set by the local magistrate. Such policies are widely accepted as being in the best interest of society as a whole. It is in the chapter entitled "Sixth-Century Polit ical Economy" that Hank Morgan tries to per suade people of the faults in their thinking. He argues that restrictions give the impression of suc cess because they have resulted in higher nominal wages for the protected workers. By contrast, in the area of Camelot where Morgan has developed his enterprises without such restrictions, free mar ket forces have resulted in lower pay measured in dollar terms. But Morgan points out that, since freedom induces greater efficiencyand productiv ity,his workers pay even lower prices for the goods they buy than workers in regulated industries must pay.

Finding his point hard to make, Morgan finally compares the number of hours it takes people in each situation to work in order to acquire certain necessities. At last, he is able to convince his listen ers of the advantages that accrue to the unregulat ed workers in terms of lower costs of living and higher living standards. The extreme difficulty required to get this message across attests to the 205 "Inherited ideas are a curious thing." Illustration (woodcut) to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee. persuasive power of the principle of regulation which still finds many adherents today. Although Thain's book is far more readable, his argument is not as logically rigorous as David Ricardo's demonstration of the benefits of free trade based on comparative advantage which was published in 1817.Nor, despite his wit, does Twain surpass the devastating power of Frederic Bastiat's famous petition of the candlemakers who sought to protect their industry by shutting out the light of the sun.

Nonetheless, Twain's achievement is a notable addition to the literature on the benefits of free markets. Although many details would differ,the Connecticut Yankee could just as well be set down in Stalin's Russia or Mao's China, for the criticism of medieval society could equally apply to modern totalitarian systems. Indeed, one suspects that the tenacity with which the old ideas are grasped in Twain'sCamelot is matched in those countries and in Eastern Europe today. For shedding such insight on both the past and the present, Thain's work deserves more recognition than it so far seems to have achieved. D 206 Takingthe Train to Metamora by William B. Irvine F or a few dollars, one can ride a train from Connersville to Metamora, in eastern Indi ana. The ride is worth taking not just because it is a chance to ride a train (which in America is now difficult to do), and not just because it is a chance to ride aboard a train pulled by a steam locomotive (which, as any train buff can tell you, is the ultimate experience in travel), but because of what the ride can teach you about eco nomics, politics, and the way the two combine to shape the world around us.