Book Reviews

262 BOOKS Perpetuating Poverty: The World Bank, the IMF, and the Developing World Edited by Doug Bandow and Ian Vasquez Cato Institute. 1994 • 362 pages. $15.95 paperback Reviewed by Ken Ewert T here is a biblicalproverb that says: "the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." I have often thought of this verse in relation to the misery that political policies such as rent control or minimumwages have caused people-especially the poorest of people. The "tender mercies" of governments attempts to use the law as an instrument of compassion-often turn out to be cruel to the intended beneficiaries, the poor. With friends like most modern governments, the poor do not need any enemies. Perpetuating Poverty demonstrates this to be true on an international scale. Fifty years and hundreds of billions of dollars of aid from Western governments-tunneled through the IMF, the World Bank, and a number of other multilateral aid agencies have had an impact on world poverty: it has helped keep the Third World poor just that-poor.

Development economists have long held that the Third World is poor primarily be cause of its lack of capital. According to the conventional wisdom poor nations cannot, on their own, affordto save enough to break out of a subsistence-type economy. Their only hope is massive infusions of capital from the taxpayers of the West. They need Western wealth in order to "develop." Furthermore, according to the popular Marxist notion of Western guilt for the exploitation of the poor nations, the Third World has a right to Western wealth. It now seems beyond question that the massive wealth transfers to Third World governments have not, in general, helped the poor. As the editors note in the intro duction, "the multilaterals can point to few, if any, cases in which their efforts have led to improved living standards and sustained economic prosperity. " Forty years of inter national aid transfers have left Latin Amer ica with a foreign debt of $430 billion, sub-Sahara Africa with per capita incomes lower today than they were in the 1970s,and India with an annual per capita income of around $300.

Why has aid failed? Primarily because most developmental institutions lend to gov ernments, and not to individuals. The recip ient governments are often-through their destructive economic policies-the very cause of the economic problems that the aid seeks to rectify. International aid is, in effect, a subsidy to bad economic policies and a bloated public sector. It succeeds, not in alleviating poverty, but in extending and prolonging bureaucratic control over the poor of the Third World. Governments who would have been forced to change or col lapse have instead been kept afloat by loans from the World Bank or the IMF and al lowed to continue their destructive policies. This is something like an international wel fare program, not for the poor of the Third World, but for their governments. Much aid has been wasted in poorly planned, ill administered projects of little benefit-such as crop-storage depots built where peasants never go, or funds allotted to buy a profit able private bus line in India and tum it into a money-losingpublic enterprise. Billionsof dollars, collected from middle-class tax payers of the West, have "aided" Third World elites to possess grand estates, pri vate zoos, classic car collections, and Swiss bank accounts.

But this book does not merely look at the "bad cases" -it is a devastating critique of foreign aid in principle. Shyam Kamath, in his chapter on foreign aid and India's Levi athan State, shows how foreign aid has allowed India to create and sustain one of the "world's largest and most inefficient public sectors." Robert Salinas Le6n demonstrates how World Bank loans allowed Mexico to expand its state-owned industries from 300 in 1970to some 1,200by 1982,and how IMF loans during the early 1980s helped postpone the privatization of major state corporations. James Bovard details how the World Bank helped finance the cruel "relocation" policies of Julius Nyer ere's government in Tanzania, and the Mengistu government in Ethiopia. He also brings to light the Bank's complicity in the brutal collectivization policies of Vietnam in the late 1970s. Doug Bandow demonstrates how the IMF relieves the political pressure on Third World governments for a much needed reform of their economic policies.

Surely the "tender mercies" of this type of aid have been bitterly cruel to the poor of the Third World. Surely Western taxpayers would be outraged if they knew that their money was going not to help the poor but to finance international socialism. Ifthe Third World is poor because it lacks capital, it lacks capital because it lacks economic freedom. It is no coincidence that the aid-recipient countries are characterized by state-sponsored monopolies, high taxa tion, onerous regulation, high inflation, ex tensive price controls, ambitious social pro grams, persistent budget deficits, and a general lack of private property rights. These things are not caused by poverty, they are the cause of poverty." What the Third World so desperately needs is economic freedom and limited civil government. With these preconditions in place, the capital necessary for economic progress will be attracted. Prompted by Mexico's extensive free market reforms of the past few years, over $40billionofforeign capital has flowed in since "1988. Likewise, the small country of Chile (population 13.5 million) has attracted $8.5 billion in foreign investment since its free market reforms in the mid-1970s. Countries that respect pri vate property and economic freedom attract investment capital; countries that do not suffer "capital flight."

Foreign aid is inherently statist. Even when institutions such as the World Bank or the IMP do lecture countries on the need 263 for freer markets-as they have sometimes done in recent years-they simultaneously give the foreign governments the very means to resist that which they advise. It is analogous to lecturing a drug addict on the need for reform while giving him money to buy more drugs. As Paul Craig Roberts notes in his chapter, the leftists are partially correct: the West does bear some responsi bility for the conditions of the Third World-not because of its capitalistic ex ploitation-but because of the statist con sequences of its aid. Perpetuating Poverty shows that what the Third World needs is not more dollars but the moral and political reform that underlie a free economy. The poor nations also need increased-trade with the West. As the last section of the book details, it is a striking hypocrisy that while Western governments continue to give billions of dollars in multi lateral aid, they refuse to open their markets to Third World and former East-Bloc pro ducers. In his chapter, J. Michael Finger calculates that developed countries' import restrictions "reduce developing countries' national income by about twice as much as developing countries receive in aid."

This is a shame, for, as James Bovard writes, "charity is no substitute for oppor tunity." The authors of this book, as Peter Bauer notes in his comment, are the best in their field. Their case against multilateral aid is well-documented, well-reasoned, and pow erful. Their charges deserve an answer from those who continue to justify multilateral institutions. D Mr. Ewert is a businessman and the editor of a Christian public policy publication called U-Turn.

264 THE FREEMAN • APRIL 1995 Scarcity or Abundance? A Debate on the Environment by Norman Myers and Julian Simon w. W. Norton & Company. 1994 • 259 pages • $21.00 Reviewed by Jonathan H. Adler O n October 14, 1992, students at Colum bia University gathered in the Kellogg Conference Center to witness a clash of worldviews. Cornucopian economist Julian Simon and apocalyptic ecologist Norman Myers were staginga debate on the future of human civilization and the natural environ ment. At issue was whether present rates of economic development, population growth, and environmental disruption pose a signif icant threat to humanity. The exchange that ensued, along with pre-debate statements and rebuttals, is included in Scarcity or Abundance?, a useful encapsulation of cur rent environmental debates. The approaches of Simon and Myers could not be more different. Simon, author of Population Matters and The Ultimate Resource, is a data-driven economist. His preferred mode of analysis is to ask "What do the numbers show?" By analyzing long term trends, Simon believes it is possible to show significant improvement in virtually every material aspect of human welfare. To wit, he shows that people are living longer, healthier lives than ever before, while in many important respects environmental in dicators show significantimprovement over the past several decades. "Almost every economic and social change or trend points in a positive direction," he declares, adding "there is no persuasive reason to believe that these trends will not continue indefi nitely." So confident is Simon that this will continue, he is willingto bet on it. Pick the trend, the time period, and the size of the wager, and Simon will take you on.

If Simon sees trends that can continue, Myers sees the end of progress. "We are at a watershed stage in human history," he counsels. Myers fears an "unparalleled threat" created by the forces of "environmental decline .in conjunction with rapid population growth." He is undaunted by holes in the data that purportedly make his case. The state of the world may seem rosy, but Myers sees a world "poised" on the brink of catastrophe. Human activity, has finally reached a magnitude capable of ini tiating complete ecological collapse-an en vironmental "breakpoint." Urgent action is absolutely essential to ensure human survival. "No human community in the future will ever have our chance to save the planetary ecosystem," he warns, "because ifwe don't master the problems, they'll have nothing left to do but pick up the pieces we pass on to them." This contrast in worldviews is certainly stark. One could even wonder if Simon and Myers could be speaking about the same world. Indeed, it is not clear that Myers and Simon recognize each others' critiques.

Scarcity or Abundance? provides an excel lent overview of the two contrasting posi tions, and is thus a valuable source of environmental information. Its disappoint ment is the limitation imposed by the debate format that prevents elucidation of the My ers and Simon positions. At times, argu ments that could have clarifiedthe two sides are left implicit in the text. This is not a serious failing,but at times it can leave those unfamiliar with environmental issues at a loss as to which side to believe. That experts could find two separate sets of data to justify antithetical assessments of the earth's present condition would be amazing. Perhaps too amazing. Upon closer reflection one sees that the clash is not always between the data. As the debate over globalwarmingcenters around whether one places his faith in empirical evidence or speculative computer models, so too the Simon-Myers clash is about whether one trusts analysis or instinct. Time and again Myers responds to Simon's assertions of fact with speculative predictions of future want, often premised on the assumption that humanity has exhausted the possibility for technological advance. Some may find "it could happen'" scenarios compelling, but after a while they lose their punch.

A good microcosm of the Simon/Myers clash is their exchange over population. Myers, like many contemporary environ mentalists, sees the escalation of human numbers as the overarching environmental threat. The world now houses over 5.5 billion people, a number that increases by nearly 100millioneach and every year. Thus far, increases in food production and accu mulated wealth may have exceeded the multiplication of people, but, cautions My ers, this has come at a tremendous cost. Today, "there is much evidence that human numbers with their consumption of re sources, plus the technologies deployed to supply that consumption, are often exceed ing carrying capacity" -the ability of the planet to sustain human existence. As evi dence, Myers points to a slowing in global farm output (brought about, in part, by changes in subsidy programs and other gov ernment policies), and predicts that agricul tural productivity willirreversibly decline as the number of human beings on the planet continues to soar.

Simon, as one would expect, sees the population issue quite differently. He does not accept that "overpopulation" is a real problem, and he feels the data back him up. "There is no basis in the statistics for the belief that faster demographic growth causes slower economic growth," he as serts. The Myers position is based on the Malthusian premise that population will in crease exponentially, while increases in food supply climb at a slower rate. If Malthus was right, then the end result can only be disaster. "But if the resources with which people work are not fixed over the period being analyzed, then the Malthusian logic of diminishing returns does not ap ply," Simon counters. Indeed, humans, un like other earthly creatures, are not depen dent upon an immutable resource base. People are capableof combining"intellec tual capital" with physical substances to enrich their lot. An increase in the number of people represents an increase in the human capac ity to solve problems, not just an increase in· human wants-and throughout human hisBOOKS 265 tory, the force of the former has overcome the drain of the latter.

The Cornucopian-Apocalyptic debate may be alive and well in academic circles, but it is nearly dead in the realm of public policy. The general position espoused by Myers has found its way into environmental and economic policies throughout the mod em world, with negative results. "Errone ous belief about population growth has cost dearly," notes Simon. "In poor countries, it has directed attention away from the factor that we now know is central in a country's economic development, its economic and political system." A free society allows for the creative exploration of varied solutions to vexing concerns. Centralized decision makingis more apt to lead to failure. Yet the threat of overpopulation and the need for ecologically sustainable development has become the pretense for a new generation of coercive government controls. The lesson of Simon's overwhelming ar ray of global statistics is that the world's problems can be surmounted. Human inge nuity has always been the greatest source of hope for the future. According to Simon, "When you develop new technology, build new goods, and expand the scope of our creative activities, you are on the side of the angels-you are promoting human improve ment, and the quality of life." It is a lesson the governments of the world need to learn if they are truly concerned with the well beingof their people, and it is a lesson Myers could stand to learn as well. With the pub licationof this book, there is at least hope for some of the former, if one must give up on any hope for the latter. D Jonathan H. Adler is Associate Director of Environmental Studies at the Competitive Enter prise Institute in Washington, D.C.

266 THE FREEMAN • APRIL 1995 The Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881-1908) edited by Frank H. Brooks Transaction Books. 1994.310 pages. $39.95 Reviewed by Gregory P. Pavlik A narchism is often associated with the extremes of either capitalist apologetics or communism, particularly by those with out even passing familiarity with the sub ject. Yet, the individualist anarchists defied simplistic categorization from the start. The vast majority of the individualist anarchists did consider themselves to occupy a pole of the socialist movement. At the same time, they variously identified with the egoism of Max Stirner, the individualism of Nietz sche, the anarcho-communism represented by the famous Russian theorist Bakunin, and even the conservatism of Herbert Spen cer. The Individualist Anarchists is a wonder ful introduction to this diversity of thought and willbe ofinterest to advocates oflimited government as well as students of intellec tual history. It consists of representative selections from the principal organ of nine teenth-century individualistanarchism, Lib erty, which was edited by the best known of the individualist anarchists, Benjamin Tucker. The collection is also an excellent companion to James J. Martin's definitive historical study of early individualist anar chism, Men Against the State.

The book is divided into four major sec tions, each structured to provide a compre hensive exposition of the trends in thought and positions staked out in the pages of Liberty. The first section, which occupies a full third of the text, deals with issues of political ideology. The theory of individual ist anarchism is based on the principle of "equal liberty," which is described by Tucker as "the greatest amount of individ ual liberty compatible with equality of lib erty. " The authors grounded their defense of property rights in a conception of prop erty tied to labor, a position derived from Locke. There is also a substantial amount of space dedicated to the praises .of the free market. Yet this is·hardly the anarcho-capitalism that it seems to be.'The writers of this genre were largely preoccupied with the "labor question, " and as such an interest might suggest, they saw themselves primarily as socialists. They subscribed to the labor theory of value, and often presented fiery polemics against the bourgeois class.

The second section of the book examines the economics of the individualist anar chists, which dwells on the general theme of labor concerns. However, the individualist anarchists thought that the liberation of the proletariat would be best achieved by the abolition of the "four monopolies": the money monopoly, the land monopoly, the tariff, and the patent or copyright. In prac tice, this would have meant the elimination of ownership of land by those not occupying and using the soil, and the abolition of intellectual property. Such "evils" as rent and interest would be eliminated, thus bring ing the worker into his own. This deviates from the contemporary conception of a free order, in which land functions as property subject to the dictates of the market. Obvi ously, interest serves an important market function as well. It is important to emphasize the salient characteristics of libertarian socialism that set it apart from state socialism. To his credit, the editor dedicates a substantial portion of the section on political theory to this issue. For Tucker, the two types of socialism differin the battle between liberty and authority. State socialism is "the doc trine that all affairs of men should be man aged by government," vis-a.-vis state mo nopoly. The anarchist position holds to "the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals and voluntary as sociation." Other distinctions were made as well. The writer A. H. Simpson held that "Anarchism is egoism; Communism is al truism." Within the sphere of socialist or labor concerns, the anarchists, as advocates of freedom and self-interest, considered themselves always to be aligned in an an tipodal relationship to the state socialists.

The individualist anarchists also carried their conception of freedom into the social sphere. Again, there was consensus, this time in the direction of what is euphemisti cally known as "free love." In at least one case, a more moderate position of cohabi tation with commitment is commended. Many of the writers espoused what might loosely be described as feminist views, al though positions.on women's suffrage were not taken, as is consistent with a general opposition to the existence of the state. These authors were also generally hostile to religion. Social questions, however, were discussed minimallyin the pages of Liberty. Some space, also, was dedicated to the question of strategy (section four), although this too garnered less attention than ques tions political and economic. It is clear that the individualist anarchists favored non violence and persuasion as a route to their desired ends. Consequently, they feared "guilt by association" in the wake of the violence at Haymarket Square, Chicago, in 1886 when a police contingent was bombed while attempting to close down a meeting of anarchists. Tucker, for one, attempted to carefully delineate the differences between the violent, "communistic" variety of an archism and his own concerns with liberty.

Whatever the acumen of the individualist anarchists' strategic recommendations, the movement faded, and settled into an ill deserved obscurity. Much more complex than a simple pre cursor to libertarianism or an extension of liberalism, individualist anarchism was a genuine outburst of American radicalism. This volume is recommended to dispel the miasma of disinformation surrounding the movement dealt with in its pages, and as a worthy purchase for any reader with an interest in political theory, American or otherwise. D Mr. Pavlik is assistant editor and director of The Freeman Op-Ed program. BOOKS 267 Demosclerosis: The Silent Killer of AmericanGovernment by Jonathan Rauch Times Books. 1994 • 261 pages. $22.00 Reviewed by William H. Peterson C alcification, a kind of spreading dry rot accompanied by a bloating of the body politic, spreads across the American land scape. It's a disease that saps the strength of the people who, ironically, are the ones who demand more and more from a government that gives them, in the end, less and less.

The furor over national health insurance is a case in point. The disease reflects the plight of both Politician and Citizen who, like the proverbial maiden of easy virtue, just can't say "No." Ah, democracy! National Journal contributing editor Jonathan Rauch coins a clever word "demo sclerosis" to describe the process. The process is spread by the mushrooming of special-interest organizations who gather virtually every affected and disaffected voter into groups and counter-groups (wit ness, e.g., the pro-choice vs. the prolife groups) who pressure Congress and state legislatures to do their bidding. Or else. It is not a pretty picture nor does it render a pleasant fragrance. As observed by Chan cellor Otto von Bismarck of nineteenth century Germany, the birthplace of the modern Welfare State, anybody repelled by the sight and smell of sausage-makingought not to watch lawmaking-a process far removed from its nice image projected in high school textbooks on civics.

Mr. Rauch notes that the trick of political success is to fashion special-interest access and accommodation, to gather votes and financial support, to weld blocs and inter ests-James Madison called them "fac tions" -together into a winning majority. Hence no program can be cut, no tax break wiped out, no privilege lifted, without pro vokingthe anger of one organized interest or another. The political art is to calm anger and get everybody under the government tent-a tent that eventually gets blown 268 THE FREEMAN • APRIL 1995 away. Meanwhile, the budget grows and the dollar sinks, the state swells and the indi vidual shrinks. Mr. Rauch points out that seven out of ten Americans belong to at least one associa tion, and one infour belongs to four or more. He describes one modest-sized Washington building directory as boasting the following tenants (and there's a lot more beyond the letter C): Advertising Council Affiliated Hotels and Resorts Agudath Israel of America American Arbitration Association American Federation of Clinical Research Americans for Economic Renewal Center for the Advancement of Health Congress of Russian Americans Consortium for the Study of Intelligence Thus the emergence of America's "parasite economy," its vast lobbying industry centered in Washington, its horde of law yers with their Gucci loafers and leather attache cases attending hearings and button holing Congressmen and bureaucrats who findthe attention too sweet to resist. So why resist?

Mr. Rauch credits much of his under standing of how government really works to public choice economist Mancur Olson of the University of Maryland and his 1965 book, The Logic of Collective Action. Pro fessor Olson, like Tocqueville before him, sees the mischief of interest-group democ racy, sees groups push projects with con centrated benefits and diffusedcosts-costs foisted on a "rationally ignorant" populace. Free-riding ethanol producers, for example, get Congress to give them a tax break and require Clean Air Act inclusion of ethanol in gasoline so as to "improve the atmo sphere." Sure. For all of the author's sharp analysis of Washington's worldly ways, however, he betrays a kind of fatalistic quality about what to do about rampaging King Kong. He is dubious, to cite an instance, about the term-limit movement which would quash legislative careerists who seek committee advancement by seniority-adding to "scle rosis." He bemoans the knifingof President Clinton's initiative of "national service"

for young people. When Cato chairman and Reagan economist William Niskanen twits Congress, Mr. Rauch responds: "I find much to admire in Congress: it works hard, it means well, it is close to the people, it has done much good." He quotes, approvingly, soothing words from liberals like Jessica Mathews, Jimmy Carter, and John F. Kennedy. Mr. Rauch wisely says Americans should look in the mirror for key agents of their dilemma. But in the end he calls for not exorcising but "managing"-without really explaining how-the very Superstate that enfeebles and calcifies Americans and their government. America's challenge, it seems to me, is to sharply scale down the state, return to old-fashioned morality, restore the limited government model of the Constitutional Framers. The challenge is to get economy back into government, and get government out of the economy. The real democracy, the true empowerment, as Mises pointed out, is in the marketplace. D Dr. Peterson, Heritage Foundation adjunct scholar, is the Lundy Professor of Business Philosophy Emeritus at Campbell University in North Carolina.

What Went Right in the 1980s by Richard B. McKenzie Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, San Francisco. 1994. 397 pages. $21.95 Reviewed by Raymond J. Keating I f one were to tum to the mainstream media or the current administration in Washington, D.C., as historical guides to the 1980s,one would come to see the decade as a period of great economic decline for the United States. With the decade cast in such a dim light, one also might expect a book entitled What Went Right in the 1980s to be a rather slim volume.

In contrast, Richard McKenzie illumi nates the so-called "decade of greed." McKenzie provides a detailed look at the fiscal and economic developments of 1980s, chapter by chapter supplanting the political hyperbole so closely associated with the decade with sound economic analysis. Thanks to his efforts, the reader gains a clearer and more sober viewof the 1980s.As the author asserts, "The 1980swere not the best of times; the decade could have been better. But, neither were they the worst of times. On balance, the decade was a pretty good one." McKenzie provides much evidence to back up his declaration. The most substan tial is that" growth in U.S. output during the 1980swas the equivalent ofaddingthe entire economy of Germany (East and West) or two-thirds of the Japanese economy to the U.S. economy." Based on this fact alone, one would be justified in declaring that the economy of the 1980s was more than just pretty good.

The author addresses a host of issues that have been hotly debated, includingthe trade deficit. Critics argue that a growing trade deficit reflects a waning ability to compete on the world economic stage. McKenzie deftly counters such misguidednotions with two key points: First, one reason for the rise in the U.S. trade deficit in the 1980sis the faster pace of economic growth in the United States compared to that of most other countries around the world. With a more rapid rate of growth, producers need more re sources, many of which must be drawn from abroad in the form of imports. . . . Second, the balance on the capital ac count necessarily mirrors the·balance on the trade account (with adjustments .for other elements in the overall balance of payments).This means that exports are not the only U.S. products that foreigners want. As was evident in the growing balance of the capital account surplus in the 1980s, foreigners also wanted capital goods that could be put to work in this country.

BOOKS 269 McKenzie concludes: "In other words, the trade deficits could have (and did to an extent) reflected the fact that American exporters of goods were simply out-com peted, not by foreign producers but by domestic producers of investment opportu nities in the United States." Another favorite criticism of the decade was a worrisome increase in private debt. However, individuals levying such con cerns fail to view both sides of the equation. As McKenzie notes: "Debt, which is merely a claim on assets, is no burden at all when it is used to acquire assets that are at least equal in value to the collateral assets." He goes on to observe that, in fact, private assets rose more rapidly in real terms during the 1980s than did private debt, hence "yielding an increase in total private net worth." McKenzie even manages to find a bright side to mounting government debt during the 1980s.Interestingly, he notes that "def icits may be 'bad' in themselves, but that does not mean that they were the worst thing to do under the political and economic circumstances of the 1980s." Though some may disagree with McKenzie's assessment of government debt, I believe his arguments hold merit, and at the very least, provide the basis for spirited debate.

McKenzie attacks other misconceptions regarding the 1980s. For example, during the so-called "decade of greed," the annual rate of growth in total real charitable giving was almost 55 percent higher than in the previous two-and-one-half decades. As for some individuals benefitingduring the 1980s at the expense of others, McKenzie's in come and expenditure analyses reveal that "the rich, poor, and middle classes got richer in real dollars and that their gains showed up in the amount of goods and services they bought." What Went Right in the 1980s acts as a substantive counterweight to the mounting attacks on the economic record of the 1980s. McKenzie proves to be a good writer and innovative economic thinker. In his con cluding chapter, he takes a peek at the 199Os, and offers this simple, yet sage adReviewed by George C. Leef SeparatingSchool and State by Sheldon Richman The Future of Freedom Foundation. 1994 • 128 pages. $22.95 cloth; $14.95 paperback vice: President Clinton "should look to the tax theory of his mentor, John Kennedy, who proposed to lower tax rates for the same reason Ronald Reagan did: High tax rates represent a drag on the economy." 0 Mr. Keating is the director ofNew York Citizens for a Sound Economy and partner with Northeast Economics and Consulting.

270 THE FREEMAN • APRIL 1995 beings. It has long been popular to think of education that way. That, I believe, is wrong. Human beings develop them selves-if they develop at all. To grow, children need assistance; specifically, they need information and good examples from adults. But they do not need adults or institutions to develop them into human beings. This is not just semantics. The common conception of education casts chil dren in a fundamentally passive role. They are empty vessels that only adults with special skills-teachers- can fill." How, then, should we view education? Richman answers, "Education should be seen as a way of encouraging the child's natural curiosity. That change in focus au tomatically makes the child the active party in the enterprise. Children come into the S heldon Richman bases his case against world thirsting for knowledge about their government education on its philosoph-surroundings. The educational process ical incompatibility with a free society and needs only to abstain from killingthat curi its inherent inability to produce results as osity. Each child is unique. The last thing he good as a free market in education would or she needs is a procrustean school. The produce. His strategy may well win more things that interest politicians and educa converts to freedom's side and win them tional professionals, such as national stan more quickly than the strategy that begins dards, are so many distractions."

with an effort to prove that public schools That, of course, is precisely why we must are declining. When a Gerald Bracey rushes separate school and state. People cannot to the defense of public education with a find the optimal ways of educating children statement such as "American schools have if they are constrained by laws, taxes, and never achieved more than they currently regulations. Free economies are always achieve," the rebuttal should be that it coming up with new products that serve doesn't matter whether that is true or not. people's wants while centrally planned ones We should argue, as Richman does, that inhibit progress and leave people with a public education has and always will under-lifetime of "take-it-or-Ieave-its." (Can any perform because it severs the link between one name one product that makes life more satisfied customer and revenue for the pro-pleasant that originated under Commu vider. For anyone who is going to be debat-nism?) A free market in education would ingthis issue, Richman's book is a goldmine maximize each parent's ability to find the full of attacks and counterattacks that will kinds of educational services that are best leave statist opponents spluttering. suited to his children.

One of Richman's most penetrating points Richman gives readers an enlightening is that the traditional idea of schools as overview of the history of American educa developers of young human beings is tion. He points out that American society flawed. Members of the education establish-was highlyliterate in the late eighteenth and ment see their role as shaping children, early nineteenth centuries, prior to the ad which almost invariably entails molding vent of tax-financed schools and compul them into obedient servants of the state. sory education laws. It took the enemies of Richman challenges that idea. "[S]chools freedom several decades to get their foot in do not-and should not-develop human' the door, but by the 1840s, the first public school systems had been established in the United States, modeled after the authoritar ian Prussian system. There was no wide spread public dissatisfaction with our edu cational free market, but a small number of influential "reformers" wanted to try their hand at shaping the youth of the nation.

Youngsters would be taught, first and fore most, what to think, to be obedient citizens, to pay taxes and fight wars when com manded to. If children happened to learn how to think, that was beside the point. Richman devotes a chapter to the argu ments of opponents of public education. This chapter, one of the most useful in the whole book, is chock full of quotable ma terial from great thinkers who foresaw the dangers of statist education. The famous English scientist Joseph Priestley was an opponent, as were the German philosopher William von Humboldt and English philos ophers Herbert Spencer and Auberon Her bert. Richman also gives American critics their due. This chapter allows the reader to BOOKS 271 see how little the debate has·changed over a period of nearly two centuries. Most of the objections to public education which are voiced today were made long ago; most modem arguments in its defense were re futed long ago.

Richman convincingly argues that noth ing short of the complete depoliticization of education will rescue it from its current degraded state. He contends that the pro posals, supported by many free marketeers, for vouchers, contracting out, charter schools, and other marginal reforms will do little if any good as long as the state is still the major player in the field of education. We need to stop wasting our efforts on trying to untie the Gordian Knot of public educa tion. There is but one solution to the crisis: the tie between school and state must be cleanly cut. D Mr. Leef is Legislative Aide. to State Senator David Honigman of Michigan and an Adjunct Scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. THEFREEMAN IDEASON LIBERTY 1994 Bound Volume S turdily sewn in a single volume with navy blue cloth cover and gold foil stamping, the twelve issues from January through December 1994 - 720 pages, fully indexed for handy reference to the latest literature of free dom. More than 100 feature articles on topics such as education, environment, government regulation and control, health care, individual rights, morality and ethics, private property, voluntary action, and international trade.

Reviews of more than three dozen books. ' $19.95 each Note: Freeman bound volumes for the years 1986 through 1993 are available at $19.95 each.

Former Congressman Ron Paul The situation is alarming, but there is some good news about higher education in America. One college-The CSW Freedom Schoolis swimming strongly against the academic tide toward socialism. If you are an adult concerned about the future of higher education in America, or if you are a student looking for a solid education, you will want to participate in building The CSW Freedom School. Please call or write us today for more information. ~~;~; ;)-196"'The CSW Freedom School College of the Southwest 6610 Lovington Highway Hobbs, New Mexico 88240 (800) 530-4400 Dr. Hans F. Sennholz President,·FEE "The CSW Freedom School is unique in its effort to rethink higher education and offers a new generation of Americans the intellectual tools needed to restore American greatness." Founded in 1962, College of the Southwest is a private, independent four-year liberal arts college based on Christian ideas and principles. College of the Southwest neither seeks nor accepts state or federal financing. It relies entirely on fees paid by students and gifts from those who understand and agree with its philosophy of education. The CSW Freedom School is a new and innovative program of classroom instruction, reading, lectures, conferences, and publications designed to produce free, humane, and civilized individuals.

Dr. Clarence Carson Bestselling author and educator "To study the laws in nature and revelation, and to induce young minds to abide by these laws-that is the primary task of education. It is the great mission of The CSW Freedom School." "The Freedom School is based upon an idea whose time has surely come. If men are to be free in any society and under any government, that freedom must be solidly based on enduring foundations. In identifying and setting forth these foundations, as well as teaching them to those willing to learn, The Freedom School is set on the right course." The press is filled with horror stories about higher education in America: college teachers and textbooks that attack Western civilization, administrators who enforce "politically correct" views, and college courses that have no intellectual or spiritual value. Address _ Name _ Please send me more information about The Freedom School.