Synopses & Reviews
and#160;Thereandrsquo;s little doubt that most humans today are better off than their forebears. Stunningly so, the economist and historian Deirdre McCloskey argues in the concluding volume of her trilogy celebrating the oft-derided virtues of the bourgeoisie. The poorest of humanity, McCloskey shows, will soon be joining the comparative riches of Japan and Sweden and Botswana.
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Why? Most economistsandmdash;from Adam Smith and Karl Marx to Thomas Pikettyandmdash;say the Great Enrichment since 1800 came from accumulated capital. McCloskey disagrees, fiercely. andldquo;Our riches,andrdquo; she argues, andldquo;were made not by piling brick on brick, bank balance on bank balance, but by piling idea on idea.andrdquo; Capital was necessary, but so was the presence of oxygen. It was ideas, not matter, that drove andldquo;trade-tested betterment.andrdquo;and#160; Nor were institutions the drivers. The World Bank orthodoxy of andldquo;add institutions and stirandrdquo; doesnandrsquo;t work, and didnandrsquo;t. McCloskey builds a powerful case for the initiating role of ideasandmdash;ideas for electric motors and free elections, of course, but more deeply the bizarre and liberal ideas of equal liberty and dignity for ordinary folk. Liberalism arose from theological and political revolutions in northwest Europe, yielding a unique respect for betterment and its practitioners, and upending ancient hierarchies. Commoners were encouraged to have a go, and the bourgeoisie took up the Bourgeois Deal, and we were all enriched.
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Few economists or historians write like McCloskeyandmdash;her ability to invest the facts of economic history with the urgency of a novel, or of a leading case at law, is unmatched. She summarizes modern economics and modern economic history with verve and lucidity, yet sees through to the really big scientific conclusion. Not matter, but ideas. Big books donandrsquo;t come any more ambitious, or captivating, than Bourgeois Equality.
About the Author
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey is an emerita distinguished professor of economics and of history, and professor of English and of communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of sixteen other books, including If Youandrsquo;re So Smart, The Secret Sins of Economics, The Bourgeois Virtues, Bourgeois Dignity, and Crossing: A Memoir, all published by the University of Chicago Press.