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The Wealth of Nations

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Economics/Political Economy, Non-fiction
Chapter: 25 | Listen:

Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” gives an in-depth discussion of different economic principles like the productivity, division of labor and free markets. Although written and published more than 200 years ago, it’s still hailed as one of the most original works in the field of economics and is still used as a reference by many modern economists. “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” is the complete title of this book and it was first published in 1776, the same year that the American colonies declared their independence from Britain. It’s interesting to note that Adam Smith once suggested to British authorities before this year that they should let the colonies be represented in the British parliament because of the contributions they give to the British Empire. But as we all know, they didn’t follow his suggestion and the Americans in defiance of British rule declared their independence. Experts at the time argued that if the British only followed Smith’s suggestion, the American Revolution wouldn’t have happened. Aside from this, Adam Smith had many other brilliant ideas about politics and economics, many of which were discussed in this book. He was the first economist to make an in-depth analysis about the division of labor, how it affects productivity, and what real price is. He also explained in this book the reasons why he opposed mercantilism, an economic theory which was very popular during that time. Then, he recommended and discussed here why free trade […]

The People of the Abyss

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Economics/Political Economy, Fiction, Literature, Memoirs, Non-fiction
Chapter: 27 | Listen: 5

Jack London lived for a time within the grim and grimy world of the East End of London, where half a million people scraped together hardly enough on which to survive. Even if they were able to work, they were paid only enough to allow them a pitiful existence. He grew to know and empathise with these forgotten (or ignored) people as he spoke with them and tasted the workhouse, life on the streets, … and the food, which was cheap, barely nutritious, and foul. He writes about his experiences in a fluid and narrative style, making it very clear what he thinks of the social structures which created the Abyss, and of the millionaires who live high on the labours of a people forced to live in squalor. “… The food this managing class eats, the wine it drinks, … the fine clothes it wears, are challenged by eight million mouths which have never had enough to fill them, and by twice eight million bodies which have never been sufficiently clothed and housed.” [chương_files]

The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice

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Economics/Political Economy, History, Non-fiction
Chapter: 7 | Listen:

This lengthy political essay by noted Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock was written while he was professor of political economy at McGill University. He argues for a middle ground between individualism/capitalism and pure socialism. Listeners in the early 21st century may find this 90-year old essay oddly topical. [chương_files]

Moral Obligation to be Intelligent and Other Essays

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Education, Essays & Short Works
Chapter: 4 | Listen: 2

In different ways the four essays set forth one theme—the moral use to which intelligence might be put, in rendering our admirations and our loyalties at once more sensible and more noble. – Summary by John Erskine [chương_files]

Wage-Labour and Capital

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Economics/Political Economy, Non-fiction, Politics
Chapter: 10 | Listen: 3

Orignally written as a series of newspaper articles in 1847, Wage-Labour and Capital was intended to give a short overview, for popular consumption, of Marx’s central threories regarding the economic relationships between workers and capitalists. These theories outlined include the Marxian form of the Labour Theory of Value, which distinguishes “labour” from “labour-power”, and the Theory of Concentration of Capital, which states that capitalism tends towards the creation of monopolies and the disenfranchisement of the middle and working classes. The Theory of Alienation, which describes a dehumanising effect of capitalist production, in which an immediate social signifcance of labour to the worker is absent, is also touched upon. These theories were later elaborated in Volume 1 of Capital, published in 1867. This edition of Wage-Labour and Capital, published in 1891, was edited and translated by Friedrich Engels, and remains one of the most widely read of Marx’s works. (Description by Carl Manchester). [chương_files]

Vices Are Not Crimes

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Economics/Political Economy, Non-fiction, Philosophy
Chapter: 3 | Listen: 1

Lysander Spooner was an American individualist anarchist, entrepreneur, political philosopher, abolitionist, supporter of the labour movement, and legal theorist of the nineteenth century. Here he gives his views on the role of Governments in the private lives of their citizens [chương_files]

The Soul of Man

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Economics/Political Economy, Essay/Short nonfiction, Fiction, Literature, Non-fiction, Politics
Chapter: 6 | Listen: 2

“(T)he past is what man should not have been. The present is what man ought not to be. The future is what artists are.” Published originally as “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” this is not so much a work of sober political analysis; rather it can be summed up as a rhapsodic manifesto on behalf of the Individual. Socialism having deployed technology to liberate the whole of humanity from soul-destroying labour, the State obligingly withers away to allow the free development of a joyful, anarchic hedonism… “Is this Utopian? A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.” Far from abandoning the epigram in favour of the slogan, Wilde wittily assails several of his favourite targets: the misguided purveyors of philanthropy; life-denying ascetics of various kinds; the army of the half-educated who constitute themselves the enemies of Art – and those venal popular journalists who cater to them… “Behind the barricade there may be much that is noble and heroic. But what is there behind the leading-article but prejudice, stupidity, cant, and twaddle?” (Introduction by Martin Geeson) [chương_files]

Principles of Economics

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Economics/Political Economy, Non-fiction
Chapter: 6 | Listen:

“The most valuable of all capital is that invested in human beings.” An uncannily prophetic quote from an 1890 book, Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall presents an idea that has been accepted by major corporations and governments all over the world today. People’s understanding of market behavior and how industries operate has its roots in the work done by European economists more than a century ago. Little has changed in terms of principles, though the effects of globalization and technology resulted an unmistakable impact on how business is done today. Alfred Marshall was a thought leader. He presented path breaking concepts like the principle of diminishing returns: the assumption that companies or products who taste early success in markets soon fall prey to their own limitations, thus leading to a quantifiable and predictable equilibrium of market share and pricing. He was a prize winning mathematician at Cambridge and a brilliant physics student. However a nervous breakdown while at college compelled him to shift to the study of philosophy where he was deeply attracted by the concepts of Utilitarianism as propounded by Henry Sidgwick, a famous teacher and founder of Newnham College. Marshall went on to describe Sidgwick as his “spiritual mother and father.” One of Sidgwick’s guiding principles was that no person should act so as to destroy his own happiness, a form of “ethical hedonism.” Marshall began writing Principles of Economics in 1881, part of a two volume treatise. However, it took him nearly ten years to complete […]

H.M.I.: Some Passages in the Life of One of H.M. Inspectors of Schools

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Education
Chapter: 30 | Listen: 3

Sneyd-Kinnersley was an Inspector of Schools in a period when regulations were rapidly changing and access to free public education was expanding widely. He fell into the job accidentally and shares anecdotes of his years traveling around the country. – Summary by LynneT [chương_files]

The Slavery of Our Times

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Economics/Political Economy, Non-fiction, Politics
Chapter: 18 | Listen: 1

This little book shows, in a short, clear, and systematic manner, how the principle of Non-Resistance, about which Tolstoy has written so much, is related to economic and political life. [chương_files]