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James Brody
September 14th, 2008, 01:30 PM
"THE LAST WORD

"George F. Will

Pencils And Politics

Published Sep 13, 2008

"If you read Russell Roberts's The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity you will see the world afresh—unless you already understand Friedrich Hayek's idea of spontaneous order. (not only Hayek's but also Adam Smiths! jb)

"Roberts, an economist at George Mason University and Stanford's Hoover Institution, sets his story in the Bay Area, where some Stanford students are indignant because a Big Box store doubled its prices after an earthquake. A student leader plans to protest Stanford's acceptance of a large gift from Big Box. The student's economics professor, Ruth, rather than attempting to dissuade him, begins leading him and his classmates to an understanding of prices, markets and the marvel of social cooperation. Holding up a Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2, she says: "No one can make a pencil."

More at http://www.newsweek.com/id/158752/page/1

See also:

Hayek, Friedrich A (1944/1994) The Road to Serfdom. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press.
Sowell, T. (2002) A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. NY: Basic Books.