In the United States, as well as in Riverside, the increasingly predominate governing model is managerial progressivism. Managerial progressives believe that government is inherently bureaucratic and bloated and the best way to manage it is with more bureaucrats. This is not a problem exclusively associated with a particular political party. Republicans and Democrats alike engage in this regulatory and bureaucratic gluttony. Like Washington D.C., if Riverside City Hall were a child it would have Type II diabetes.
Are there sound economic and historical alternatives? If so, where does the layperson go to learn about them? Read on for books currently in print that provide historical and economic arguments for taking power away from bureaucrats and giving it back to the people.
Liberty Fund
Indianapolis lawyer Pierre Goodrich founded the Liberty Fund in 1960 to promote understanding in the founding principles of the United States. The Fund has since become a primary source for books on early American history, economics, biographies of the Founders, influences on the Founders ( Cicero, John Locke, the Dutch Enlightenment), and even essays on Liberty and Soveriegnty in Shakespeare.
Special care is taken to provide books of high quality at affordable prices.
Basic Economics, by Dr. Thomas Sowell
Dr. Sowell, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, distills the daunting topic of economics i.e., “Economics is the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses,” down to a single phrase, "Look beyond stage one." In this he wants the reader to clearly understand that the good intentions of politicians (at least their perceived good intentions) have unintended consequences.
As with Henry Hazlitt’s book below, readers will finish Basic Economics understanding that economic policy without critical thinking is merely wishful thinking. Like all good economists Dr. Sowell is also an historian, so utopian visions are absent from his analysis.
Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt
In this 218 page book, Hazlitt distills economics to a one sentence thesis.
The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.
Originally published in 1946 this book was updated by the author in 1978. Like Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics, it is uncluttered by confusing charts and the math is kept to a minimum. Economics in One Lesson is essential reading for anyone new to economics as it relates to public policy.
The Heritage Guide to the United States Constitution
Published by the Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution is just what one might expect it to be--a clause by clause commentary on the United States Constitution with historical insight from the Framers, history of judicial precedence, and the influence of judicial review.
While constitutional constructionism is clearly the order of the day, proponents of judicial review and precedent are given a fair shake without aquiescing to judicial legislation as proper or constitutionally lawful.
A Patriot's History of the United States, by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen
Schweikart and Allen perceive that American history is a victim of blatant revisionism, to the point that the current crop of historians are turning the nation against itself, A Patriot's History aims to set the record straight in a concise but informative book. An invaluable desk reference, this 932 page volume should be a required companion to every American history textbook from elementary school through university level and beyond.
The Father of Us All, by Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, professor of classics emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He also teaches history and classics at Hillsdale University.
The Father of Us All is a study of war and its historical effects on politics, economics, and culture. Hanson does not glorify war, but posits that just as the oncologist intent on mitigating or even abolishing a form of cancer must study it, the statesman intent on avoiding war or mitigating its effects must understand its role in history.
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