Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Driver (Atlas Shrugged Earlier Than Expected)

Thanks to Jeffery Tucker's book, "Bourbon for Breakfast," I came across an author from the first half of the 20th century who wrote about economics.

Garet Garrett wrote about economics during the Great Depression.  He wrote about what caused it as it happened, in "The Bubble That Broke the World."  If you want to know what is happening with Europe's financial situation and compare it to what happened in the U.S. after WWI.  If you want to understand Greece's current situation, then read this book and substitute Europe, during the twenties and thirties, for the Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Italy of today, and substitute the America, of the twenties and thirties, for the Germany of today.

But the purpose of this book is to alert you readers to "The Driver." This book, also by Garet Garrett tells the, fictional, tale of a man who revolutionizes the railroads of America.  And is then punished for it.

If you liked "Atlas Shrugged," then I suggest that you read "The Driver" too.  "Atlas Shrugged" was written a few years after "The Driver" and seems to have borrowed a great many ideas from it.  Both are good books, and Ayn Rand's rightly deserves recognition as a great and influential book.  But you may be missing something if you do not also read "The Driver."

"The Bubble That Broke The World," "The Driver," and several other of Garet Garrett's books are available for sale, or for free, at the Mises institute.

"The Wild Wheel" is on my reading list too.

"The Bubble That Broke The World" just seems to me to display what is happening in Europe so well, that I almost forgot to mention the fact that it is about how the Great Depression happened.

Read it.

4 comments:

  1. Atlas Shrugged Part 2 will be in theaters October 12th, 2012.

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    1. I thought that the first part was a bit disappointing. And unlikely to change anyone's mind.

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  2. "The Driver" was some decades before "Atlas." No evidence that AR read it, though there are some indirect connections - one man who knew G.G. also knew A.R.

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    1. I was trying to point out that the stories were similar: train executive punished for being successful, etc.

      Who was that "one man"?

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