What Everyone Should Know About Economics And Prosperity

What Everyone Should Know About Economics and Prosperity What Everyone Should Know About Economics and Prosperity James D. Gwartney and Richard L. Stroup Adapted for Canadian readers by Michael A. Walker The Fraser Institute Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the authors. © 1993 James D. Gwartney and Richard L. Stroup. Published by The Fraser Institute in co-operation with the James Madison Institute, 1993. Nothing written herein should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the publishers or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any legislation. All rights reserved. The authors of this book have worked independently and opinions expresed by them, therefore, are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the members or the trustees of The Fraser Institute. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Gwartney, James D. What everyone should know about economics and prosperity Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-88975-160-9 1. Economics. I. Stroup, Richard. II. Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.C.). III. Title. HB171.G93 1993 330 C93-091764-2 Contents Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . Additional books by Gwartney and Stroup About the authors . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi vi vii ix PART I: Ten Key Elements of Economics . . . . . . . . . . . 1 PART II: Seven Major Sources of Economic Progress . . . . 31 PART III: Economic Progress and the Role of Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Concluding Thoughts . . . . . . . .