Joe the Plumber on Mises
Thanks to Norm Singleton for alerting me to Joe the Plumber 's book recommendation in the Christmas issue of The American Spectator:
The Theory of Money and Credit by Ludwig von Mises. The book is a 1912 study of monetary theory. It brought monetary theory into the mainstream of economic analysis. It is important reading for these troubled times.
Comments (16)
Maybe if Joe could have passed the book on to McCain...or hell, even Bob Barr for that matter..
Published: November 20, 2008 10:20 AM
McCain is illiterate. Just listen to him speak.
And even if McCain could read, he would completely disregard the book. He's a politician. That means he has a little care for facts and reality.
Published: November 20, 2008 10:43 AM
Maybe if "The American Spectator" would change its foreign policy orientation, Joe the Plumber could also recommend Mises's "Nation, State, and Economy" and "Liberalism."
Published: November 20, 2008 11:49 AM
Is this for real? Am I actually supposed to believe that this Joe The Plumber guy really read "The Theory Of Money And Credit"?
Published: November 20, 2008 2:56 PM
Yes, it is apparently for real.
Published: November 20, 2008 4:01 PM
Sounds like a hoax to me. Come on, plumber wouldn't (likely) be supporting McCain if he had read a book like that.
Let's see a scan of this Norm Singleton.
Published: November 20, 2008 5:54 PM
To think that Joe the Plumber knows more about real *economics* than politicians is actually pretty inspiring. It reminds us that there's real, non-academic, non-financial people out there that believe in liberty and free markets.
But then, come to think of it, Joe is only one very unusual guy; he was lucky to get the attention that he did. The statist crowd has much greater numbers, and in a Democracy, that's what matters.
Published: November 20, 2008 6:14 PM
It doesn't much matter whether he's read the book or even if he honestly knows what it's about. It can only be for the good that a Mises book -- particularly that one, and particular now -- is getting more publicity.
Published: November 20, 2008 7:01 PM
I agree with College Parasite. The fact that Joe posed a real, unrehearsed question to a presidential candidate who was surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards does make him a remarkable person and certainly worthy of his fifteen minutes of fame.
Published: November 20, 2008 7:56 PM
Joe the Plumber was a State sponsored PR campaign. Excessively hyped by the media, this sham was fabricated to subliminally construct the following fallacy:
"The average person can affect political discourse and their opinion counts"
It's amazing how many people didn't catch on.
Published: November 20, 2008 9:06 PM
Actually Lew,
To further my comment, I love your show BTW, but I thought you would pick up on that immediately.
Published: November 20, 2008 9:09 PM
I searched and searched the linked site, but COULD NOT find any reference to Joe the Plumber.
Published: November 20, 2008 9:36 PM
@ Gilligan
Well, I don't have any delusions about the average person's ability to affect the political "debate". Joe definitely didn't change Jack in the political system; the statist sheep squared him either as "fellow warmonger" or "narrow-minded bum" and went on with their fallacy-filled lives.
But it's nice to be reminded every once in a while that there are real, working people out there that share our underlying ideals.
Oh, and I also couldn't find the interview... maybe it's only out in the actual paper issue? But while searching, I found this other one, which is rather interesting:
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/an_interview_with_joe_the_plumber
I was surprised by the soundness of his answers up until he started talking about how Obama has ties with terrorists, and that Iran is evil etc. But still, he's better than your typical neocon. If most of the people I talk to on a daily basis were like him, I would be a lot more optimistic about the future.
Published: November 21, 2008 1:12 AM
"Joe the Plumber was a State sponsored PR campaign. "
Paging Stephan Kinsella: More windoz-smasherz at mises.org...Joe better watch his windows for direct "libertarian" action!
Published: November 21, 2008 8:43 AM
can't wait for joe the plumber's book to come out tomorrow! it only took one month to write, edit and everything else! amazing! and i'll bet it's great! should start out right at the top of the NYT best seller list. get yours today...only 29.99 and you get a gold membership to joe's web site that's all about how to get more money to joe so he can make the 250k a year he's always dreamed about! go joe! America loves ya baby!
Published: November 30, 2008 8:55 PM
joe the plumber is just about over at last. his book sold a totla of...wait for it....735 copies! didn't even cover his printing costs (it was self-published, how low can you go), so now poor old joe is really in the hole!
good-by you moron!
Published: February 12, 2009 7:43 PM