Enterprise - The Dynamic Economy of a Free People (Paperback, New)

An inclusive but oddly bland audit of the origins, development, and implications of American capitalism. Positing a vigorous economy as the pivotal element in the success of the so-called American experiment, Bruchey (The Wealth of the Nation, 1988; The Roots of American Economic Growth, 1965) offers a sociocommercial history of a great power whose competitiveness may or may not be in eclipse. Free enterprise, he asserts, came to the US during its colonial era in the person of ambitious emigrants "investing their lives in the promise of the New World." The author follows up on this widely shared perception with a roughly chronological survey that hits such high points as the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of securities markets in the wake of the Civil War, the conquest of successive frontiers, the advent of railroads, foreign trade, the Great Depression, post-WW II prosperity, and the latter-day problems of a high-tech age marked by global interdependence. Along the way, he examines the ties that bind economic growth to advances (or changes) in sociopolitical, legal, and allied institutions. Toward the end, Bruchey comes to the none-too-startling determination that, while government has played an important role in the domestic economy's evolution, most genuinely vital decisions have been made in and by the private sector. This being the case, he concludes, the wealth of the nation has been created by its citizens, largely "because they have been free to work, save, invest, and innovate." On the trickier question of whether America's living standards and economic might are enduring relative declines, the author temporizes, arguing for national debate to establish military, diplomatic, and geopolitical priorities. An ample, albeit essentially prosaic, overview. (Kirkus Reviews)

Not since Charles and Mary Beard's The Rise of American Civilization has a narrative been written for the general reader and student alike that so superbly explicates the origins of American capitalism. Arguing that the central fact explaining the success of the American experiment is the development of the economy, the distinguished economic historian Stuart Bruchey shows the reciprocal relationship between economic growth and values, law, and social and political change, as well as between economic development and the more traditional variables of capital, labor, and resources. Enterprising, risk-taking men and women in all walks of life are at the center of the remarkable story that is the American dream and reality. The farm family moving to an unfamiliar environment and trying new technology; the business executive or worker with a new idea for improving a machine; the jurist venturing down a different legal path to sharpen incentives to invest; lawmakers of all kinds risking tenure or office by giving priority to measures designed to entice capital and labor to their jurisdictions-these entrepreneurs provided the leaven that gradually raised the living standards of the average person to heights unknown anywhere in the past. Twenty years in the writing, Enterprise summarizes the scholarly contributions of historians and social scientists. It reaches deep into the European past-to fourteenth-century Italy-to retrace the origins of American capitalism. The author tells the story of individual achievement and vertical social mobility and their triumph over obstacles, a never-ending theme of American enterprise. Whether Americans maintain those heights today or will suffer a decline as the price of 1980s "now-nowism"-as Richard Darman characterizes this decade of wanting everything, at once, and paying nothing-remains to be seen.

General

Imprint:	Harvard University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	April 1990
First published:	April 1990
Authors:	Stuart Bruchey
Dimensions:	235 x 162 x 34mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	656
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-674-25746-7
Categories:	Books > Business & Economics > Economics > General
LSN:	0-674-25746-4
Barcode:	9780674257467

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