Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT AND STILL AAILABLE
Review: THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK AND ALTHOUGHT IT IS SOLD OUT HERE, IT IS STILL AVAILABLE AT laissezfaire.org. Hope Amazon forgives me, I've bought plenty of books from them but everyone should own CAPITALISM.
Rating: 
Summary: Not pleasant reading
Review: This is not a book about economics, it's about Reismans personal political ideology. Reisman starting point is his ideology. He then adapts his economics to fit the ideology rather then the other way around. Because of this the book is a hodge-pot of good and bad economics all in one, and you can only distuingish the good from the bad if you already are a trained economist.I am not well versed in political theory, but regarding Reismans ideology his insistance on the rights of the individual seem to me to drive him to conclusions that paradoxically make the rights of the individual extremely vulnerable. One example will make the point. His dismissal of the theory of externalities leads him to state that nothing should be done to prevent what economists normally think of as external effects, i.e. no action should be taken against for example global warming. If for example global warming should lead to the flooding of the Maldives, the inhabitants should just be moved somewhere else (he actually states this). What happened to the property rights of the individuals with property on the Maldives? With a government or international body charged with the responsibility of taking care of externalities the individual at least has someone to demand compensation from when his private property is destroyed because of external effects. In Reismans society of individuals everyone can just say "it wasn't me, it is the others' fault". One final thing. Reismans constant insistance that he has found the ultimate truth, while everyone who doesn't agree with him is completely wrong and even dangerous to society is not pleasant reading (he groups Keynes and Paul A. Samuelson among others under "The Enemies of Capitalism"). I was not surprised when I came to the place where he confesses to have been in the inner circle around Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 50s.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Defense of the Benefits of Capitalism
Review: This outstanding work by Dr. Reisman provides the most comprehensive defense of the benefits of capitalism and repudiation of socialism since Von Mises' Socialism. It should be required reading for all those who advocate government control over every aspect of society. Dr. Reisman takes his readers through a logical, systematic development and defense of capitalist economic theory. Capitalism thoroughly describes the destructive nature of excessive governmental regulation, misguided monetary and fiscal policies, as well as price controls. However, Dr. Reisman doesn't stop there. He also supplies a rational approach as to the actions we can take in order to move toward both a freer society and economy. Although Capitalism is not easy reading, those willing to expend the effort will be more than amply rewarded. There is no finer work on capitalist economic theory than Dr. Reisman's Capitalism.
Rating:
Summary: The finest book regarding economics, freedom and capitalism available.
Review: To call George Reisman's magnum opus anything less than brilliant would be an understatement. I have
read nearly all of the classic free market economics
texts and many leftist ones as well, and enthusiastically
recommend "Capitalism" as the finest of them all.
If you are looking for a complete, readable, and
rigorous defense of the morality of capitalism and
sound economics, this is the book with which to begin.
Rating: 
Summary: Von Mises would have been proud...
Review: To call this book ambitious is something of an understatement. What started out as a modest examination of the economic philosophies of Ludwig von Mises turned into a staggering 1099-page project that not only throws Austrian economic theory into perspective, but also adds in the Objectivist views of Ayn Rand and her spiritual successors. With a healthy dose of Frederick Bastiat and Adam Smith thrown in for good measure, Reisman takes socialism to task with a vengeance. There is a widespread conception that the "good" variety of socialism can achieve peaceful ends, maintaining economic balance while still preserving freedoms and civil liberties. Drawing on the lessons of Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, Reisman proves this is fundamentally not true. Consider: even if a "peaceful" socialist government is democratically elected, its first act in office to implement the socialist philosophy would be the forcible expropriation of the means of production -an act which is an open invitation to violence. When the entire economic system and/or its resources are socialized (nationalized), there can be no just compensation of any property taken. To enforce prices and wage controls in such an environment ultimately produces shortages, in which sellers would have to charge higher prices than the law allows, and every buyer would have it in their interests to offer higher prices so as to outbid others. To prevent this, a socialist government would have to impose severe penalties -fines on par with the sort of punishment normally meted out to major felonies. Presto: a do-it-yourself undeterred black market, and with it all the attendant threats of force, increased police powers, and an atmosphere of fear. In other words, the essential features of totalitarianism. In a monolithic power structure where the government's economic plan is the supreme law of the land, not only does the free enterprise system break down, but every official who must enforce the code finds himself having to continually look over his shoulder -since there is necessarily a lot of chaos and unpredictability inherent in such a system, any given official can be singled out and scapegoated for any economic disruption. In Darwinian terms, such a system will most favor the bureaucrat who is the most talented at covering himself and misdirecting blame. So begins the tradition of buck-passing, favor trading, and political blackmail, with alliances constantly shifting and reforming, periodically throwing some luckless back-stabbed subordinate to the wolves. Reisman offers plenty more scenarios, but the message is clear: liberty cannot prevail in such an arrangement.
| 
