As supply increases prices fall; the demand curve moves in inverse proportion to supply; and economics is as dry as the bleached bones of Adam Smith. At least that is what you were lead to believe by that stringy-haired Marxist who taught ECON101. In his humorous, pointed and informative treatise, "Eat the Rich", P. J. O'Rourke has contravened at least one rule of economics - He has established that it is by no means boring. Indeed he has elevated it to a spectator sport.

In "Eat the Rich" O'Rourke builds economic theory from keen observation of various governmental, social and economic systems. He begins with the bustling center of American capital, Wall Street, where he vividly describes the chaos inherent in the capitalist system. In the course of his exposition of the money capitol, he notes that he found the one thing he never expected to find, "Transcendent Bliss". Yet transcendent bliss does not seem so far out of line when one considers that John Locke, an eighteenth century political philosopher, concluded that the right to property was the guarantor of liberty, and Thomas Jefferson took the notion a step further equating it with happiness. While O'Rourke clearly expounds such economic truisms he manages to avoid the ponderous philosophic explanations constraining most commentators.

From Wall Street "Eat the Rich" visits Albania, Sweden, Russia, Tanzania and Cuba. The description of each country is on-the-mark. In his description of Moscow, for example, he notes, "The traffic signals are timed to let three battalions of crack airborne troops and a hundred missile launchers through before the yellow caution light comes on." The reader can imagine the old Soviet Politbureau directing traffic from their platform in the event of an electrical outage. He shows how the absence of the rule of law in that country has lead to the rise of the Russian Mafia - "The only way to enforce a contract is, as it were, with a contract--and plenty of enforcers. What would be litigiousness in New York is a hail of bullets in Moscow. Instead of a society infested with lawyers, they have a society infested with hit men. Which is worse, of course, is a matter of opinion."

The romp through each country shows a different side of economics. In Albania it is capitalism in anarchy. In Sweden it is socialism in a stable, moral society. In Cuba it is the worst of all worlds. Yet all the pictures placed side by side, clearly illustrate that a stifling of individual liberty (including property rights entailing an incentive to work and invest) will make a nation poor. Indeed, this descriptive collage goes further to show what Adam Smith and classical economists ever since have endeavored to explain - Money is not wealth, the wealth of a society is inherent in the goods and services it produces, and sufficient production only occurs when there is an incentive to produce.

O'Rourke spends a few chapters explicitly explaining economic theory. Though sarcasm and skepticism run deep in this work, these qualities allow the reader to be entertained while getting to the nub of economic thought, as when the advantages of the division of labor are demonstrated by comparing the relative productivity of John Grisham and Courtney love in units of BS - BS serving as the mathematical symbol for what you would expect.

To characterize O'Rourke as the economic Carl Sagan, would be a mistake. He does not so much popularize its study as he journalistically exposes it to scrutiny, allowing the reader to extract information that will be useful in daily life. That most of his conclusions reflect the conservative theories of the Austrian school of economics seems only to be incidental to his observations.

O'Rourke shows he is aware that economic application has a significant influence on society. He pointedly notes, "Socialists think of society as a giant, sticky wad. And no part of that gum ball--no intimate detail of your private life, for instance--can be pulled free from the purview of socialism. Witness Sweden's Minister for Consumer, Religious, Youth and Sports Affairs. Socialism is inherently totalitarian in philosophy." He is correct. Why should the government be in any way involved in the religious or consuming or sporting aspects of our daily lives?

"Political systems must love poverty--they produce so much of it. Poor people make much easier targets for a demagogue." It is a keen observation. History has shown that free societies have been eroded and eventually washed away by the demagoguery of politicians calling for the redistribution of wealth. It happened to the Roman Republic in the First Century AD, culminating in the rise of the Empire. It is happening now with our own system. We have politicians buying votes by advocating policies that in the end will only degrade the productivity of our economic system (creating less wealth for everyone) and will surely undermine personal liberties.

If the book has a flaw, it is that it lacks an index. It would be nice to be able to use this work as a quick and ready reference. (However, this flaw has been remedied in the reviewer's copy through injudicious use of a red pen and dog ears.)

"Eat the Rich" should be on the bookshelf of every thoughtful conservative, ready to thrust into the hands of the young skulls full of mush who come home from their liberal arts education thinking Lenin and Che Guevara are modern heroes. It should be mailed to every congressman who thinks society can be advanced through a redistribution of wealth. More, it should be read, studied and enjoyed by every person who considers taking the life of a nation into his hands by walking into a polling booth.

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