Toshizo Shimizu Shimizu itibaren Gézier-et-Fontenelay, Fransa itibaren Gézier-et-Fontenelay, Fransa

In her forward, Jacobs writes "Readers unwilling or unable to breach a barrier that they imagine separates humankind and its works from the rest of nature will be unable to hear what this book is saying." This is, in my experience, profoundly true, and much of what passes for economic intelligence and reason is little more than ideology propped up by delimited reason and thinking. I was pleasantly surprised at how Jacobs' ideas confirmed my own observation of the paucity of true rationality and reason within 'official' economic ideology. A few have commented on how much they disliked the dialogue approach Jacobs has taken in this book, but I found, after my initial surprise, that allowing it to move is a stimulating and enjoyable way of exploring ideas. I think that this book is a very important critique of economic practices, thinking and ideology. I was tempted to write powerful, but as this was written more than 20 years ago, and just about every manner of economic fallacy Jacobs discusses have become even more pervasive is a true measure of how unreasonable are those who in high places practice economic arcana that are bankrupting societies and people while enriching corporations and their owners.

This is a cornerstone for the Voluntary simplicity movement. A great step by step guide for evaluating your financial situation and a how-to for reaching Financial Independence.

the story is simple and the characters are unsympathetic (especially our titular hero), but every line in it is gorgeously, perfectly written.