An Evening with the Undercover Economist

This past week in Seattle I went to a book tour event for the author of the Undercover Economist. It was sponsored by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce's Young Professional group. What a smart move of his publicist to make that venue the very first stop of this young author's book tour. It was a relatively benign crowd. No WTO protesters in the audience that night. I haven't read his book, so don't know what arguments he makes in the book for the 'free' market or against government intervention. However, he did seem to jump on the bandwagon of making economics sexy and mainstream, much like the authors of Freakonomics. And while his book might be much more nuanced than his lecture the other night, I walked away thinking he didn't take the time to make his case for 'markets' very compelling. He argued that 'in the long run, all boats rise with the tide.' However, didn't bother to address the reality that 'in the long run, we're all dead.' He spoke only of the merits of free trade and free markets, while speaking nothing of inequality, 'free' markets that are actually not as free as we might think-- as they are controlled by those with the most resources. Nor did he address the environment at all. For example, he said he was in favor of sweatshops if they provide opportunity for Chinese peasants. He cited the example of one young woman who moved to the coast to work in a sweatshop, saved money and then returned to her inland village to open a manicure shop. He said he's in favor of sweatshops when the alternative is poverty. What if, however, the sweatshop pollutes the local lake that villagers would have otherwise fished in, had the sweatshop not polluted that lake. What if the economic development that benefits all in theory in the long-long-long run, benefits a few rich men today at the expense of many villagers. What would the undercover economist have to say about market failures that benefit a few at the expense of many?

I'm sure his book is more nuanced. At least, I hope it is. But I wish he had taken his oral arguments a bit more seriously, and not just skim the surface just because he's speaking to a group of so-called 'young' professionals.