Amazon now has Andrew Bernstein’s Capitalist Manifesto back in stock, at the terrific price of $19.95.
When we published our review of The Capitalist Manifesto last week, Amazon didn’t have any in stock and the best place to buy them was through the publisher, for about $35.00.
The Amazon price is much better, obviously, so have at it. It’s an important book to read — and deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf.
Category: News
Putin Economic Advisor Andrei Illarionov Resigns
Andrei Illarionov, a vocal proponent of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, has resigned as Putin’s chief economic advisor:
MOSCOW – An outspoken economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin who has become increasingly critical of a return to inefficient state control of the economy has offered his resignation, complaining that he was no longer able to speak his mind, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.
Andrei Illarionov, the lone dissenter in a Kremlin dominated by Putin’s fellow KGB veterans, was stripped of his duties as envoy to the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations earlier this year. However, he has remained Putin’s economic adviser.
Last week he charged that political freedom has steadily declined and said that government-controlled corporations have stifled competition and ignored public interests.
“I considered it important to remain here at this post as long as I had the possibility to do something, including speaking out,” the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Illarionov as saying.
“Until recently, no one put any restrictions on me expressing my point of view. Now the situation has changed,” he added.
Illarionov, 44, a free-market economist who worked in the Russian government in the early 1990s, was appointed an adviser to Putin in 2000.
But he increasingly fell out of favor after he became a vocal critic of moves to restore state control over the strategic energy sector. In particular, he lambasted the effective nationalization of the Yukos oil empire of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2004 as the “swindle of the year.”
Illarionov said he had a number of reasons for his decision to resign but that his main concern was the development of an increasingly state-controlled economy, with major public companies run by self-interested bureaucrats.
“Six years ago when I came to this post I dedicated my work to increasing economic freedoms in Russia. Six years on, the situation has changed radically,” he said.
“This is a state model with the participation of state corporations, which although they are public in name and status, are managed above all for their own personal interests,” said Illarionov.
Last week, Russia’s biggest carmaker, Avtovaz, elected a new board with top managers representing the state, cementing control of a key company after parallel moves to increase the state’s hold on the energy sector.
Under Putin, Russia has moved to snap up chunks of the strategically important oil sector and the state now controls around 30 percent of the national oil industry.
In December 2004, the biggest oil fields of the embattled Yukos oil giant â?? once Russia’s No. 1 producer â?? were transferred to the state to reclaim billions in disputed tax bills, and this year, the giant gas monopoly Gazprom bought the privately held OAO Sibneft oil company.
Illarionov said last week that after state-owned Rosneft took over OAO Yukos’ main subsidiary, Yuganskneftegaz, the unit’s revenues dropped and costs soared.
Earlier coverage of this subject at the Atlasphere includes the following:
Putin Advisor Illarionov Profiled in WSJ (May 12, 2005)
Putin Demotes Economic Advisor Andrei Illarionov (May 1, 2005)
Spreading Ayn Rand in Russia (April 1, 2005)
I would love to know how to get in touch with Illarionov for an interview. If you have any suggestions, please contact me.
UPDATE: More coverage on this topic is available from AFP.
Ayn Rand's Books Censored in Philippines?
In an article for Human Events Online, Mark Skousen writes:
In 2002, a student named Franscisco (a pseudonym) at the University of the Philippines read my book, The Making of Modern Economics (ME Sharpe, 2001). The book is a popular textbook that tells the story of the great economic thinkers, from Adam Smith to modern times, all written from a free-market perspective. (Itâ??s now in its third printing, and has been translated into three languages.)
One of the most controversial chapters is chapter 6, â??Marx Plunges Economics into a New Dark Age.â? The student was a member of a Communist front student organization at University of the Philippines, but was so impressed with my critique of Marx that he typed the entire chapter into an email and sent it to all his Marxist friends and sociology professor. As a result, they all abandoned Marxism in favor of free-market economics, including his professor.
Now apparently my book has become so effective in countering Marxism in the Philippines that it has been removed from the major university libraries in Manila — along with Ayn Randâ??s books!
Keep reading for more background information.
Rep. Chris Cox Replaced by Fellow Rand Admirer
New from townhall.com:
Today it is official, former State Senator John Campbell will take the Congressional seat vacated by SEC Chairman Chris Cox.
Campbell is a solid conservative.
In September, I had a chance to interview him during his race. I have republished that interview in full in the extended section. Read the whole thing, and you will see that Campbell will be a welcome addition for conservatives.
Interview with CA State Senator John Campbell
Thursday, September 29, 2005
TC: Weâ??ll start with some questions about conservatism in general. Can you explain to me, and to our readers, what you see as the core foundational principles of conservatism?
JC: Core foundational principles to me are individual rights and individual responsibility. From a domestic policy basis, I think everything kind of flows from that, even the concept of smaller government, or if you want to go into lower taxes or less regulation. All of that flows from the concept that most rights and privileges should be incumbent in the individual and also the responsibility for one’s actions, the consequences for oneâ??s actions come from the individual. I think from a domestic policy standpoint itâ??s that.
From a foreign policy standpoint, it comes simply from the view of Americaâ??s place in the world in that of strength, but also of being the world leader and worldâ??s example for democracy and for the rights and responsibilities of the individual as expressed through democracy.
TC: What conservative thinkers and philosophers have influenced your own political journey?
JC: Well, if you go back early in life, Milton Friedmanâ??from an economic standpoint. I was an economics major in college, and a lot of Milton Friedmanâ??s writings influenced me. And also, and I know sometimes this person has been riddled with controversies of late, and I understand that. I have read almost all of Ayn Randâ??s books. Whereas I know sheâ??s come under attack of late for some things, again the core philosophy of individual responsibility comes through so clearly, and is so eloquently put in books like Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead. So if you want to go back kind of early in life, in terms of philosophers, those are a couple I would say.
Senate Oil Profits Hearings: Life Imitates Atlas Shrugged
Sometimes, unfortunately, life imitates art.
Caroline Baum, in a brilliant column at Bloomberg.com, demonstrates some regrettable parallels between Atlas Shrugged and the recent hearings on oil company profits.
In the wake of record earnings Senators Frist, Domenici, et al elected to question Hank Rearden, er… Exxon CEO Lee Raymond, about his business.
Dominici (as cited in Baum’s column) said:
”I expect the witnesses to answer whether you think your current profits are excessive and to talk about what they intend to do with the reserves and the profit accumulations that they have.”
Raymond’s reply?
“The price is set on the world market by willing buyers and sellers, as to what willing sellers are willing to sell it for and willing buyers are willing to pay for it.”
Ayn Rand once said there were certain real life events she couldn’t put in her novel, since they were so outrageous she’d be accused of inventing them. Sadly, this wasn’t one of them.
Remembering Joan Kennedy Taylor
Objectivist History Project founder Duncan Scott sends us this unfortunate news:
Joan Kennedy Taylor, former publisher of one of the first Objectivist themed magazines, Persuasion, and an associate of Ayn Rand for over twenty years, died Saturday morning after a long battle with cancer.
Beginning in the early 1970’s Kennedy Taylor wrote and spoke on feminist issues from a Libertarian perspective. She also directed book programs for the Manhattan Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education; was an editor for The Libertarian Review and The Freeman; and for ten years was a commentator for the Cato Institute’s syndicated radio program, “Byline.” Earlier, she was the founder and editor of Persuasion from 1964 to 1968. She was the National Coordinator of the Association of Libertarian Feminists and a member of the board of directors of Feminists for Free Expression.
She was the author of several books, including Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered, published in 1992 by Prometheus Books. She was the editor of Free Trade: The Necessary Foundation for World Peace, and the co-author with Lee M. Shulman of When to See a Psychologist. Besides writing articles for publications that include The Wall Street Journal, Success, The Washington Times, and Reason, the Hoover Institution brought out her pamphlet, “Women’s Issues: Feminism, Classical Liberalism, and the Future,” in its Essays in Public Policy series and she has contributed to a number of books: Equal Opportunities: a Feminist Fallacy (London, 1992), Beyond the Status Quo: Policy Proposals for America, and Freedom, Feminism, and the State, as well as several textbooks.
Kennedy Taylor was interviewed for The Objectivist History Project on April 4th, 2004. Excerpts from the interview were shown at The Objectivist Center Summer Seminar in Vancouver in July 2004, with Miss Kennedy Taylor attending. She spoke of her close relationship with Ayn Rand, of her father, composer Deems Taylor, and his friendship with Rand in his later years. She described efforts by Objectivists to end the military draft which ultimately proved successful.
According to her son, Michael Cook, current plans — which may change — are to have calling hours at Frank Campbell Funeral Home on 81st St. and Madison Ave., New York City on Wednesday, 4 pm to 7 pm (call Campbell FH 212-288-3500 to confirm), to have calling hours in Lee, Massachusetts on Thursday, and to have her funeral on Friday in Stockbridge, followed by a burial in the Stockbridge Cemetery.
Joan Kennedy Taylor
Joan Kennedy Taylor, one-time associate of Ayn Rand, passed away October 29, 2005. (as reported here and here) Ms. Taylor is probably best known for her work: Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered. She also contributed an essay to Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand, edited by Chris Sciabarra and Mimi Gladstein.
Ms. Taylor was interviewed in 2004 for The Objectivist History Project. In the interview, she recalled her first meeting with Rand and the surprising role that many early students of Objectivism played in bringing about the end of the military draft.
On a personal note, I had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Taylor while we waited for flights after TOC’s 2004 Summer Seminar in Vancouver. We spoke more about her association with Rand—of whom she had warm memories. I wish I had known Ms. Taylor better; she will be greatly missed.
Atlas Shrugged Film Closer?
According to a recent article in BoxOffice Mojo:
“…Howard Baldwin, [who] tells me that he is closer to bringing Ayn Rand’s epic to the screen. ” writes editor and publisher Scott Holleran.
There’s some reason to hope the screenplay will be faithful to the spirit of the novel.
“Based on a reading of the Atlas Shrugged script, producer Baldwin promises that Miss Rand’s essential principlesâ??reason, selfishness, capitalismâ??are integrated in the plot and that, as in the novel, businesswoman Dagny Taggart struggles to operate a transcontinental railroad in a nation run by preachy socialists, while looters and moochers pick at the remains.”
That would be welcome news, indeed.
Liberty Film Festival: "Was Communism a Threat to Hollywood?
As was announced on this Meta-Blog item, the upcoming Liberty Film Festival will honor Ayn Rand with the screening of We the Living. The festival will feature an additional item of interest to Ayn Rand fans: a panel discussion on the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten, titled: “Was Communism a Threat to Hollywood?”
In 1947, Ayn Rand testified before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, who was investigating the Communist inflirtation of the Holloywood film industry. Rand, who testified on the false portrayal of life under Communism in the movie “Song of Russia,” had been vilified for her support of the HUAC. The recently published Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood provides a detailed re-examination the role of communism in Hollywood, the nature of the HUAC, and the famously blacklisted Hollywood Ten.
PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE BLACKLIST:
“Was Communism A Threat to Hollywood?”
Moderator: Film historian/journalist John Meroney
Panelists: Richard Schickel (TIME film critic, noted film historian), James Hirsen (best-selling author, Hollywood Nation), Ron Radosh (Red Star over Hollywood), Patrick Goldstein (LA Times film critic, columnist), Ed Rampell (author, Progressive Hollywood) and Jeff Britting of the Ayn Rand Institute (producer of the Oscar-nominated Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life). Authors Richard Schickel, Ron Radosh, James Hirsen, Ed Rampell and Jeff Britting will do book signings after the panel.
EVENT 7 – Saturnday, October 22, 6:00PM – 7:15PM
Ticekt price – $8
Liberty Film Festival to Honor Ayn Rand
From a press release we received yesterday:
As part of its “100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Rand,” the Liberty Film Festival will be screening the 1942 Italian classic, “We the Living,” based on Ayn Rand’s novel of the same name. Preceding the film will be special introductions by co-producer Duncan Scott, and by Jeff Britting of the Ayn Rand Institute.
The 2005 Liberty Film Festival will be held the weekend of October 21-23, 2005 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. The Liberty Film Festival showcases films that celebrate the traditional American values of free speech, patriotism, and religious freedom. This yearâ??s festival includes over two dozen feature films, short subjects, panel discussions, and special events. The tribute to Ayn Rand will be the grand finale of the three-day festival.
â??We the Livingâ? was originally produced in Italy during World War II without the knowledge or consent of Rand. The film premiered in Rome, Italy, in 1942 in two parts entitled, NOI VIVI and ADDIO KIRA. Long thought to be lost, the film was rediscovered many years later by Randâ??s attorneys, Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer. Rand authorized the film’s restoration and Scott will talk about that process and of the embattled production history of the film.
Drawing from her early years as a young woman in Russia, â??We the Livingâ? is, perhaps, the most personal expression of Randâ??s ideas. New York Newsday said the film â??Stirs the soul… dazzling performances… qualifies in every respect as film treasure… one of the best movies of the year”. In his review of the film, movie critic Michael Medved called it “An amazing piece of cinema… I loved every minute of it…Valli has the same kind of quality as Garbo– just magical.” Medved will be at the Festival, moderating a panel discussion on Sunday afternoon.
For more information about the movie, visit www.wethelivingmovie.com.
100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Rand with screening of â??We the Livingâ?
Event 13 â?? Sunday, October 23rd 2005 at 6:15pm
Ticket Price: $10
Pacific Design Center
SilverScreen Theatre, 2nd Floor Center Green,
8687 Melrose Avenue,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
For tickets to the â??100th Birthday Tribute to Ayn Randâ? or for other Liberty Film Festival events, go to www.libertyfilmfestival.com. Please note that tickets are only available for purchase on-line at the Liberty Film Festival website (Please do not contact the Pacific Design Center for tickets).