Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics

By P. J. O'Rourke

P.J. sets off on a world tour to investigate funny economics. Having seen ‘good’ capitalism on Wall Street, he looks at ‘bad’ capitalism in Albania, views ‘good’ socialism in Sweden and endures ‘bad’ socialism in Cuba. The result is the world’s only astute, comprehensive and concise presentation of the basic principles of economics that can make you laugh on purpose.

‘P.J. O’Rourke is the acceptable face of US Republican arrogance. He sneers so irresistibly, you cough up your liberal guts laughing’ Observer

‘The first thing you learn about O’Rourke is this: he cannot turn off his mirth valve. Such is the severity of P.J.’s condition, the only person to have more entries in The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations is Oscar Wilde. This makes O’Rourke either the funniest man alive, or the wittiest heterosexual of all time . . . In Eat the Rich, O’Rourke’s ninth book, he squares up to the daunting topic of the world’s wealth: who has it, who hasn’t and why’ Mail on Sunday

‘P.J. at his scathing best . . . This is economics for the uninitiated’ Irish News

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Nov 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447215103

P. J. O'Rourke

P. J. O'Rourke is the bestselling author of ten books, including Eat the Rich, Give War a Chance, Holidays in Hell, Parliament of Whores, All the Trouble in the World, The CEO of the Sofa and Peace Kills. He has contributed to, among other publications, Playboy, Esquire, Harper's, New Republic, the New York Times Book Review and Vanity Fair. He is a regular correspondent for the Atlantic magazine. He divides his time between New Hampshire and Washington, D.C.

Reviews for Eat the Rich

[johnphelan-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Essentially a long Douglass North article or short Acemoglu & Robinson book, O'Rourke's message is 'institutions matter'. This is the book I'd suggest if someone asked me 'Which one economics book should I read?'

[georgeslacombe_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Insightful and ironic journey on economics. The author travels to many countries in order to see by himself why some countries are rich and some are poor. The book was written before China big growth and the recent wars in the old Yugoslavia region. Many comments are attached to the reality of that time, however the overall analysis is still valid, and several insights at that time were almost prophecies. Reading the book now demands more of the reader that should know world history of 1990's and also some personalities, companies, products and trends of that time. I recommend as a good entertainment and also as a way to get a better understanding of the recent world history.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This "treatise on economics" by political humorist P.J. O'Rourke was written in 1998, which makes it quite a blast from the economic past. In it, O'Rourke asks the question of why some societies are prosperous and wealthy while others aren't. In the interests of finding out, he first makes a half-hearted attempt at learning economic theory, then travels around to various countries, capitalist and socialist, functional and dysfunctional. O'Rourke's political opinions, economic and otherwise, differ significantly from my own -- I believe he considers himself a libertarian, whereas I tend to vote Democrat. So, needless to say, I don't quite share his perspective on a lot of this stuff, and I definitely don't share his conclusions. I also found his attitude towards many of the places he visits faintly irritating, in a vague but persistent kind of way. But even so, by 2010 standards of political discourse -- especially discourse in which the word "socialism" features prominently -- he almost comes across low-key and moderate, if decidedly snarky. This by itself is enough to make me nostalgic for 1998. I don't think I ever properly appreciated the 90s when they were here.O'Rourke does have the capacity to be very, very funny, though. Just skimming through the acknowledgments at the beginning of the book had me laughing several times. But, alas, the chuckles were much fewer and further between in the text itself. I guess maybe even O'Rourke can't make this subject very funny, at least not to those who don't share his biases.

[liggitt-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Interesting, but overly crass.

[ramirez_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Thesis: socialists are a bunch of idiots who want us poorer because they're envious and they don't understand the benefits of the Market!1Greed is OK.Pity it's so childish because O'Rourke is also funny.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quite amusing.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting look at the perception of wealth and poverty in several different countries around the world. He's looking at the different systems - none of which he shows to be perfect but many of which have both good and bad points.