Book 39: Socialism Sucks, by Robert Lawson and Benjamin Powell

 Finished November 22, 2022

The subtitle of this book is, "Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World" and it's a great idea for a book. It's basically a pub-crawl through socialist countries and their capitalist counterparts, showing the difference between free-market economies and planned economies. 

This is the missing part of the whole discussion of socialism by people who live comfortably in a capitalist culture. What does life look like once the government makes all the decisions about the economy? The answer? Miserable. The day-to-day living in a socialist country gets mighty impoverished mighty fast. 

Yet there's an interesting trend that emerges, as well, and that is that capitalism cannot ever be completely eradicated. There's always a black market. When hyperinflation takes away the value of money, people begin to trade again. People find ways to sneak across borders, re-sell goods they get as a result of being part of the privileged ruling class and begin crafting things to sell or trade. 

A very good peek into what socialism looks like when you're just trying to find a place to sit, have a drink, and meet the locals.