Even though it’s deemed America’s second most influential book, there are plenty in Britain who haven’t heard of Atlas Shrugged – or Ayn Rand, its Russian-born author who had such a profound impact on American conservatism. Now is a very good time to read it, because – as Stephen Moore argues in the Journal today – the reader would find plenty of chilling analogies for the current economic collapse.
It’s a story of an American recession, during which the state starts to nationalise various industries – which in turn collapse under bureaucratic control – and keeps on going until there’s nothing left. The heroes are those with an entrepreneurial spirit: from the homeless to the steel magnate. The villains are those Rand calls the “looters” – who feed off other people’s earnings – gold-digging spouses, lazy rich kids and, of course, political power brokers.
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