Wealth and Poverty by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Gilder argued that the key to prosperity is the entrepreneur, whose willingness to risk his own capital creates wealth, and that high marginal tax rates punish risk-taking and discourage investment. Lower rates, in his view, would yield more output and even more revenue.

The second thread is moral. He claimed that capitalism rests on giving, because investors and founders offer something to the market without knowing whether it will be accepted, and that the successes of the system depend on faith, family and a future orientation. Welfare programs, by contrast, damage the poor by undermining the work ethic and the place of the male provider in the family.

The book was written as a manifesto, with sweeping claims and strong rhetoric, and some of its empirical assertions have not held.

Why it matters

The book became a bible of the Reagan administration's economic thinking and made supply-side a household term. Whether the predictions came true is still disputed, but the volume captures the optimism and moral emphasis of that era's right.

About the author

George Gilder (born 1939) worked as a speechwriter and writer for Republican politicians before becoming a writer on economics and technology. He later wrote Microcosm and Telecosm, and he was an adviser of the Discovery Institute. Wealth and Poverty was a best-seller.

Who should read it

Readers interested in the history of the 1980s conservative agenda.