The Incredible Bread Machine

by Susan Love Brown, Karl Keating, David Millinger, Patrea Post, Stuart Smith and Catriona Tudor

1. What is the book about as a whole?

The Incredible Bread Machine makes a case for Capitalism based on examples from American History and the damage brought about by the application of policies based on unsound economic theories. The title of the book stems from R.W. Grant’s poem: Tom Smith and his Incredible Bread Machine which in a fun way describes how Government regulation tramples with the entrepreneurs attempts to create value in society.

2. What is being said in detail?

“Lassiez-Faire Capitalism is an economic system of voluntary exchange between individuals without interference from the government.”

The Incredible Bread Machine describes the economic principles that capitalism seeks to follow in order to bring prosperity and change within society. Such include Individualism and Property (The right to the fruits of your labor).

“Principles are not legislated or invented – they are discovered.”

The whole case for Capitalism is mainly founded on the principle of Freedom which is defined as “the ability to act without hinderance or restraint.” Brown, Keating, Mellinger and the other co-authors of this book then go in describing how the trampling of liberty of individuals such as in the multiple cases of intervention in America; The Great Depression, Centralized Money, Antitrust & Monopoly, Minimum Wage Laws, Labor Unions, Price Controls, Welfare and Social Security. The basic problem with these policies would be observed in unintended consequences where by trying to control complex social systems such as the market and society rules end up being too restrictive to allow for adaptation on behalf of the individuals.

In brief The Incredible Bread Machine does a magnificent job at turning the untangible into tangible. The authors take very abstract concepts and through the spectacles of these theories take a look at the past in a very logical and precise way. Take a look at one of the stories to depict the horros of actions that follow unadaptable rulesets.

This is the case of Valentine Byler, an Amish farmer who in April of 1961 lost precious resources to the hands of the Internal Revenue Service. Two agents of the IRS came to his farm and took the two horses and some colt he was using under the excuse that he owed it to the State for not paying his taxes. Valentine’s beliefs forbade him to pay such taxes and to resist in any way that could be considered to use force against another. The IRS sold Valentine’s resources for $460 in an auction, took $308.96 for the unpaid taxes, $133.15 for expenses in operations and gave back $37.89 to him. Valentine, who lived inside his community without requesting anything from the State, went from having two mares, colt, and peace of mind to $37.89 and much anxiety. How exactly did Government “improve” the economic well being of this man? Perhaps the life of an Amish farmer isn’t the most desirable life for many to follow, but who is to judge and make that decision if not Valentine Byler? Where are his rights to liberty and property?

“When the State, under the pretext of caring for people, takes away from them the means by which they might care for themselves, does such legislation represent a step forward or a step back?”

3. What was most meaningful to me?

What I appreciated the most about the incredible bread machine was the fact that a book could explain economic principles, which I used to deem as extremely complicated, in simple and easy to understand stories. A recurrent topic this semester has not only been the exploration of economic liberal ideas but also a critical look at what the Liberal movement has done to diffuse these ideas and share them with others. Unfortunately not much has been done in comparison to socialis ideas. Novels, songs, and films are rarely made in a way that these ideas come across and that’s why finding such an entertaining book that doesn’t necessarily feel like “economic lessons” is quite a rare and fascinating experience.

Random Notes:

Why law? Which laws should be followed? What is justice and how do we practice it?

Eminent domain: Power government has to take

Terms: Eminent Domain, Antitrust, Child Labor, Natural Monopoly, Government Interference, Subsidies, Wages, Minimum Wage, Price Controls, Patents, Intellectual Property Rights, Indemnization, The Great Depression, Foreign Intervention

Questions: Who were the Robber Barons? What is Capitalism? Is Regulation Justifiable? What is Lassiez-Faire? Who is Commodore Vanderbilt? What is a Monopoly? What are Interest Rates? What is Industry? What is Fiat? Can a Market be controlled? Are high wages a cause or a consequence of prosperity? What is Waste? What is Need?

More Notes:

Thory Precedes History, Efficiency of the Market (Natural Monopoly & Myth of the Vertical Demand Curve), Complexity in Consumer Choice, There are No objective resources, Individuals decide what is wasteful: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”,

MYTHS (pg 61):

1. Government can even out the boom & bust cycle.

2. Amount of money needs to be proportional to growth of economy.