On the Wealth of Nations
Books That Changed the World
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Narrated by:
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Michael Prichard
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By:
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P.J. O'Rourke
About this listen
Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long. The original edition totaled over 900 pages in two volumes, including the blockbuster 67-page "digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries", which, O'Rourke says, "to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu".
Although daunting, Smith's tome is still essential to understanding such currently hot topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P.J. puts his trademark wit to good use and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.
Listen to more Books That Changed the World.©2006 P.J. O'Rourke (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 21st century America, the top 0.1 percent of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90 percent have lost ground. What’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9 percent that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country - and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system.
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Fantastic
- By Davena on 01-05-23
By: Matthew Stewart
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The Stakes
- America at the Point of No Return
- By: Michael Anton
- Narrated by: Dan Crue
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Two months before the 2016 presidential election, an anonymously published essay titled "The Flight 93 Election" rallied conservatives to charge the cockpit by voting for Trump. Michael Anton, the author of that controversial viral essay, now says that the last few years have only served to prove his Flight 93 thesis: The left has become more aggressive, more vindictive, and more dangerous - and the stakes have never been higher.
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America, this is your future
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By: Michael Anton
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The Age of Reason
- By: Thomas Paine
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology, published in three parts from 1794, was a best seller in America, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. Promoting a creator-God while advocating reason in the place of revelation, Paine’s controversial pamphlet caused his native British audience, fearing the results of the French Revolution, to receive it with more hostility than their American counterparts.
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Amazed by the energy, originality & bravery
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By: Thomas Paine
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The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
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This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
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The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
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The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
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The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
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very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
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Capitalism
- The Unknown Ideal
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
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The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This was the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constituted a major philosophic revolution. In this series of essays, she presented her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the default of conservatism, and the evils of altruism.
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Ashame this is not taught in our
- By Karen on 08-18-07
By: Ayn Rand
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Eugenics and Other Evils
- By: G. K. Chesterton
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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During the first three decades of the 20th century, eugenics, the scientific control of human breeding, was a popular cause within enlightened and progressive segments of the English-speaking world. This prophetic volume counters the intellectual nihilism of Nietzsche, while simultaneously rebuking Western notions of progress - biological or otherwise. Chesterton expands his criticism of eugenics into what he calls "a more general criticism of the modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organization."
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Truly Great!
- By No to Statism on 07-26-19
By: G. K. Chesterton
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Debt - Updated and Expanded
- The First 5,000 Years
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
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Transformative to the point of being revolutionary
- By James C. Samans on 08-14-16
By: David Graeber
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Suicide of the West
- How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
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Only once in the last 250,000 years have humans stumbled upon a way to lift ourselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, hunger, and war that defines most of history. If democracy, individualism, and the free market were humankind’s destiny, they should have appeared and taken hold a bit earlier in the evolutionary record. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle.
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Put some gratitude in your attitude
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-18
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Ill Fares the Land
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
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In Ill Fares The Land, Tony Judt, one of our leading historians and thinkers, reveals how we have arrived at our present dangerously confused moment. Judt masterfully crystallizes what we've all been feeling into a way to think our way into, and thus out of, our great collective dis-ease about the current state of things.
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Blah, Blah, Blah.
- By Michael on 07-15-10
By: Tony Judt
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What listeners say about On the Wealth of Nations
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David 5
- 11-27-07
Good, but missing PJ
I've listened to other O'Rourke, some he read, and some (like this) read by others. His humor and points come through with this reader, but his work deserves his voice
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5 people found this helpful
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- Michael F. Baute
- 03-24-23
good book.
exc narrator. good book to reread many times.
p.j. offers good prospecive on Smith's theories.
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- Elijah Dodd
- 01-27-24
Better Read than Heard
This is, as advertised, both very funny and very informative. O'Rourke engages with the real book much more than it appears he's going to, and explicates both its importance and its unintentional hilarity well. However, I do not recommend this audio version. Pritchard has almost no vocal variation, killing many of O'Rourke's funniest lines. Moreover, he does not audibly distinguish between O'Rourke's voice and the quotes from Smith, often running right past periods and ends of quotes without giving the listener any indication. I sometimes rewound the recording because I realized something I thought was a Smith quote was actually O'Rourke editorializing, and I had missed his point. Needs a better narrator for something so dense with terminology.
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- Hazem Elhady
- 07-29-18
Great Analysis with a sense of humor
I like the way the author summarized each book of the Wealth Of Nations. and he used humor which makes it easier to recall some of the analysis
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. Seelye
- 03-14-08
On the Wealth of Nations--worth listening to
“On the Wealth of Nations”
As a result of the hype about deregulating everything in the U.S., especially since Reagan, I was interested to learn the origins of this aspect of economics. To read “The Wealth of Nations” is more than I could do. When this review came out, I was tempted to read it, but since becoming diabetic, reading is difficult for me. Getting the book on Audible was great. The presentation is entertaining and packed with interesting, thought provoking interpretations of Adam Smith’s concepts. I had trouble putting it down. After completing the book, I decided after a couple of weeks, a second listen would be a real good idea.
Perhaps this book should be required listening for anyone planning to vote in the U.S. this year. I found it very educational. Adam Smith’s concepts have been grossly simplified and exaggerated to suite the contemporary bias that politician need to get our votes. Mr. Smith’s thinking was far more complex and confused than I would have expected based on modern day accounts.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Larry
- 02-08-08
Essence of the second greatest book ever written
I have not read "the Wealth Of Nations". However , if it is half as good as P.J.'s interption of it , it is a wonderful book,indeed. Were I Dictator for a Day , I would Command that every person in America listen to it.
I find myself going back to it , time and time again.
Frankly, P.J.'s book opened a whole world to me , of logical thought , and I have pursued that world , of understanding the logical processes , and the emotional feelings , of many great thinkers, and see as well , the context of the present , and the hope and fear of the future.
Adam Smith should never be forgotten, and , if P.J.'s book is as faithful to the origional as I believe it to be , statues of Adam Smith should dot every town square in America.
Perhaps then , we will remain the Land of the Free.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Jay
- 02-22-08
A great read
All the meat of the original, plenty of laughs and 20 hours shorter... it's like if the class clown read you Cliffs notes, but better.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Quinton Tompkins
- 05-20-22
The book is okay
The writer does an okay job of interpreting the work of Adam Smith, but interjects his own opinions and biases a bit too readily.
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- Michael
- 04-16-08
Where's PJ?
PJ has been a fine writer in his time, but this book does not reflect it. It isn't funny, it isn't insightful and it isn't really a good reflection of Adam Smith's work.
I don't recommend it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Debali
- 11-07-08
A Joke
Mr. O'Rourke does not seem to have read Adam Smith. If he had he would have encountered a very fascinating and in some unlikely book. As it is, one is treated to a farrago of ideological assertions with little textual basis.
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1 person found this helpful