Review | Book review: socialism’s endless failures, in black and white

The Problem with Socialism
by Thomas DiLorenzo
Mission Audio (audiobook)

The growing popularity of socialism, especially among college students, troubles Thomas DiLorenzo, a professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland, in the United States. He cites a survey this year that found almost 70 per cent of the American electorate aged under 30 would vote for a socialist president. Which is why – despite socialist senator Bernie Sanders endorsing Hillary Clinton for the top job – the author has written what he describes as a primer on socialism and capitalism for the under-informed; and a reminder for others of the disaster that socialism has wrought where it has been applied. The arguments, while cogent, provide little that is new and, worse, are starkly black and white. Which probably means it will appeal only to the already converted.