The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.52 (974 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B002O0BC10 |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 548 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-11-08 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
All rights reserved. From Publishers Weekly Economist Leeson leads readers though a surprisingly entertaining crash course in economics in this study of high seas piracy at the turn of the 18th century. (June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. . Understanding the profit motive that guided pirates' actions reveals why pirates so cruelly tortured the crews of ships that resisted boarding, yet treated those who surrendered readily with the utmost respect. Both practices worked to minimize costs to the pirate crew by discouraging resistance that could lead to loss of life and limb for pirates and damage to either the pirates' ship or the cargo aboard. Illustrated with salty tales of pirates both famous and infamous, the book rarely
Leeson argues that the pirate customs we know and love resulted from pirates responding rationally to prevailing economic conditions in the pursuit of profits.The Invisible Hook looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices. Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen? And what made them so successful? The Invisible Hook uses economics to examine these and other infamous aspec
Alan said Educational and Interesting!. Peter T. Leeson spoke at my college when I was a freshman (six years ago now) and I went for an extra credit in my gen ed econ class. His talk was so memorable that even six years later, when I needed to research piracy and wanted a unique angle, I remembered him and purchased his book. It didn't disappoint!THE INVISIBLE HOOK provides a very interesting look into the life of pirates, examining the role of economics in everything from self-governance to torture. While maintaining a conversational, often amusing tone, Leeson does a fabulous job of blend. "Pirates and Liberty" according to Joshua Rosenblum. As any reader of GURPS: Swashbucklers knows, the buccaneers of the golden age of piracy were a remarkably enlightened bunch, establishing on their ships a system of egalitarian, democratic civil administration.Oh, you haven't read GURPS: Swashbucklers?Well never mind that. What's important to know is that, despite their reputation as blood-thirsty cut-throat savages, life aboard a pirate ship in the Carribean was a damn sight more free and civilized than serving aboard a navy ship or merchantman in the same era.Pirates operated their ships according t. "Read it -- but not all of it" according to Jason Dusek. The book makes a good case for understanding the behavior both of merchant captains and pirates in economic terms, surprising us with pirate's democracy, fair profit sharing, generous approach to disability and disinclination to slavery.In places, the book is repetitive; and in others, insubstantial and almost ideological. The section on pirate homosexuality is merely speculative, offering a thin discussion and a weak suggestion that pirates were perhaps not very gay -- it would have been a better book without it. The author introduces a distinction b