This is the worst Ayn Rand book I've read. It took me 8 months to get it off my currently-reading shelf, even after I skimmed through some parts. And this doesn't count an aborted attempt to read it last year. Almost half the essays in this book are written by Rand's followers, and they're all better than the ones by Rand herself. Roughly half of Rand's contributions are rants about then-current affairs, rarely touching on anything important. In the other half, she bites off more than she can chew. Her best essay in this book is about anti-concepts. Ironically, at least two of her essays actually defend the anti-concepts of intellectual property and individual rights. I think this book has done more damage to objectivists' minds than any other, even though it's not as useless as Intro to Objectivist Epistemology. Just visit /r/Objectivism, where any disagreement with Rand is treated with contemptuous parroting of Rand's talking points. You should still read this if you have any curiosity at all. Really good stuff by Branden, Greenspan, and... Hessen? And maybe I'm being too harsh on Rand. I barely remember some of the essays in the first half of the book. The best one is probably Antitrust by Greenspan. A list of the top 5 essays from this book would have no more than 1 or 2 Rand essays. I also like the title of the book. Come to think of it, all her books have great titles. After reading almost everything she wrote, I neither love nor hate Ayn Rand. Her novels blew my mind when I read them last year, but I've found the enjoyment of novels to be a painfully ephemeral thing, so I'm taking it for what it was worth. Her best non-fiction was The Romantic Manifesto. That one's in another league from her other non-fiction. Having read pretty much all her major work, it's time to move on. I wish there were more Objectivist fiction writers. In fact, I think Rand was the only one.

I haven't finished every essay in this book but having devoured the bulk of them I feel quite content to say that this book is the golden age of objectivist writing. Before Ayn Rand turned her institute into a cult of personality and before Alan Greenspan turned his back on the principles he held to heart. Filled with the facts of capitalism that everyone who would think of opposing it needs to consider first!

As an asides the book has tuned me into the writing of Nathaniel Brenden and his objectivist work is fantastic.

Great title. Ayn Rand makes the point that it is not fair to compare the reality of capitalism, with all of its faults, to a utopian socialist ideal, which socialism's proponents claim has never been tried. Either we should compare the reality of capitalism in the U.S.A. to the reality of socialism in the Soviet Union, or we should compare the capitalist ideal to the socialist ideal. Capitalism in the United States is far from the utopian ideal that Rand envisions, for two reasons. The first reason is offered by Rand: there has always been substantial government involvement in the economy in the United State, even during the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, the crony capitalism of wealthy corporations able to buy influence with state or federal legislators. Rand considers this corruption of the capitalist ideal to be a form of socialism, and therefore capitalism should not be blamed for it. The second reason is not mentioned by Rand, but I believe it is also important: human nature. There are always going to be dishonest businessmen in any system, and the economic damage that they cause should be blamed on them, and not they system they inhabit.

Highly thought provoking. One non-fiction book which will make you read more more non-fiction. Powerful words and wonderful explanation of capitalism. The unknown ideal here means misunderstandings and misinterpretations of capitalism. Political science theory enthusiasts will surely love this. Ayan Rand is such a genius and has written several other books. Atlas Shrugged - Is a fictional version of her thoughts and ideals. Want to read that next.

La polémica que desató la nueva atención o giro central a la obra de Rand fue debido a la filosofía objetivista/capitalista/liberal que fomenta y defiende acérrimamente, hasta en sus entrevistas.
De su obra se rescata las ideas del egoísmo y la liberaci��n del ser a trav��s de las estructuras complejas que ha construido a lo largo de los siglos; estás estructuras no solo son de carácter arquitectónico, sino sociales. También el rechazo hacia toda las políticas colectivas (marxismo, comunismo, socialismo, altruismo, etc.) y los estados medios de las acciones.
Rand decía: "Mi filosofía es, en esencia, el concepto del hombre como un ser heroico, con su propia felicidad como propósito moral de su vida, con el logro productivo como su actividad más noble y con la razón como su único absoluto".
También toma a autores como Hegel, Marx o Nietzsche (de quien saca evidentes posturas) como perniciosos.
Y a todo esto: el capitalismo es el ideal desconocido (según ella) y único para conseguir la realización del ser humano... Bueno, en mi opinión, es muy sesgado creer que una ideología política/económica puede ser perfecta tanto en teoría como en la práctica (justamente este es el error del comunismo o socialismo que rechaza). Pero en fin; además, tener más poder adquisitivo o que suba el PBI o tener mayores ganancias no significa que sea un bienestar para la sociedad (y de esto ya se ha hablado en diferentes ensayos y conferencias que abordan los cambios dañinos del capitalismo en la postmodernidad).

Note: I am writing this comment after few months of reading the book.

Ayn Rand is considered the mother of pure capitalism and she exhibit her side of fundamentalism quiet vividly in this book. In my opinion, the book presents the fundamentals on which the capitalism system stands. It is an old book and since it was published a lot of changes happened to the today capitalism. For example, in many instances, the book compares capitalism head to head with communism and how the earlier is superior and why. In today discussion, I think we are passed this era. Also the book fail to address some apparently successful evolved systems such as public health care.

Ms. Rand makes a very compelling argument for free markets and points out many misconceptions about Capitalism.
I enjoyed this book.

More explanitory than Atlas Shrugged, though it is not as entertaining a read. Rand points out that capitalism has never been tried and if given a chance, would eclipse the socialist systems of today.

Ayn Rand prova a costruire una base filosofica per quello che ritiene essere il miglior sistema di conformazione economica e sociale di uno Stato: il capitalismo.

Venendo dal mondo socialista degli anni 20, da famiglia borghese, è inevitabile provare orrore per la patria di origine al massimo della sua dittatura e il grande trasporto per la patria di adozione (gli USA). Molti ragionamenti sono ben articolati e supportati da una base intellettuale che sembra robusta, anche se ai miei occhi alcuni punti assiomatici dell'autrice si fondano su premesse sbagliate (ad esempio, che il diritto di proprietà è il piu' importante di tutti e che è fondativo di tutti gli altri).

La pretesa poi che la virtù di base del capitalismo sia la giustizia è forse vera dal punto di vista teorico, ma quando pensiamo a chi dovrebbe mettere in atto questa virtù (la razza umana) capiamo subito la fallacia del ragionamento e ne vediamo comunque tutti i giorni sotto gli occhi
l'inconsistenza. Non credo che possa sopravvivere una società dove l'egoismo vince sull'altruismo e dove le leggi antitrust per le grandi aziende sono ritenute un'ingiustizia.
L'articolo sui perseguitati d'America - le grandi aziende - fa a botte con il buonsenso.
La visione de 'The Corporation' e le frequenti commistioni tra potere economico e potere politico ne rendono fin fastidiosa la lettura.

Lettori più colti di me potranno trovare tanti altri punti deboli in questa raccolta di saggi - molti della Rand, altri di Greenspan e altri amici - che sono senz'altro ammalianti nella esposizione e forse anche razionali per la parte sinistra del cervello (anche se ne dubito), ma stridenti al cuore, al buonsenso e alla parte retta dell'intelligenza.

Very very interesting. I should really write a little review, but then you would be stealing my hard work, which you have not earned yourself, which would make me your slave. So instead I will just say that you should read the 1st half of this book because it is thought provoking and very relevant in today’s economic environment, despite being nearly 40 years old.

A very thought provoking book. In fact, I could not wait to read the arguments surrounding the author's ideas.

Personally I do not fully agree with her ideas, and it kept me uncomfortable as I was going through the book. It was an uncanny balance of aversion and curiosity that pushed me through. I am too lazy to sit myself down and refute her ideas, but I will just say that I entertained her ideas in my head long enough although I did not agree with it every moment I was exposed to it. Something in her argument just feels missing, like having your code run without errors but you just know that the output is not supposed to be the value you are observing.

There were also a few points regarding monopoly that just goes against basic economics, but since this book was written quite some time back I would assume the economic theories might not have been as developed yet.

Her arguments are not without logic, in fact they are quite logical. Just that I feel that some key facts are overlooked when the ideas were presented so make it sound convincing in an easy manner. I really appreciate the controversial and unconventional ideas shared by the author. Overall an enjoyable read.

This book is awesome. Rand strips away the smeared, distorted, and misrepresented impressions of capitalism and leaves it redefined in its pure form. Capitalism is what made America a great country. It should be required reading in schools along with Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson".