We are in the ninth year of an expansion that has substantially increased wealth and well-being throughout America and the industrialized world. In answering these questions, Mr. Allison examines not only the structural, economic factors, but also the philosophical principles that fundamentally shape the economy. He discusses the ideas that underlay past economic growth and that will ultimately determine whether we will face a future of economic progress or of economic decline. Andrew Bernstein Ayn Rand's novels pit independent heroes against the forces of collectivism. In We the Living , three passionate valuers are crushed by a totalitarian state.
Anthem shows a thinker clashing with a society that has extirpated all individualistic concepts.
The Fountainhead depicts an innovator struggling against a pervasive second-handedness. Atlas Shrugged features the men of the mind on strike against an incipient collectivist dictatorship. This talk answers these questions. Although the ancient prohibitions on money-lending have been relaxed since the Middle Ages, they continue to affect public policy, and people's view of finance, even today. Dr. Brook discusses the historical and philosophical context for the condemnations of money-lending, and reveals the substantial consequences of those condemnations.