Kirkus Reviews QR Code
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY by Donald Lambro

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

By

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1986
Publisher: Little, Brown

A simplistic paean to free enterprise and supply-side economics whose principal virtue is its brevity. Poaching on preserves long since staked out by Robert Ringer, Columnist Lambro (Washington: City of Scandals; Fat City) gushes on about the socioeconomic rewards of entrepreneurship and bemoans the horrific risks of government intervention. He offers a baleful view of federal regulatory authorities, taxation of almost any sort, and a Congress that stubbornly rejects wise legislative initiatives from the executive branch, e.g., a proposal to establish so-called enterprise zones in 75 depressed urban areas. There is much to be said for the conservative agenda in general and market systems and laissez-faire's incentives in particular, Lambro, though, persists in treating the currently buoyant domestic economy as some sort of personal triumph; in support of his accentuate-the-positive position, the author offers dozens of success stories, many of which predate Ronald Reagan's White House tenancy. There's also some sketchy material that suggests women and members of minority groups are faring just fine in the brave new marketplace. Complexity is not part of Lambro's program, which studiously avoids any mention of either budget or trade deficits, let alone the homeless. In addition, the text incorporates factual errors that will make thoughtful readers think twice about what passes for analysis. To illustrate, long-term Penn Central investors may be amazed to find their company on a short list of those ""saved from failure by government intervention."" Irksome, pontifical piffle for true believers.