"The Bet" by Paul Simon, Book Review

Hoff

Derek Hoff, a Professor at the University of Utah wrote a review of Paul Simon's, The Bet. In his review Hoff gave a brief overview of the actual wager that the book about. He states that although Julian Simon won the bet as the metals decreased in price, he would have lost 63% of the time between 1900 - 2008. He states that although the radical points presented by the environmentalists created some unwanted backlash, they did get some things done such as bills to clean up both water and air in America. Hoff goes on to say that Simon also had some far reaching predictions such as the prediction that the human race can reproduce exponentially without fear of exhausting resources. He states that Sabin is fair to a fault and ignores the fact that eventually even technological innovation won't be able to keep up with an ever expanding population.

My own view

The Bet by Paul Sabin was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Not only did it outline the environmental concerns of the time, it delved deeper into the inception of partisan politics and the feelings of America and Americans during the time of the bet. I agree with Hoff's assertion above that Sabin was fair to a fault however, I believe that his fairness cuts both ways. It's true that Sabin did not expose some of the outrageous comments from Simon but he also failed to expose the intensely despicable character of Ehrlich. Ehrlich openly favored a restrictive and authoritarian America which would put luxury taxes on necessities such as diapers and having sterilization as a pre- requisite for trade deals. All while calling people who had been innovators "idiots and morons" (one example would be Norman Borlaug the inventor of scientific farming). I believe the book was interesting and informative but also flawed.