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Joe the Plumber and his favorite books
Joe reads economics:
The Theory of Money and Credit (Ludwig von Mises): "It brought monetary theory into the mainstream of economic analysis. It is important reading for these troubled times."
My theory is that someone in Ron Paul's camp told him to say that. Here is the full list of his favorite books. Here is my source. Here is an on-line version of TOMAC. Scrolling through it a bit, it is more readable than my recollection and it remains one of the better 20th century books on monetary theory.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 3, 2008 at 07:31 AM in Books | Permalink
Comments
I think it's pretty obvious now, Mr. "Plumber" is not quite who he was portrayed to be during the campaign.
Posted by: Tom at Dec 3, 2008 7:37:49 AM
His list might make for some good bathroom reading, if not coffee table tomes and stocking stuffers.
The best part about Joe the Plumber is that this doesn't appear to seem ridiculous to him at all. It's perfectly natural that we should seek the wisdom of the plumber. Good plumbing has after all saved more lives than have doctors.
However, I don't think you must leave the house much, except to fly to weird places if you don't think a plumber might pick up on Ron Paul without some shady insider pushing him into it.
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 3, 2008 7:44:52 AM
Wow, is this like super-irony, where we're all pretending not to know that the linked-to post was satire? I get this feeling like I'm supposed to think that's funny, but at the same time I don't get it.
Posted by: Guest at Dec 3, 2008 7:58:11 AM
Tom at Dec 3, 2008 7:37:49 AM,
What an elitist remark! So, what, plumbers aren't allowed to read serious books now? People who work with their hands can't be intellectuals after 6pm? Lofty theoretical matters--and hardcore economics--are only the proper province of the blessed few who have been properly certified by our glorious institutions of higher learning? (I, too, saw Animal House.)
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Posted by: ck at Dec 3, 2008 8:02:50 AM
Over at "your source" there is a whole lot of tortured logic going on for people to prove to themselves that it's impossible that a plumber, who asked a guy a question, might know a book they don't like.
For example:
"If he had named a Friedman book, maybe even a Hayek book, I’d possibly believe he chose the books himself, but Mises?"
Well, I don't know the names of any Friedman books, I know he wrote the one with the lady about the depression, and Hayek I can name "The Road to Serfdom." But, I can name several Schumpeter and a handful of Mises. I wonder if that makes me a Ron Paul insider or does it make me a wannabe plumber? Please tell me who I am!
The point is, Joe, not being in the elite crowd doesn't know it's not cool to like Mises. Do people not get that the whole elitism thing is the point of Joe the Plumber?
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 3, 2008 8:05:46 AM
I want to thank Tyler for bringing to the world of Economic blogs the scarcest resource: understated humor. For some reason, he has the funniest comments when he mentions Austrian Economics.
In any event, Joe seems to be a "plumber's plumber". I imagine him discussing with a potential client about the design of wooden toilet seats in pre-revolutionary France. Or maybe he's just angling for a post in the Obama administration, maybe a newly minted "Secretary of personal infrastructures".
Posted by: gappy at Dec 3, 2008 8:12:48 AM
And Joe is already familiar with the number one rule of political orgs, the $#@!+ only runs down hill.
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 3, 2008 8:30:19 AM
It's a joke. Almost all the books are about plumbing. Would you expect a mail carrier to have all his favorite books about the the history of the postal service. And his favorite electronic pop be the postal service. Because he really likes the postal service. Because he's a mailman.
Lot's of people seem to be treating it like it's not a joke. Is all I'm saying.
Posted by: Michael Foody at Dec 3, 2008 8:54:09 AM
Tyler, I'm still waiting for your comments on the other three books that Joe has recommended. Are you going to include them in the reading list of your next course on the liquidity trap?
Posted by: E. Barandiaran at Dec 3, 2008 9:18:27 AM
I understand why people freaked out over Sarah Palin; after all she was angling to get a position of potentially incredible power, and she did not provide reassurance that she was eminently qualified for the task.
But give me a break. Some guy asks a question of a candidate about his taxes going up, and then he gets fully investigated by the government? And ostensible liberals, who care about free speech and Big Brother, are continuing to mock this guy?
Yeah yeah, I agree that if the recommendation of TOMC was supposed to be true, that it's unlikely he read and absorbed it. (But not impossible; plenty of average Joes read tough Mises books, largely because of the efforts of a certain institute in Auburn, AL.) But it really surprises me that the take-away message many liberals have over Joe the Plumber is, "Right-wing tool" as opposed to, "Holy cow look what even our beloved Democrats will do to stamp out opposition and gain power. Man the government is ruthless."
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Dec 3, 2008 9:25:13 AM
Look at that, four books on liquidity of some kind *rim shot*
Posted by: David Peterson at Dec 3, 2008 9:38:56 AM
But it really surprises me that the take-away message many liberals have over Joe the Plumber is, "Right-wing tool" as opposed to, "Holy cow look what even our beloved Democrats will do to stamp out opposition and gain power. Man the government is ruthless."
Or that everyone should go to college and get an education....
But Joe does represent the grand American tradition of trying to make a buck off his celebrity. Note his forthcoming book and forthcoming subscription-only blog, etc.
I love America!
Posted by: at Dec 3, 2008 9:42:24 AM
Even plumbers can read, guys. It is frightening the way people have mocked this guy who actually just was a guy in a crowd who asked our now-president-elect a question.
But, the most surprising part of this post is that Tyler gave Mises real praise!!
Posted by: liberty at Dec 3, 2008 9:44:02 AM
Come again why the real story isn't that we have a president-elect who:
(A) wants to "spread the wealth"
(B) While being one of the most polished and guarded politicians ever doesn't find it at least uncomfortable to utter the words "spread the wealth" in public
(C) oh, and the guy who got him to say it was a plumber
It is utterly shocking to people that a plumber might stumble on an economics book, one that is not approved of by the establishment no less. But a president that openly embraces redistribution for the sake of redistribution, well, that's as quaint as a president that openly calls The Constitution a "G-D piece of paper."
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 3, 2008 9:56:39 AM
Its not the government that's trying to stamp out Joe the Plumber, its their handmaidens in the MSM and
popular culture. They exhibit their intellect with herd behavior, their individuality by rigid conformity
and their open-mindedness with this bolshevism. When hypocrisy becomes a constrant trait, one should view
the hypocrite as schizoid. For those have note the left is bolshevist-Check out Jonah Goldberg's latest
book.
Posted by: Superheater at Dec 3, 2008 9:58:31 AM
That list came from the American Spectator's roundup of recommended books for Christmas. After reading it I thought it might be a goof. Ask Bob Tyrrell.
Posted by: Rich Berger at Dec 3, 2008 10:00:28 AM
"I understand why people freaked out over Sarah Palin; after all she was angling to get a position of
potentially incredible power, and she did not provide reassurance that she was eminently qualified
for the task."
I have yet to hear why BHO is "more qualified" to be president than SP, after all she knows there's
FIFTY states.
Posted by: Phil at Dec 3, 2008 10:01:37 AM
I'm not surprised that most people don't realize it's a joke considering it isn't in any way funny.
Posted by: josh at Dec 3, 2008 10:06:24 AM
is he really going to write a book? i am ready for his 15 minutes to be up already. i always liked joe 6 pack better anyway.
Posted by: pants at Dec 3, 2008 10:06:33 AM
I think his plumbing book selectins would be way over my head. I stick with the ones in the Home Depot checkout aisle.
Posted by: Andrew at Dec 3, 2008 10:29:29 AM
I just can't imagine how Americans can allow this FOOL to get so much attention as they do. Americans must be bored with their lives.
Posted by: Bill Spickerman at Dec 3, 2008 10:33:37 AM
"Some guy asks a question of a candidate about his taxes going up, and then he gets fully investigated by the government? And ostensible liberals, who care about free speech and Big Brother, are continuing to mock this guy?"
Do you really think he has become an object of attention and mockery simply because he asked a question? Come on. He was prominently featured in an important debate and then actually went on the campaign trail with McCain! That takes him well out of the realm of just being some guy who asked a question. And the blame for this change obviously falls on the McCain campaign, not Obama.
Posted by: wugong at Dec 3, 2008 10:46:45 AM
Phil,
I didn't say BHO was more qualified. I just said that I understand why people flipped out over Sarah Palin. But Joe the Plumber wasn't running for office. As far as I know, he was standing outside when a candidate walked up and so he asked a reasonable question. And now a ton of people are biting his head off and questioning whether he paid his taxes or is really a plumber or is really named Joe or really would see his taxes go up and maybe is a "FOOL" (all caps mind you).
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Dec 3, 2008 11:10:33 AM
Do you really think he has become an object of attention and mockery simply because he asked a question? Come on. He was prominently featured in an important debate and then actually went on the campaign trail with McCain! That takes him well out of the realm of just being some guy who asked a question. And the blame for this change obviously falls on the McCain campaign, not Obama.
Well, okay, you only get destroyed by the organized Left if your question threatens their ascension to power. As long as you ask questions that don't threaten them, you don't get investigated by the government.
Of course the McCain camp was exploiting him for their purposes. So the proper response would be to rip the McCain camp, not to try to dig up as much dirt as possible on Joe the Plumber so that when someone says, "Obama openly called for wealth redistribution!" you can say, "Did you know his real name isn't Joe, and he isn't union certified!!"
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Dec 3, 2008 11:14:37 AM
wugong:
Just to clarify, I am saying that according to my recollection, the Left went on Destroy Joe mode the moment Sean Hannity et al. started playing the Obama clip. So I agree that Joe since then has tried to milk this, but I think the campaign to destroy him was well underway before he did more than just ask his question.
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Dec 3, 2008 11:19:05 AM
