The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates - Hardcover

Leeson, Peter T

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691137471 ISBN 13: 9780691137476

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Pack your cutlass and blunderbuss--it's time to go a-pirating! The Invisible Hook takes readers inside the wily world of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century pirates. With swashbuckling irreverence and devilish wit, Peter Leeson uncovers the hidden economics behind pirates' notorious, entertaining, and sometimes downright shocking behavior. Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen? And what made them so successful? The Invisible Hook uses economics to examine these and other infamous aspects of piracy. Leeson argues that the pirate customs we know and love resulted from pirates responding rationally to prevailing economic conditions in the pursuit of profits.

The Invisible Hook looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices. Pirates understood the advantages of constitutional democracy--a model they adopted more than fifty years before the United States did so. Pirates also initiated an early system of workers' compensation, regulated drinking and smoking, and in some cases practiced racial tolerance and equality. Leeson contends that pirates exemplified the virtues of vice--their self-seeking interests generated socially desirable effects and their greedy criminality secured social order. Pirates proved that anarchy could be organized.

Revealing the democratic and economic forces propelling history's most colorful criminals, The Invisible Hook establishes pirates' trailblazing relevance to the contemporary world.

About this title

Review:

One of San Francisco Chronicle's 100 Best Books for 2009
Winner of the 2009 Best International Nonfiction Book, Week

Winner of the 2009 Gold Medal Book of the Year Award in Business and Economics, ForeWord Reviews

"A brisk, clever new book, The Invisible Hook, by Peter T. Leeson, an economist who claims to have owned a pirate skull ring as a child and to have had supply-and-demand curves tattooed on his right biceps when he was seventeen, offers a different approach. Rather than directly challenging pirates' leftist credentials, Leeson says that their apparent espousal of liberty, equality, and fraternity derived not from idealism but from a desire for profit."--Caleb Crain, New Yorker

"[S]urprising and engaging . . . . [Leeson's] seminars must be wildly popular."--Stephen Sedley, London Review of Books

"Economist Leeson leads readers though a surprisingly entertaining crash course in economics in this study of high seas piracy at the turn of the 18th century. . . . Illustrated with salty tales of pirates both famous and infamous, the book rarely bogs down even when explaining intricate economic concepts, making it a great introduction to both pirate history and economic theory."--Publishers Weekly

"Mr. Leeson's book represents a serious attempt to use the tools of economics to make sense of the institutions of piracy. The book is another example of economic imperialism, the use of economics to make sense of real world phenomena that are outside the standard realm of economic science. It addresses an important force that did, and does, impact world trade. But as the skull and crossbones on its spine suggests, the book is also just fun. . . . [T]he book manages to be entertaining and informative. It is a fun read and provides parents with something to teach their children while looking for pirate treasure left long ago at the beach."--Edward Glaeser, Economix blog, NYTimes.com

"The Invisible Hook is an excellent book by one of the most creative young economists around."--Steven D. Levitt, Freakonomics blog

"Peter T. Leeson has done his part to dispel the pirate myths by using economic theory to explain pirate behavior and organization in his exemplary new book. . . . Mr. Leeson has produced a fresh perspective on an old topic. . . . The Invisible Hook is quick-paced but thought-provoking. Based on this work, the reader should look forward to more books by the author."--Claude Berube, Washington Times

"Piracy has not been Leeson's only obsession. The other has been economics. When he was 17 years old he had supply and demand curves tattooed on his right bicep . . . now the professor has brought his two enthusiasms together in a wonderful (and wonderfully titled) new book. The Invisible Hook is his study of the hidden economics of piracy."--Daniel Finkelstein, Times

"Jauntily characterising the typical pirate ship as akin to 'a Fortune 500 company', [Leeson] reorients pirates as precursors of Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics."--Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times

"One of the finest introductory courses in economics since Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. . . . The Invisible Hook is a good addition to the genre of popular economics: a fun and enlightening read, and rock solid in its scholarly bona fides."--Michael Shermer, Nature

From the Back Cover:

"A fresh and provocative take on the Golden Age pirates. Leeson writes with clarity and the depth of his research is impressive."--Colin Woodard, author of The Republic of Pirates

"Peter Leeson has brought the economists' toolkit to the Spanish Main. Piracy is not just a great topic for Walt Disney movies, but also an important economic phenomenon. Leeson's excellent book helps us to understand who pirates were, and why they chose their infamous occupation. He uses economics to make sense of walking-the-plank and the Jolly Roger. This is a fun book, but also a volume rich with insights and analysis."--Edward Glaeser, Harvard University

"Light of touch and truly eloquent, The Invisible Hook is a terrific read on a fascinating topic. This is a beautifully written book."--Geoffrey Brennan, Duke University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0691137471
• ISBN 13: 9780691137476
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296