Benn, Sir Ernest

Benn, Sir Ernest. Confessions of a Capitalist. London: Hutchinson. 1925. 287 pp.

"A telling defense of individual initiative." - London Financial News. "A book which is unique in economic literature. Sir Ernest's pen is as vivid as his mind is fearless and independent. ... He tells us the most intimate details of his business. ... The whole is accompanied by a running line of argument on the fundamental problems of economics, which is set out so skillfully as to be as entertaining and arresting as the autobiographical details." - Lionel Robbins.

The Return to Laisser Faire. London: Ernest Benn. 1928. 221 pp.

An Argument against the extension of governmental activity and interference in England and a plea for a return to individualism. Public aid to housing and the growing burden of bureaucracy are special targets. Even reviewers hostile to the author's thesis paid tribute to "the entertaining style, the caustic wit, the arresting illustration."

The State the Enemy. London: Ernest Benn. 1953. 175 pp.

The author reviews the British experiment in state intervention and socialism all the way from Lloyd George, who inherited a budget of L100 million, to Attlee, who left it at L4,000 million, and sums up the record of failure: "Nationalization has not brought the expected smile to the face of the worker, full employment has not encouraged production, the management of money has not improved its quality; in fact, all the anticipations of the original Fabian Essays, the bases of modern Socialism, have proved disappointing, if not entirely fallacious." The style is lively, witty and aphoristic.