Lou Dobbs could learn something from Herman Melville

I am currently reading Moby Dick - it is another part of the quest to either re-read those things that interested me earlier or to read those books I should have read earlier. It is a great book. Like The Wealth of Nations it tells you a lot about things that you may not have known before - as noted TWON explains sheep tallow and MD does the same for whaling. There are chapters on painting whales and how the boats are arranged and the line that is used in whaling. But one of the most interesting is a chapter on the industry of whaling. Melville exhibits a well developed understanding of the importance of the division of labor. He explains that certain parts of the whaling industry are best done by certain types of people. He is quite understanding that Americans can do best by organizing the entrepreneurial parts of the voyage and leaving the other skills to those who do them.

Unlike Dobbs, the CNN commentator who seems to want us to go back to a more primitive time, Melville understands that the most important economic tasks are those that organize others. Dobbs has a pathetic disregard for the values of the division of labor and rails against any effort by Americans to hold on to high value added jobs while exporting ones that once were important. Two weeks ago Russ Roberts of EconTalk did a wonderful podcast with Don Boudreaux, of Cafe Hayek about the silly arguments that people make in regard to buying local. Boudreaux reduces the Dobbsian logic to this - if it is good to only buy American then it is even better to only buy products from your own household. Like Bastiat, Boudreaux makes a good point by focusing on the inherent flaw in the logic and then making fun of it. The podcast can be found at Econtalk if you have not listened to these shows, they are well worth getting. Roberts is a skilled interviewer and he covers a wide range of economically related topics.

I will probably do another post on Moby Dick when I finish the book. Melville is almost lyrical in his writing style. At the same time he creates a very good story.