Books in Brief: Land of Opportunity

Land of Opportunity: The Entrepreneurial Spirit in America, by Donald Lam-bro (Little, Brown, 176 pp., $17.95)

Popular history has it that the 1980s have been the decade of the entrepreneur, a wily creature said to be responsible for the decline of the Rustbelt and the rise of the Sunbelt. An entire rhetoric has grown up around the term “entrepreneur.” Ask almost anyone for a rough description of this seemingly ubiquitous beast, and a generic answer will be provided: tired of working for someone else, has an idea for a new product for which there is as yet no demand, is a maverick, and, of course, starts the new enterprise in his or her basement or garage. All live happily ever after. Syndicated columnist Donald Lambro contributes to this rhetoric with Land of Opportunity. The book is chock-full of the requisite success stories, from Steven Jobs (Apple Computer) to Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), as well as such gushy lines as these vintage samples of the entrepreneurial rhetoric: “They are America’s idea makers and risk takers. They dream great dreams and make them come true. They create something out of nothing. . . . They are authentic American heroes.” Lambro oddly combines this hero-worship with some solid economic reportage (the book’s most useful feature) making a case for deregulation, and he wraps it up with a free-market wish list, which includes repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, a youth sub-minimum wage, elimination of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and (of course) the creation of enterprise zones. It seems as if the author was unable to decide whether to write a book about entrepreneurship (as it is billed) or one that makes a strong populist case for deregulation. What is left is a handbook of entrepreneurial rhetoric, which, with its detailed index, should be on the shelf of every cheerleading speechwriter for GOP candidates and the Reagan Administration. T. HARVEY HOLT

TH

About the Author

T. Harvey Holt

Featured Tags

Land of Opportunity: The Entrepreneurial Spirit in America, by Donald Lam-bro (Little, Brown, 176 pp., $17.95)

Popular history has it that the 1980s have been the decade of the entrepreneur, a wily creature said to be responsible for the decline of the Rustbelt and the rise of the Sunbelt. An entire rhetoric has grown up around the term “entrepreneur.” Ask almost anyone for a rough description of this seemingly ubiquitous beast, and a generic answer will be provided: tired of working for someone else, has an idea for a new product for which there is as yet no demand, is a maverick, and, of course, starts the new enterprise in his or her basement or garage. All live happily ever after. Syndicated columnist Donald Lambro contributes to this rhetoric with Land of Opportunity. The book is chock-full of the requisite success stories, from Steven Jobs (Apple Computer) to Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields Cookies), as well as such gushy lines as these vintage samples of the entrepreneurial rhetoric: “They are America’s idea makers and risk takers. They dream great dreams and make them come true. They create something out of nothing. . . . They are authentic American heroes.” Lambro oddly combines this hero-worship with some solid economic reportage (the book’s most useful feature) making a case for deregulation, and he wraps it up with a free-market wish list, which includes repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, a youth sub-minimum wage, elimination of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and (of course) the creation of enterprise zones. It seems as if the author was unable to decide whether to write a book about entrepreneurship (as it is billed) or one that makes a strong populist case for deregulation. What is left is a handbook of entrepreneurial rhetoric, which, with its detailed index, should be on the shelf of every cheerleading speechwriter for GOP candidates and the Reagan Administration. T. HARVEY HOLT