Preface to the English-Language Edition

by Arthur Goddard

In his preface, included here in translation, to the original Mexican edition of this book, Sr. Lic. Gustavo R. Velasco, himself a distinguished scholar in both law and economics, as well as an accomplished linguist, points out that elementary introductions to economic science comparable in clarity, authoritativeness, and simplicity to Sr. Ballvé’s work are exceedingly rare, not only in Spanish, but also in other languages. And, indeed, within a year of its publication, a French translation by M. Raoul Audoin made its appearance to fill the need of readers of that language in Continental Europe, where the book soon received the acclaim it deserved.

Certainly the same need exists in English and has existed for some time. There are, to be sure, a number of excellent treatises on economics, some of them rather voluminous, which expound the subject with an exhaustiveness that should satisfy the most demanding student. But when one looks for simpler and briefer presentations, designed, not for specialists, but for the average educated person who seeks enlightenment in regard to the economic questions underlying the great issues of our day, there is little to be found that is altogether satisfactory. No doubt those who have taken the pains to acquire a thorough knowledge of economics may say that there really is no substitute for the consummate understanding that only the study of the works of the masters in this field can provide; anything else is necessarily superficial at best and is likely to be open to sophisticated criticism. This much may be granted. But the gap between the erudition of the scholars—a relatively small group, whose primary influence is in the classroom and the lecture hall—and the ignorance, not to say prejudices, of even otherwise well-educated men and women who have not specialized in economic science, has not been left a vacuum. There is no dearth of pamphlets and popular books in which inveterate errors and fallacies long since refuted continue to be given currency. As for the textbooks used in the secondary schools and the colleges, besides being often dull and pedantic, they fail, in many instances, to reflect the present state of economic science, deal with much that is strictly irrelevant to it, and are, in any case, unsuited to the requirements of the citizen who wishes to inform himself accurately concerning the essentials of that subject so that he may have a well-founded, rationally defensible opinion concerning the consequences to be expected from the various proposed policies open to his choice in his capacity as a voter in a democracy.

It was chiefly for this type of reader that the “ten lessons in economics” here presented were intended. The peculiar merit of this book is its combination of brevity, readability, and accuracy. Here the reader will find, within the compass of a few short chapters, a synoptic survey of the essential principles of economics and an application of them in the critique of popular doctrines and policies, the whole illustrated with apt historical references and supported by solid learning. This unusual blend of pedagogic skill and sound scholarship gives the work its unique character and makes it ideally suited to fill a need that has, up to now, been left, for the most part, unsatisfied. Its translation into English will have been justified if it helps to clear up some of the grave misunderstanding and confusion that infect much of the popular discussion of economic questions and to correct the faulty opinions that currently constitute the main obstacle to the diffusion of prosperity and well-being.

The English version is based, for the most part, on the original Spanish-language edition, but it takes account also of some of the substantive changes that, as we learn from M. Pierre Lhoste-Lachaume’s preface to the French translation, were introduced into the text of the latter at his suggestion. To be sure, not all the additions, deletions, emendations, and rearrangements made in the French version have been incorporated into the English text, for in some cases they appear to have been made—as the editor frankly admitted—chiefly in the interest of adapting the book to the concerns of the French public or of bringing certain points into sharper relief in the light of contemporary European conditions. However, in view of Sr. Ballvé’s express statement, in the foreword he wrote for the French translation, of his approval of the revised text, the latter has been followed here wherever it seemed to represent an improvement, in vigor and consistency of expression, over the Spanish original.

At the same time, an effort has been made to assist the reader by the citation, wherever possible, of the original text and title of books quoted or referred to by the author in their Spanish translations. In this connection, indebtedness is gratefully acknowledged to the courtesy of George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., for permission to quote from William Arthur Lewis’ The Principles of Economic Planning, 1949.

Arthur Goddard