Hoodwinking the Nation

by Julian Simon

Overview

Most people in the United States believe that our environment is getting dirtier, we are running out of natural resources, and population growth is a burden and a threat. These beliefs according to Simon, are entirely wrong. Why do the media report so much false bad news about these? And why do we believe it? Those are the questions distinguished scholar, Julian Simon set out to answer in this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560004349
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	07/31/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	154
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1: What Do Americans Wrongly Believe about Environment, Resources, and Population?; 2: The Vanishing Farmland Scam; 3: The Concepts That Lead to Scares about Resources and Population Growth; 4: Why Does the Public Not Hear Sound Environmental Thinkers?; 5: Why Are So Many Biologists Alarmed?; 6: The Old-Time Journalistic Methods Don't Work Here; 7: Damn Lies, Statistics, and Doomsday; 8: Personal Knowledge versus Media-Shaped Opinions; 9: How Psychology Affects the Evaluation of Trends; 10: Why Do We Hear Prophecies of Doom from Every Side?; Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

The late (1932-98) Simon (business administration, U. of Maryland) scoffs at all the nonsense about the environmental degradation, natural resource depletion, and population growth. He compares facts with people's perceptions, then explains how and why scientists, politicians, and reporters create disaster and panic out of thin air and why people fall for it. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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