The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates »

Peter T. Leeson is the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism in the Department of Economics at George Mason University.

"A fresh and provocative take on the Golden Age pirates. Leeson writes with clarity and the depth of his research is impressive."--Colin Woodard, author of The Republic of Pirates

"Peter Leeson has brought the economists' toolkit to the Spanish Main. Piracy is not just a great topic for Walt Disney movies, but also an important economic phenomenon. Leeson's excellent book helps us to understand who pirates were, and why they chose their infamous occupation. He uses economics to make sense of walking-the-plank and the Jolly Roger. This is a fun book, but also a volume rich with insights and analysis."--Edward Glaeser, Harvard University

"Light of touch and truly eloquent, The Invisible Hook is a terrific read on a fascinating topic. This is a beautifully written book."--Geoffrey Brennan, Duke University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The Barnes & Noble Review

The world is in the middle (if we're lucky) of the most catastrophic destruction of private and public wealth in the history of free markets. Not the best time, you might have thought, to publish a book that discovers wondrous analogies between classic capitalist laissez-faire and the bloody practices of 18th-century pirates -- and dips the Jolly Roger in salute.

But the people at Princeton University Press know something that disconsolate losers of the Great Recession too quickly forget. The economic libertarianism that brought us this debacle is at the heart of the American Dream. Times will be tough, but no one in Washington is going to shackle our freedom to enrich ourselves, any more than Disney will dump the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Why shackle imagination, enterprise, risk taking? Think of the sequel.

List of Illustrations xi Preface and Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1: The Invisible Hook 1
Chapter 2: Vote for Blackbeard
The Economics of Pirate Democracy 23
Chapter 3: An-arrgh-chy
The Economics of the Pirate Code 45
Chapter 4: Skull & Bones
The Economics of the Jolly Roger 82
Chapter 5: Walk the Plank
The Economics of Pirate Torture 107
Chapter 6: Pressing Pegleg
The Economics of Pirate Conscription 134
Chapter 7: Equal Pay for Equal Prey
The Economics of Pirate Tolerance 156
Chapter 8: The Secrets of Pirate Management 176
Epilogue: Omnipresent Economics 194
Postscript: You Can't Keep a Sea Dog Down The Fall and Rise of Piracy 197
Where This Book Found Its Buried Treasure A Note on Sources 207
Notes 213
Index 2