Galbraith's The Liberal Hour, with which I began this piece and from which I have wandered a good deal, is a far better book than Conscience of a Conservative and Coming Political Breakthrough. It is not a campaign document, nor even necessarily an election-year product, and thus does not suffer from the terrible solemnity of the other two works. The Liberal Hour is a brief, entertaining collection of lectures and writings on a fairly wide variety of subjects; only one section (containing four selections) touches directly on important political topics.

As many have said, Galbraith is--wonder of wonders--an economist who can write the English language; he is also, particularly in this collection, more a moralist than a technical economist. His moral point, expressed in many different contexts, is that something is wrong with our society when there are so many slums, so much unemployment, such shortages in educational facilities, housing, and other public goods--all in the face of unprecedented upper and middle class consumer prosperity.

In the course of this rather haphazard series of essays, Galbraith provides some comments relevant to Goldwater, Bowles and, in particular, the 1960 campaign. Since Galbraith comments have a way of standing on their own, it may be sufficient to merely quote a few that seem particularly apt:

"There is a dangerous tendency to imagine that faith in a free society means that it will accomplish everything that is needful without effort or direction. Or at most, incantation is all that is required."

"There is no assurance merely from expanding output per se that the benefit will accrue to those at the bottom of the pyramid who need the goods the most."

"Consumption, conspicuous and otherwise, has always had its greatest appeal to the consumer."

"Unemployment is rarely considered desirable or healthy except by those who have not experienced it."

"The American government works far better--perhaps it only works--when the Federal Executive and influential business and the respectable press are in some degree at odds. Only then can we be sure that abuse or neglect, either public or private, will be given the notoriety that is needed. In the time of Coolidge and Hoover, the Federal Executive, business and the press were united. These are the times in our democracy when all looks peaceful and much goes wrong."