oriented and Eurocentric. Each of the seven cheap things gets a chapter. Written in lively prose, these engaging chapters use well-chosen instances and striking data to illustrate their broader and sometimes tendentious points. The essay about cheap nature emphasizes the drive to strip forests, overwork the land, and pollute the atmosphere. Cheap money is about the priority given to profit. Cheap labor rests on systems that compel work and regiment workers. Cheap care is possible because society requires women to provide it without pay. Monoculture and unhealthful nurture underlie cheap food. The need for vast amounts of cheap energy creates pollution and harms the environment. Because human beings in every era resist these practices, laws and governments are required to enforce them and provide cheap lives. The work’s passion is one of its strengths, leading the authors to draw upon studies in a wide range of fields (the bibliography is one-sixth of a relatively short book and unusual in the large proportion of its citations to articles in less well-known and specialized journals). Consistently critical of the evils of capitalism, Patel and Moore’s elaborately contrived framework aspires toward becoming a theory while also being consistently provocative. Even readers not convinced by the interpretation set forth in it (probably most of them) will find a lot to reflect on, including how much of world history is omitted. The authors have little to say about the millennia before 1500 or histories of the worlds not shaped by European imperialism. They include none of the optimism that marks Steven Pinker’s widely acclaimed, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (New York, 2011). Depredations in the past seem instead to forecast an apocalyptic end in the nottoo-distant future. Nor do achievements in the arts or sciences matter much in this world history; it pays scant attention to philosophy or religion or to claims of progress in civic life, standards of living, or conceptions of human rights. Nevertheless, readers are likely to emerge from this book with a fresh outlook on, and deeper interest in, the history of the world, as well as with a firmer idea of how to vote in the next election.

中文翻译：

---

道德经济学家：RH Tawney，Karl Polanyi，EP Thompson和资本主义批判

面向欧洲。七种便宜的东西每章都有一个章节。这些引人入胜的章节以生动活泼的散文撰写，使用精选的实例和惊人的数据来说明它们的广泛性，有时甚至是倾向性的观点。关于廉价自然的文章强调了砍伐森林，使土地过度劳作和污染大气的动力。便宜的钱是关于获利的优先考虑。廉价劳动力依赖于强迫工作和团工的系统。廉价护理是可能的，因为社会要求妇女无偿提供护理。单一文化和不健康的营养是廉价食物的基础。对大量廉价能源的需求造成了污染并损害了环境。由于每个时代的人类都抵制这些习俗，因此法律和政府必须执行这些习俗并提供廉价生活。作品的热情是它的强项之一，导致作者在广泛的领域中进行研究（参考书目是一本相对较短的书的六分之一，并且在大部分被引用的文章中，文献引用不那么知名）和专业期刊）。帕特尔（Patel）和摩尔（Moore）一贯批评资本主义的弊端，其精心设计的框架渴望成为一种理论，同时也始终具有挑衅性。即使读者不满意其中的解释（可能是大多数人），也会发现很多值得反思的地方，包括省略了多少世界历史。作者们对于1500年以前的千年历史或不受欧洲帝国主义影响的世界历史几乎无话可说。这些都不代表史蒂文·平克（Steven Pinker）广受赞誉的乐观情绪，我们本性中更好的天使：暴力为何下降（纽约，2011年）。相反，过去的掠夺似乎预示着不久的将来世界末日的到来。在这个世界历史上，艺术或科学方面的成就也不重要。它很少关注哲学或宗教，也不关注公民生活，生活水平或人权观念方面的进步。尽管如此，本书的读者可能会对世界的历史有新的见解和更深刻的兴趣，并对下届选举如何投票有更坚定的认识。它很少关注哲学或宗教，也不关注公民生活，生活水平或人权观念方面的进步。尽管如此，本书的读者可能会对世界的历史有新的见解和更深刻的兴趣，并对下届选举如何投票有更坚定的认识。它很少关注哲学或宗教，也不关注公民生活，生活水平或人权观念方面的进步。尽管如此，本书的读者可能会对世界的历史有新的见解和更深刻的兴趣，并对下届选举如何投票有更坚定的认识。