2003 August Newsletter

THE GLOBAL REACH OF ECONOMICS EDUCATION

By Ken Schoolland, August 3, 2003

Small Business Hawaii and the International Society for Individual Liberty have had more global success with their projects to promote economics education through The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey.

The Bulgarian edition of JG was serialized in Sedem Weekly, accompanied by economist commentaries. It drew such a great response from readers that the newspaper's circulation soared to second highest in the nation. The Bulgarian edition of the book will be published in September.

The Kiswahili edition of JG has gone to press and will be available by the end of the summer. This project is the work of Shikuku James Shikwati, President of the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) in Nairobi. Kiswahili is the primary local language in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

International Policy Network (IPN) has agreed to fund the Urdu edition of JG, which will be published by Khalil Ahmad, President of FreePakistan in Lahore. The translation will also appear in electronic form on the JG website: http://jonathangullible.com/languages.htm

Henry Weyerhauser has informed me that his relatives in Iran completed the Farsi translation of JG and presented this to the censors of the ruling Mullahs. Henry tells me that the censors have just approved the translation and it will soon be going to press. As throughout history, humor and satire have unlocked the gates of censors. Once these editions are complete, this would bring JG to 30 language editions.

This summer I attended the fifth annual Liberty English Camp, in which 50 students learned English and free market economics at summer camp in Lithuania. Following this example, the first of such language programs was begun at a camp in the Himalayan foothills of India. Barun Mitra, President of the Liberal Institute in New Delhi, said they expected 60 students and got 120! Both programs utilize JG in classes of the more advanced students.

A draft of the UK Commentary edition has been completed for publication by Janette Eldrige of South Africa. This edition, due out in December at twice the size of the current edition, is expected to be distributed in all of the Commonwealth nations. Her next targets are Afrikaans, Xhasa, and Zulu respectively.

The Free Market Institute of Lithuania hosted the world ISIL conference this summer in Vilnius. Through these organizations I conferred with Atilla Yayla, President of Liberal Dusunce Toplulugu, a free market institute in Ankara, Turkey. He has decided to place the Turkish edition of JG on their publishing agenda. I have also received similar offers from Dimitris Malamoulis for a Greek edition and Olexia Basarab for a Ukrainian edition.

Previous editions of JG have also seen a revival. Dr. Barbara Lambrechter of the v. Hayek Institut in Vienna has proposed to produce a new German edition. Others have begun the process toward publishing new, revised editions of the Chinese and Russian editions. An economics consultant in Beijing, Dean Peng, has a considerable track record in translating works of the free market Austrian economists. He has begun translating JG and Jerome Ma of the Century Publishing Group of Shanghai and Horizon Media Co. Ltd. has expressed a strong interest in publishing it.

A localized translation of JG has been prepared for publication by Agwu Amogu and Thompson Ayodele of the Institute of Public Policy Analysis in Lagos. They are seeking sponsorship for publication, but the current economic situation in Nigeria is too desperate to accommodate this at the moment.

For more information, please see the JG website: http://jonathangullible.com/