Candide Redux

Candide's tutor Pangloss teaches the doctrine of economic individualism. Every day he proves that the unfettered market provides the best possible allocation of resources....In Candide Redux, inspired by Voltaire 's seminal work Candide, the doctrine of the perfect market is held up to satire. Candide and his companions are thrown into a fast-moving and fantastical adventure, illustrating by comic example the themes of self-delusion and the contrast between ideology and experience.Candide journeys to South America and back via El Dorado and suffers many trials. But his love for Penelope, and his tutor Pangloss's faith in the market, are unshakeable. In this fantasy world, only the "invisible hand" of the market is ever-present - in the face of all evidence to the contrary.At a time when faith in the rational behaviour of economic markets has been severely shaken, Candide Redux offers afresh perspective on this issue of pressing international importance, told in an entertaining and populist style.