The Perils of Polyglottism

Reviews the book, How Many Languages Do We Need? The Economics of Linguistic Diversity by Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber (see record 2011-08672-000). Ludwig Zamenhof, the polyglot creator of Esperanto, evidently believed that strong cultural and linguistic identities, what we would call nationalism, were a source of both personal and social unhappiness. Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber, authors of How Many Languages Do We Need? The Economics of Linguistic Diversity, argue that the corollaries to such identities are multiple languages and cultures interacting in the global economy, to the economic detriment of all. The evidence supports their claim. Although this book focuses on economic outcomes, Ginsburgh and Weber do take economic theory to a personal level in the discussion of the costs of learning a second (or third) language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)