Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economistas Travelogue

Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist's Travelogue is the memoir of economics professor Michael D. Yates, who set off together on a journey across America. As they traveled, they observed sights and human efforts ranging from a program meant to reverse the privatization of national parks and forests to the political economy of California agriculture which relies heavily on migrant workers to pick food, to a savvy look at the job market in Portland. Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate is not a motel or eatery guide for vacationers per se, but rather an assembly of insights sure to intrigue and captivate armchair travelers. A highly enjoyable read from cover to cover.

This book is about how people SHOULD be able to make a decent and honest living from their work in this country, and how much harder that is becoming for the average person - but for some reason this apparently goes right over the heads of some readers. The comments about the supposed irony in the author making money from writing a book about economic realities in America totally miss the point. It's a great book and I'm glad he wrote it and glad he's making some money from it - I doubt he's getting rich from it though. Do people not think he should get paid for his labor and his talent and his insight in writing the book? Do they think someone else should profit from his labor more than he should? Now that would be business as usual in America, and that is exactly what the book is NOT advocating.

This book is thought-provoking as well as an easy read. It deals with serious issues like race, class and labor in an interesting, readable way. Although it is very educational, it was the perfect book for me to read poolside on vacation. Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate provides an in-depth look at many popular travel destinations that will make you think twice about what goes on behind the scenes the next time you visit a National Park or stay in a hotel.

The author's look at leisure travel through the lens of the economist is a refreshing change from travelogues that tell you to go-to-this-beach or visit-this-restaurant. The picture of material excess in Miami Beach and the despoiling of nature for profit is revealing of our profit-driven world. Having graduated from the same high school as the author, I can attest to the accuracy of his portrayal of his home town. I do find some irony in the book sale profits the author makes in an economic system he castigates. Over-all, though, an educational and enjoyable drive through the topography of our society: the beautiful, the bad and the ugly.

Not your regular travel guide. Not only does it include beautiful descriptions of the many places Michael Yates and his wife visited throughout the United States - particularly out West - but this one delves into how the economy has affected the lives of the regular, every-day people Michael Yates and his wife encountered along the way. They include the sometimes "invisible" people - cleaners, clerks, etc. - who work to make visitors more comfortable during their stays at the various state parks and other tourist attractions. This book held my interest from beginning to end.