Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged climbs up charts during recession

Russian-born American author and philosopher Ayn Rand Photo: HULTON

Sales of the 1957 philosophy novel, written by the late Ayn Rand, enjoyed a major resurgence over an 18-month period that coincided with pivotal economic moments.

Such is the modern-day fascination, according to The Economist, that the book's sales rank on Amazon climbed more than 500 places in the book charts over a two-year period, eclipsing such rival tomes as Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope.

The report said : "The first jump, in September 2007, followed dramatic interest-rate cuts by central banks, and the Bank of England's bail-out of Northern Rock.

"The October 2007 rise happened two days after the Bush Administration announced an initiative to coax banks to assist subprime borrowers.

"A year later, sales of the book rose after America's Treasury said that it would use a big chunk of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme to buy stakes in nine large banks."

The publication said that Mr Obama's stimulus plan gave the book another sales boost in January.

Ayn Rand, who died in 1982, is credited by many of her supporters with pioneering individual enterprise.

Known for her loathing of big government, she championed selfishness as a positive means of doing business, earning as many critics as she did advocates.

However her book, which sold six million copies, forecast what has been termed "economic Armageddon" - where industrialists and artists would abandon the workplace and go on strike.