So as to allay suspense, the answer to “how many languages do we need?” is four (181), or perhaps six (186), if you are talking about how many core official languages the European Union really needs. That is indeed the topic of most of the second half of the book, where the authors repeatedly demonstrate the economic consequences and political context of the current policy of 23 official languages. For that alone, we should take note. And for that alone, those of us in linguistics and things similarly cultural are likely to take a lot of umbrage right off the bat: How dare these economists restrict our languages! They know nothing about the extreme cultural importance of language! They know nothing about what people want! They know nothing about democracy! And of course they overlook the importance of translation, as big disciplines always do!

References

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2014 Frequently Asked Questions about DG Translation. Accessed January 21, 2015. http://​goo​.gl​/LyutP.

Conti, Virginie, and François Grin

eds. 2008 S’entendre entre langues voisines: vers l’intercompréhension. Geneva: Georg.

Hobsbawm, Eric

1990 Nations and Nationalism since 1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Office of Multicultural Interests

2008 The Western Australian Language Services Policy 2008. Perth: Office of Multicultural Interests. Accessed October 2011. http://​goo​.gl​/Q5nFW9.

Pym, Anthony, and Grzegorz Chrupala

2004 “The Quantitative Analysis of Translation Flows in the Age of an International Language.” In Less Translated Languages, ed. by Albert Branchadell and Lovell Margaret West, 27–38. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.