Recently Mentioned Books

2. Frédéric Dard, The Executioner Weeps .  French noir, full of cheap tricks, suspenseful, fun.

1. Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel, The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve .  I’ve only been reading the title of this one, as it came in the door just before I left for China.  But I like it already, and even if this book were nothing more than its title it still would be better than much of what is written on monetary policy.

The author is James Broughel and the subtitle is Applying Economic Theory to Public Policy .  I am biased, as James was my doctoral student and this is an adaptation of his thesis, but I think this is a great work and also well-written and fun to read.  It’s the single best piece written on how to think about how regulation impacts economic growth — in particular once-and-for-all effects vs. growth rate changes — and that is one of the most neglected economic policy questions today.

The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World

I am of course excited about this, as his 1491 and 1493 are two of my favorite books:

I am of course excited about this, as his 1491 and 1493 are two of my favorite books:

It was a forty-minute chat (podcast, no transcript), most of all about the decline of liberalism, based around Ed’s new and very well-received book The Retreat of Western Liberalism .  We also covered what a future liberalism will look like, to what extent current populism is an Anglo-American phenomenon, Modi’s India, whether Kubrick, Hitchcock, and John Lennon are overrated or underrated, and what it is like to be a speechwriter for Larry Summers, among other topics.  Here is the opening bit:

Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective , edited by Iljoong Kim, Hojun Lee, and Ilya Somin

Guy Standing, Basic Income: A Guide for the Open-Minded

Barak D. Richman, Stateless Commerce: The Diamond Network and the Persistence of Relational Exchange

George Selgin, Money Free and Unfree

The author is Lenora Chu and the subtitle is An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve .  It’s about what the Shanghai public school system really is like, from an American/Chinese-American point of view.  Here is one bit:

5. Enrique Vila-Matas, Bartleby y compañia .  I tried this a few years ago in English, but it clicked for me only in Spanish.  It is a series of short, interconnected philosophical meditations on those who don’t write, have given up writing, or who cannot help but write.  One of the better novels of the new century, though note it does require some basic background knowledge of figures such as Robert Walser, Robert Musil, Arthur Rimbaud, Marcel Duchamp, Herman Melville, and J. D. Salinger.

4. Peter H. Wilson, Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire .  As clear and understandable a treatment of this topic as you are likely to find, Wilson himself writes: “A major reason for the Empire’s relative scholarly neglect is that its history is so difficult to tell.  The Empire lacked the things giving shape to conventional national history: a stable heartland, a capital city, centralized political institutions and, perhaps most fundamentally, a single ‘nation.’  It was also ver...

3. Ken Gormley, editor, The Presidents and the Constitution .  An edited volume that is wonderful and deserving of the “best of the year” list.  The book considers how each American president in turn faced constitutional issues, and how those were resolved.  This is an excellent survey of constitutional law, and a very good refresher on American political history.  If you are a non-American, and looking to learn who all those lesser-known American presidents were, and what they did, and why and ...

2. Jon McGregor, Reservoir 13 .  This novel builds too slowly to fit my reading style in a somewhat busy time of year, but I suspect it would be wonderful read aloud in a monotone, or as an audio book.  A young girl disappears in England, and the story records how the town processes the event, and eventually forgets about it, over the course of 13 years.  Here is one good review , it is a quality work of some originality.

1. Sean McMeekin, The Russian Revolution: A New History .  Things might have been different, if you believe this book.  German support for Lenin was very important, and the author sticks to the main story lines.  Hard for me to judge, but at the very least it was interesting and also clearly written.

Those are all from David B. Roberts, Qatar: Securing the Global Ambitions of a City-State , an excellent book, just out, recommended reading for you all.

5. Thomas Pynchon should write a Qatar novel .  And a brief look at Qatar’s earlier history .  And a new book on the history of Qatar is coming out next week, I have pre-ordered.  Try this one too .

5. Thomas Pynchon should write a Qatar novel .  And a brief look at Qatar’s earlier history .  And a new book on the history of Qatar is coming out next week, I have pre-ordered.  Try this one too .

I am happy to have just written a blurb for Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles, The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Become Richer, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality , self-recommending.

Gary Saul Morson and Morton Schapiro, Cents and Sensibility: What Economists Can Learn from the Humanities , covers a topic I am greatly interested in; here is a partial review by David Henderson .  Related issues are considered by Mihir A. Desai, The Wisdom of Finance , with Charles Sanders Peirce and Wallace Stevens being two points of focus.

Gary Saul Morson and Morton Schapiro, Cents and Sensibility: What Economists Can Learn from the Humanities , covers a topic I am greatly interested in; here is a partial review by David Henderson .  Related issues are considered by Mihir A. Desai, The Wisdom of Finance , with Charles Sanders Peirce and Wallace Stevens being two points of focus.

6. Fernando Vallejo, Our Lady of the Assassins .  This short and violent novel is about Colombia during the period of its troubles.  Full of life and vigor, makes the case for complacency.

5. Richard V. Reeves, Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What To Do Abut It .  The top one percent is not the relevant group.