Recently Mentioned Books

That is the new book by Robert E. Litan and it is the single best attempt to answer the question of what good economists have done the world (I am also a big fan of Alex’s earlier edited volume, Entrepreneurial Economics on this topic, the Litan is more current).  The subtitle is How Economists and their Ideas have Transformed Business .

That is the new book by Robert E. Litan and it is the single best attempt to answer the question of what good economists have done the world (I am also a big fan of Alex’s earlier edited volume, Entrepreneurial Economics on this topic, the Litan is more current).  The subtitle is How Economists and their Ideas have Transformed Business .

The full piece is here .  By the way, there is a new Cass Sunstein book out, which I have not yet read, Valuing Life: Humanizing the Regulatory State .

Andrea Louise Campbell, Trapped in America’s Safety Net: One Family’s Struggle .  A good anecdotal but also analytical study of how means-tested welfare programs can make life very difficult for the poor.  Recommended.

Edward D. Kleinbard’s We are Better Than This: How Government Should Spend Our Money is a well-done progressive take on the expenditure side of fiscal  policy.

Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North .  A moving and vibrant novel about an Australian in a prisoner of war camp in WWII and his escapades surrounding that time in his life.

I very much enjoyed Ian Leslie’s Curious , a polyglot look at being…curious.

Ruth Towse, Advanced Introduction to Cultural Economics .  She remains the definitive presenter of this material.

This is the new and fantastic book by Arthur M. Melzer and the subtitle is The Lost History of Esoteric Writing .  It is the best book I know on esoteric writing and its history and furthermore it is clear and to the point!  (I think)

Jennifer Schuessler at The New York Times reports on the work and new book of Dan Jurafsky:

Alastair Bonnett, in his new and excellent Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and other Inscrutable Geographies , notes that these enclaves are usually not supplied with public goods.  Furthermore:

The author is Joe Zhang and the subtitle is Is China’s State Capitalism Doomed ?  Here is the summary of his conclusions:

That is by Martin Wolf and the subtitle is What We’ve Learned — And Still Have to Learn — From the Financial Crisis .  You can buy it here .

I very much liked Peter’s new book, Zero to One: Notes on Start-Ups, or How to Build the Future .

6. Jeff Riggenbach, Persuaded by Reason: Joan Kennedy Taylor and the Rebirth of American Individualism .  I knew her a bit and was always fond of her.  This book is a good look at 1970s libertarianism, and the rebirth of libertarian feminism in the United States.  Both Alex and I make cameos in the text, he as an editor, gatekeeper, and theorist of self-ownership and abortion, I as a purchaser of the CD collection from the estate of Roy Childs (Joan was executor of the estate and also Roy’s dear...

5. Henry R. Nau, Conservative Internationalism: Armed Diplomacy under Jefferson, Polk, Truman, and Reagan .  We could use more of this, and I am referring to each of those words “conservative” and “internationalism,” as well as the combination of the two.  This book was published about a year ago, and I don’t think the author could have realized how relevant it was going to become.  An important book for 2014, it sets out a manifesto for a classical liberal but non-isolationist approach to forei...

4. Samuel Fromartz, In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker’s Odyssey .  A fun cross-sectional look at the bread universe, combined with some recipes and reminiscences.

3. Pascal Bonafoux, Rodin & Eros .  Beware of visiting too many Rodin museums, you might end up thinking he just repeated the same themes over and over again.  This book, including the color plates, will jolt you into seeing his work fresh once again.

2. Henry Kissinger, World Order .  I liked parts of his China book, but there’s nothing really to this one.  Leave it alone.

1. Kai Bird, The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames .  Kai Bird is very highly rated, but in my view he remains underrated.  I very much like each and every one of his books, and this sympathetic treatment brings to life the Middle East conflicts through the 1980s, and also the life of a CIA officer, as well as a bygone era in U.S. foreign policy.

That is from Edward Hirsch, A Poet’s Glossary , which I am quite enjoying.  There is interesting material on every page and it is written with passion.   A hendiatris is a “figure of speech in which three words are employed to express an idea, as in Thomas Jefferson’s tripartite motto for the Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.””  When there are only two words so employed, it is of course a hendiadys .

2. Ha-Joon Chang, Economics: The User’s Guide .  A genuinely humble and pluralistic introduction to the economic way of thinking, from a “developmentalist,” linkages are important for economic growth, anti-free trade point of view.

1. Michael Ignatieff, Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics .  A genuinely interesting book about why someone with tenure at Harvard might be crazy enough to run for high public office, and then what it is like to lose somewhat ignominiously.

That is from the newly translated book by Peter Schneider, Berlin Now: The City After the Wall .  Much of that passage makes sense, but one part confuses me:  does “rely on his potential talent as a lover” support or contradict “cultivate a “soft” masculine image”?

6. Martin Wolf has a forthcoming book on the financial crisis .