Recently Mentioned Books

Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class–Revisited: 10th Anniversary Edition–Revised and Expanded .

Killer whales hunt a seal , from the superb series Frozen Planet .

The years to 2090 show remarkable technological progress in transportation and health care delivery and artificial intelligence.  Labor-saving innovation eliminates even the job of Peter O’Toole.  Before departing on an interstellar mission, have each crew member read Richard Epstein’s Simple Rules for a Complex World .  Do not bring anyone who was brought up in a barn.  Not all animals are cute.  It is possible to signal that you have a really important message to be heeded.  When making a proj...

You can buy Priceless: Curing the Health Care Crisis here , her comments are under the fold…

The author is John Coates and you can buy the book here .

1. Rigor appears to be declining over time at all levels of American education.

That quotation is from Alice Amsden, Asia’s Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization .

There is also The Kipper und Wipper Inflation, 1619-23, An Economic History with Contemporary German Broadsheets , by Martha White Paas, John Roger Paas, and translations by George Schoolfield.  The origins of German monetary thought turn out to be more important than might have been expected…

Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class–Revisited: 10th Anniversary Edition–Revised and Expanded .

3. A modest bundle of guaranteed coverage and services.  I am very influenced by David Braybrooke’s book on meeting basic needs .  Yet for me basic needs truly are basic and do not involve cable TV or small probability chances of delaying death from prostate cancer.

3. Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja, Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth. Full of cliches, but thoey do not totally drown out the substance.  I have been wanting a book on this topic, namely why the poor are (sometimes) more innovative, illustrated through India.

2. Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac, Pax Ethnica: Where and How Diversity Succeeds .  Some parts of the world make cross-ethnic collaboration work.  I would prefer more comparative analysis with the regions where diversity does not work so well, but this is an interesting book with historical substance.

1.  Charles Rosen, Freedom and the Arts: Essays on Music and Literature .  Rosen has mastered pianism, writing, and learning.  The best parts, such as on Chopin or Schumann, are stunningly good.

2. I wish the book had been more Hegelian.  One could well have written a book called * The Twilight of the Non-Elites *, for instance:

That is the new book by Christopher Hayes , here is one marvelously good review .  I was myself very impressed by the level of execution in this book.

I very much enjoyed reading the book, you can order a copy here .  For the pointer I thank Daniel Klein.

That is a chapter from Far From the Madding Crowd , which remains a much underrated Thomas Hardy novel.  This chapter is a masterpiece of behavioral economics, most of all on matters of courtship and romance .  It is difficult to excerpt, because it relies so much on the sequence of events and dialog.  You can read it free here .  There are other sources, including MP3s, here .

That is the new book by the very active and very smart Peter Watson, due out soon but I bought a copy in the UK.

That is from Alexander Theroux’s new and interesting Estonia: A Ramble Through the Periphery .  Here is from one Amazon review:

There is information here , the Amazon link is here .  I thank Tim Harford for the pointer.

The author is Callum Roberts and the subtitle is The Fate of Man and the Sea .  It is an excellent look at the environmental problems associated with oceans.  Here is one bit:

The author is Tom Bethell, you can buy the book here .

The author is Charles C. Camosy and the subtitle is Beyond Polarization , you can buy it here .

The authors are Robert Carroll and Alan D. Viard and the subtitle is The X Tax Revisited , published by AEI.  Here is a summary excerpt:

The authors are Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman, and the subtitle is How Imitation Spurs Innovation .  Here is one excerpt: