Recently Mentioned Books

7. David Mikics, Who Was Jacques Derrida? Recommended by Gordon, this book is a good intelligent and intelligible introduction to Derrida.

6. William A. Barnett, Getting it Wrong: How Faulty Monetary Statistics Undermine the Fed, the Financial System, and the Economy .  He pushes his own work on Divisia monetar aggregates , although Scott Sumner will tell you that a steely focus on nominal gdp will suffice.

5. Peter Conrad, Verdi And/Or Wagner .  A multifaceted comparison of the two composers, integrating music, politics, and history, readable and recommended.

4. Katerina Clark, Moscow, The Fourth Rome: Stalinism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Evolution of Soviet Culture 1931-1941 .  A revisionist take which portrays the culture of the era as about more than just about communism, in any case thought provoking.

3. Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain .  Written in the 1940s, published in the late 70s, ignored, just republished.  It’s like reading a poem.  The Guardian is on the mark to call it “The finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain.”

2. Michael Krondl, Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert .  The best book I know on the history of dessert, with plenty of information on India, my personal favorite dessert country.  There is also the short and useful Bread: A Global History , by William Rubel.

2. Michael Krondl, Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert .  The best book I know on the history of dessert, with plenty of information on India, my personal favorite dessert country.  There is also the short and useful Bread: A Global History , by William Rubel.

1. Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 1: 1973-1985 , by Garry Kasparov.  Self-recommending!  His chess books are full of history, drama, and suspense, in addition to the chess, he is simply a great mind.

David Weinberger, Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room .  Not out yet; will this be one of the big books of 2012? Probably .

Zara Steiner, The Triumph of the Dark: European International History, 1933-1939 .  Repeat the above description but up the number of pp. to 1248.

Jonathan Israel, Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790 .  With 1152 pages, a major author, and a clear writing style, this is a major work.  I’ve only browsed it.

One interesting thing about cognitive biases – they’re the subject of so many books these days. There’s the Nudge book, the Sway book, the Blink book, like the one-title book, all about the ways in which we screw up. And there are so many ways, but what I find interesting is that none of these books identify what, to me, is the single, central, most important way we screw up, and that is, we tell ourselves too many stories, or we are too easily seduced by stories. And why don’t these books tell ...

One interesting thing about cognitive biases – they’re the subject of so many books these days. There’s the Nudge book, the Sway book, the Blink book, like the one-title book, all about the ways in which we screw up. And there are so many ways, but what I find interesting is that none of these books identify what, to me, is the single, central, most important way we screw up, and that is, we tell ourselves too many stories, or we are too easily seduced by stories. And why don’t these books tell ...

One interesting thing about cognitive biases – they’re the subject of so many books these days. There’s the Nudge book, the Sway book, the Blink book, like the one-title book, all about the ways in which we screw up. And there are so many ways, but what I find interesting is that none of these books identify what, to me, is the single, central, most important way we screw up, and that is, we tell ourselves too many stories, or we are too easily seduced by stories. And why don’t these books tell ...

One interesting thing about cognitive biases – they’re the subject of so many books these days. There’s the Nudge book, the Sway book, the Blink book, like the one-title book, all about the ways in which we screw up. And there are so many ways, but what I find interesting is that none of these books identify what, to me, is the single, central, most important way we screw up, and that is, we tell ourselves too many stories, or we are too easily seduced by stories. And why don’t these books tell ...

Here is more , and for the pointer I thank Todd Myers .  Here is Todd’s new book Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism is Harming the Environment .

The authors are Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson and the subtitle is The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty .  Could there be a better and more up to date book on the importance of economic institutions?  Self-recommending!  Excerpt:

That is from the new and excellent A History of English Food , by Clarissa Dickson Wright.  This book also offers up a good deal of confirming evidence for Paul Krugman’s prior hypotheses about English food .

That is the new book by John Taylor (not Herbert Spencer) and the subtitle is Five Keys to Restoring America’s Prosperity .  I predict Taylor will play a leading role in a new Republican administration, should there be one.  He advocates, among other things, the use of the Taylor rule.

The author is George G. Szpiro and the subtitle is Finance, Physics, and the 300-Year Journey to the Black-Scholes Equation, A Story of Genius and Discovery .  Excerpt:

I attempt to explain how this came about, in the podcast and in one chapter of my forthcoming book An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies .  Believe it or not, a lot of the blame can be placed on government, including Prohibition and immigration restrictions.  The book is due out in April, in both physical and e-copies, and it’s the longest and most comprehensive book I’ve written (yet without the price being high).

7. Your personal stream : This is arguably the biggest innovation in recent times, and it is almost completely overlooked.  It’s about how you use modern information technology to create your own running blend of sources, influences, distractions, and diversions, usually taken from a blend of the genres and fields mentioned above.  It’s really fun and most of us find it extremely compelling.  See chapter three of Create Your Own Economy / The Age of the Infovore .

7. Your personal stream : This is arguably the biggest innovation in recent times, and it is almost completely overlooked.  It’s about how you use modern information technology to create your own running blend of sources, influences, distractions, and diversions, usually taken from a blend of the genres and fields mentioned above.  It’s really fun and most of us find it extremely compelling.  See chapter three of Create Your Own Economy / The Age of the Infovore .

A few observations: Lots of good music this year, but I haven’t yet heard anything path breaking. Most indie rock is overrated and overall it is a less vital genre than pop, although since the latter is centered around songs rather than albums it is underrepresented on this list.  The artist I listened to the most this year was probably Lonnie Mack, followed by John Fahey .  The two best concerts I saw were Satyagraha at the Met and Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman playing together.  Indian classi...

11. Opika Pende, Africa at 78 RPM .