Recently Mentioned Books

Bernardine Evaristo. Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel .  The Booker co-winner and yes the focus of black women’s gender-fluid lives in Britain sounds too PC, but I was won over.  There is a Straussian reading of it as well.

Susan Gubar, Late-Life Love: A Memoir .

Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Herself Alone, volume three .

John Barton, A History of the Bible: The Story of the World’s Most Influential Book .

The author is Steven G Medema, and the subtitle is From Xenophon to Cryptocurrency, 250 Milestones in the History of Economics .  It is over 500 pages, one page per idea, with lovely color plates next to each page of text.  Test both your knowledge of economics and of history of economic thought.  For instance, it covers the median voter theorem, linear programming, the socialist calculation debate, and much more.  Very well done, and also a good gift book.

I will be doing a Conversation with him, and he has a new book coming out Why We’re Polarized .  Normally I would read the book right away, but I’ll postpone that a bit closer in time to the Conversation itself.

For systems that are dynamic and complex, like human societies, outcomes are a lot more mysterious.  A failure cascade of revolts (the hypothesis) will knock the institutions of modern government ever further from equilibrium, until the entire structure topples into what Alicia Juarrero calls “phase change”:  a “qualitative reconfiguration of the constraints” that gave the failed system its peculiar character.  In plain language, the old regime is overthrown – but at this stage randomness takes ...

Conversations with Zizek .  Maybe the best introduction to why Žižek is a richer thinker than his critics allege?  The book serves up insights on a consistent basis, and there is a minimum of jargon.  Marcus Pound had a good blurb: “Audacious and vertiginous, this book is everything one expects from him, a heady mix of psychoanalysis, politics, theology, philosophy, and cultural studies that will leave the reader both exhausted and exhilarated.”

David Goldblatt, The Age of Football: The Global Game in the Twenty-First Century .  Football meaning soccer of course, this book covers how soccer interacts with politics in many particular countries, including Africa, and just how much the game has grown in global markets.  Mostly informative, good if you wish to read a book about this topic (I don’t).

Razeen Sally, Return to Sri Lanka: Travels in a Paradoxical Island .  People do not think enough about Sri Lanka, including in the social sciences!  It is a richer and nicer country than what most people are expecting, and it is good for studying both conflict and ethnic tensions.  This memoir — information rich rather than just blather — is one good place to get you started.

Dana Thomas, Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion & The Future of Clothes .  Some parts of this book have bad economics and extreme mood affiliation, but in general it has more actual information than other books on the same topic and at times the author makes decent external cost arguments against the current system of clothes production.  So a qualified recommendation, at least I am glad I read it, even though some parts are obviously too sloppy.

Ajantha Subramanian, The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India .  A critique of casteism and growing inequality, this book also doubles as a fascinating history of IIT.  Best read in Straussian fashion as a sympathetic story of origins.

Roderick Floud, An Economic History of the English Garden .  Every page of this book does indeed have economics.  It just does not have interesting economics.  Which may mean that gardens are not so interesting from an economic point of view.  Which in turn would make this a good book.  But not an interesting book.

The author is Boye Lafayette de Mente, and he seems to know a lot about Korean bowing.  Do note the book is mainly about South Korea.  Reviewers, by the way, complain that there are significant mistakes in the Korean characters.  Recommended nonetheless, albeit with caveats, you can buy it here .

The Conversation is Acemoglu throughout , you also get to hear me channeling Garett Jones.  Again, here is Daron’s new book The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty .

The authors are David M. Levy and Sandra J. Peart, and the subtitle is A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School .  This is the true history, told by people who know, and with extensive citations from correspondence and primary documentation.

Matthew D. Adler’s Measuring Social Welfare: An Introduction is a very good take on its chosen topic.

Vicky Pryce, Women vs. Capitalism: Why We Can’t Have It All in a Free Market Economy .  Compared to what, I am inclined to ask?  Still, if you are looking for a readable book on how and why capitalism does not lead to gender equality, this is now the place to go.

Greta Thunberg, No One is Too Small to Make a Difference . Some of her speeches, transcribed.  Call me crazy, but I think of her and Donald Trump as the two great orators of our generation, regardless of what you think of their content.

Todd S. Purdum, Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution .  Of course the music is worth learning about, but this volume is also a splendid take on managerial teamwork in a duo.

Justin Marozzi, Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization .  Did the Islamic Middle East invent the notion of a truly splendid city?  This book makes the case for yes, starting with 7th century Mecca, moving to Damascus, Baghdad, and Cordoba, and finishing in 21st century Doha, “City of Pearls.”

Ben S. Bernanke, Timothy F. Geithner, and Henry M. Paulson, editors, with Nellie Liang. First Responders: Inside the U.S. Strategy For Fighting the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis .  Too many people will judge this volume by its editors, for better or worse.  In reality, almost everything here is by other people, and well-informed ones too.  This is one of the best comprehensive books on the crisis, and it is usefully organized by topic (“Crisis-Era Housing Programs,” or say Jason Furman on fi...

You can order Todd’s book here .  Recommended, though with significant caveats, mainly for lack of evidence on some of the key propositions.

Sally Rooney, Normal People: A Novel .

Broken Stars: Contemporary Science Fiction in Translation , edited and translated by Ken Liu.