George J. Stigler – Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist
Not a strict autobiography by the Nobel-winning Chicago economist, but this occasionally caustic essay collection showcases Stigler’s wit and sarcasm. It also reflects on academic life, which isn’t terribly interesting to this reader. But it stresses the importance of outside interests and reading good books, which are.
Comments Off on George J. Stigler – Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist
Posted in Books, Economics, Uncategorized
Alan Stern and David Grinspoon – Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
An inside history of the New Horizons mission, which sent a satellite past Pluto. Stern is the Principle Investigator (head honcho) for the mission, and Grinspoon assisted with PR as well as some of the mission science. The photographs are beautiful, the science is awe-inspiring, and the amount of work the team put in is admirable.
I was especially struck by the amount of politicking, bureaucratic infighting, turf wars among contractors, and backroom-dealing that went into the mission, delayed it for years, and almost killed it altogether. I found a similar theme in Steve Squyres’ book about the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers (Squyres was the PI for that mission).
Public choice theorists will find a vindication of Gordon Tullock’s The Organization of Inquiry, which is an economics-based analysis of how scientists behave.
Comments Off on Alan Stern and David Grinspoon – Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
Posted in Books, Public Choice, Science, Uncategorized
Thomas Sowell – Knowledge and Decisions
Sowell’s politics have always different from mine. But as an economic analyst, he is as good as it gets. He writes clearly, and his reasoning is merciless. This book’s core is Hayekian. It emphasizes how dispersed knowledge and individual-level decisionmaking result in an coherent, emergent economic order. Design without a designer is both more prosperous and more humane than centrally planned alternatives.
The problem is when Sowell leaves economics and goes into politics. Sowell has always been conservative, and has become progressively crankier about it over the years, to the point of recently changing his views on immigration from an economist’s view to a conservative politician’s view. This book, first published in 1980, is Sowell in his prime. But he lets political preferences overtake economic analysis in his views on capital punishment, the role of the judiciary, military spending, and family policy. Sowell’s mid-career conservatism here is more curmudgeonly than reflexively partisan, but still easier to pick apart than his rock-solid economic reasoning.
Comments Off on Thomas Sowell – Knowledge and Decisions
Posted in Books, Economics, Uncategorized
Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
Rather different from the Mel Brooks version. It is also structured similarly to the movie Inception. It starts with a sailor’s letters to his sister during an Arctic voyage. He happens upon Frankenstein, who tells his story to the sailor, who relates it in his letters home. Frankenstein runs into hist monster in the middle of his story, who then tells his story to Frankenstein, who relays it to the sailor, who re-relays it in his letters home. From there its works it way back up one level at a time, back to Frankenstein’s story, and ends with the sailor’s letters, written in his own voice.
There is also an unattributed cameo appearance of Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian calculus, which was gaining fame right around Shelley’s time. Frankenstein is also regarded as one of, if not the, very first modern science fiction story. It’s a good story, too, with many poignant turns of phrase.
Comments Off on Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
Posted in Books, Literature, Uncategorized
John Seabright – The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory
Pop music is a very different world than the DIY rock band environment I grew up in. Where I come from, bands are expected to write, record, and perform their own material, book their own shows, and sometimes even run their own record labels. Can-do idealism and youthful romance are integral to the indie scene. The pop world is downright cynical in comparison. Some of the world’s most successful hitmakers hold in active contempt the view of music as art and self-expression.
But there are also some economics lessons here, particularly in division of labor.
Some pop specialists write only beats and backing tracks. Others write only vocal melodies, or instrumental hooks. Still others only write lyrics. The performers for the most part are only performers, though that is its own specialized skill set. Other specialists focus on choreography, stage shows, publicity, and so on.
The pop music industry also provides a lesson in globalization. Many of the top pop songwriters come from Sweden, the business side is focused in LA and New York, and the performers come from around the world. Orlando, of all places, is becoming a hotspot for talent scouts, due in part to Disney’s large presence there. This book is an enjoyable read, and for this hobbyist musician, a look into an alien world.
Comments Off on John Seabright – The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory
Posted in Books, Economics, Music, The Arts, Uncategorized
James C. Scott – Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States
How did governments emerge? The usual answer is economist Mancur Olson’s stationary bandit theory. Scott describes this theory in the final chapter, but seems not to have heard of Olson. Scott instead emphasizes an anthropological, biological, and environmental history of government’s origin.
Lots of good material here on domestication, disease, war and slavery, and how sedentarism affected environmental quality. Many ruins became that way due to epidemics, lack of sanitation, and deteriorating soil quality.
As importantly, Scott doesn’t view states as a black-and-white concept. There are shades of gray on a spectrum, with difference facets of government such as organized militaries, monarchs, and written records emerging at different times in different places, and to varying degrees. This shows itself in how written versions of the Gilgamesh epic evolved over time.
The emergence of centralized states was, ironically, a spontaneous order, same as the non-state market processes that economists study—though again, Scott doesn’t stroll very far down that avenue. Scott’s story is incomplete, but well worth studying.
Comments Off on James C. Scott – Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States
Posted in Books, Economics, History, Political Animals, Uncategorized
Peter Schweizer – Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends
Everyone knows that many politicians are corrupt. Schweizer and his Government Accountability Institute colleagues go one step further by doing the digging and naming names.
His latest book spares neither party and proposes reforming a relatively new form of corruption: rather than direct bribes like in the old days, many favors and payments now go to politicians’ family and friends. This is both a domestic and an international problem; the Chinese and Russian governments come off especially poorly, though Schweizer is more than a little hyperbolic about security risks.
Comments Off on Peter Schweizer – Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends
Posted in Books, Political Animals, Uncategorized
A public choice-inspired point about the nature of historical sources from footnote 58 on p. 585 of Harold J. Berman, Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition:
Nevertheless, no statement of any Roman jurist claiming that the emperor was bound by the laws has survived (or as Peter Banos has said, perhaps no jurist ever made such a statement and survived).
Comments Off on Selection Bias in Historical Sources?
Posted in Books, History, Law, Uncategorized
Joseph Schumpeter – Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
Schumpeter was famously pessimistic about capitalism’s long-term prospects. But he was equally dismissive of Marxian socialism as a viable replacement. He instead foresaw a long slide into Fabian-style socialism-lite. Such a system is benign and boring for the most part, which seems harmless enough.
The trouble is that prosperity comes from taking risks–starting a business, inventing new products or business models, and displacing the old and replacing it with something better. People seem to prefer safe mediocrity to risking excellence, and in the long run, Schumpeter thinks that is what people will get.
A lot of people hope Schumpeter was wrong. He seems to have hoped so, at least.
Schumpeter also outlines his famous theory of creative destruction, which is easily his most influential idea.
Haughty in tone with occasional flashes of wit, this 1942 book is a classic for a reason, though I can only hope its flaws are deeper than I suspect they actually are.
Comments Off on Joseph Schumpeter – Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
Posted in Books, Economics, Innovation, Uncategorized
Simon Schama – Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
An utterly conventional chronological narrative, focusing on major personalities more than larger cultural and economic forces. Schama writes well and vividly portrays the Revolution’s most famous moments, from the storming of the Bastille to Marat’s assassination. But overall this is a milquetoast history, lacking any major thesis or attempt at interpretation, or much personality of its own.
Some of this is for the better; Schama’s understanding of economics and public policy is clearly limited. Citizens is a good introductory text for learning the major names, dates, and factions of the Revolution. And he tells a good story. But to find out what the French Revolution means and why it deserves careful study, look elsewhere.
Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, the Marquis de Condorcet, and Benjamin Constant all wrote very good, and very different contemporary contributions. For a modern narrative with a broader historical and philosophical perspective, Will and Ariel Durant’s Rousseau and Revolution is much better.
Comments Off on Simon Schama – Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
Posted in Books, History, Uncategorized
Inertia Wins! 