Which book are you reading now? Volume XI

[Kozmos]

The Lusty Argonian Maid, Volumes 1 & 2.

AKA Spear Polishing Manuals.

 

[Red Door]

I just finished Soccernomics, which I really enjoyed. I don't think it was anything groundbreaking, but it had some interesting statistical analysis of Soccer which I enjoyed.

Currently, I am reading The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt which excited me because of my inner-IR nerd waiting to break out.

 

[Arakhor]

The Lusty Argonian Maid, Volumes 1 & 2.

I think you need to get out more and not visit Uncle Crassius so often.

 

[JohannaK]

I stumbled on Schopenhauer's Ueber die Freiheit des Willens in the bookshop while looking for Nietzsche, and the title was too much for me to resist. So I'm reading Clavell's Tai-Pan, Beevor's The Second World War and this all at the same time. Crazy me.

 

[Smellincoffee]

The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk in the mornings, Your Inner Fish during the day, and Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell in the evenings.

 

[Azale]

That Sowell book was the worst kind of tendentious and preachy writing, wrapped up in a taco of "this is just common sense."

 

[Smellincoffee]

That Sowell book was the worst kind of tendentious and preachy writing, wrapped up in a taco of "this is just common sense."

I find him a boor whenever his columns appear in the local paper, but this is the only book in my local library about banking. Care you recommend a superior title for understanding economics?

 

[JohannaK]

Anybody got recommendations on history books for the Far East? Or the Midle East? Or Africa? Because I was actually looking for a book on China, but I ain't ready to pay 50€ for one, so I turned to the Philosophy shelves.

 

[Masada]

What does the Far East mean nowadays?

I find him a boor whenever his columns appear in the local paper, but this is the only book in my local library about banking. Care you recommend a superior title for understanding economics?

If you want a basic grounding, that'll do fine. Just keep in mind that everything in that book should be read on the understanding that most of it is wrong, simplified to the point of being useless and/or misleading. Having said that all that, you do need to grasp the basics to be able to understand the more useful stuff. Once you've done that there's a few of us with economics backgrounds who can make further recommendations.

 

[JohannaK]

Anything East of the present-day -stans

 

[Masada]

In Search of Southeast Asia is a bit dated but still a good read. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce is also a little data but is very readable and still the standard text. I still like D.G.E Hall's A History of Southeast Asia. The newest edition is again a little dated but Hall is readable and has good coverage. I also like Before European Hegemony by Abu-Lughod. Really, World-Systems Theory literature should be a must read for all NESers and IOTers. Ditto for Power and Plenty.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

Freedom and Capitalism - Milton Friedman

 

[Dachs]

Really, World-Systems Theory literature should be a must read for all NESers and IOTers.

Ree-hee-hee-heeeaaalllyyyyy.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk in the mornings, Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell in the evenings.

A study in diagnosed lunacy?

 

[ParkCungHee]

A study in diagnosed lunacy?

Aw come on, Kirk isn't so bad.

 

[sophie]

Power and Plenty.

Aw yiss

 

[Smellincoffee]

A study in diagnosed lunacy?

Sort of; I'm trying to understand views and values I've long regarded as different to my own, partially because in recent years I developed a strain of thinking that sometimes makes me fear the old quip about a man being conservative at age twenty having no heart, and a liberal at thirty having no brain is coming true. Having read two-thirds of The Conservative Mind, I'm more inclined to think I happen to share a value of prudence with conservatives, my 'conservatism' is more more in the fashion of Wendell Berry and Neil Postman than Russell Kirk. The passages in this book make me wonder of the editor is aware he's supposed to be the GOOD guy in his narrative -- always going on about the need for classes, masters, orthodoxy, etc. Their view of evolution seems to be "It may be true but DEAR GOD DON'T LET ANYONE FIND OUT OR SOCIETY IS DOOMED!". As if most people care.

With Sowell...learning about the history of housing, transportation, urban, and food policies in the 20th century have turned me off of government planning in the economy. I distrust monied interests, but I've been broken of my trust in government as well. I find the notion of emergent order -- which I first learned about in The Death and Life of Great Cities fascinating. Jacobs didn't reify the idea: it's just a theme of her work without ever being mentioned.

 

[Masada]

Ree-hee-hee-heeeaaalllyyyyy.

At the time it sounded good. I'm not so sure now.

 

[Antilogic]

The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk in the mornings, Your Inner Fish during the day, and Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell in the evenings.

People tend to think I'm nuts when I tell them I am reading 3 or sometimes 4 books concurrently. I'm glad to know I'm not the only guy who does this.

Ree-hee-hee-heeeaaalllyyyyy.

You are sooo right, but leave a little room for the Byzantine fan-wankery.

 

[Masada]

We've moved towards Mongol-fappery nowadays.