I end up reading a lot of these kinds of books that are basically repackaged original research (much of it done by other researchers) that is then taken and put a structure around it. The structure allows the author (sometimes a scientist, sometimes a journalist) to tell a story. Hopefully the research helps the story; hopefully the story is interesting and supported by the research.
I would not have picked this up off the shelf if it were not for the cover design, a clever cover that from one angle shows the title and from the other says “Everyone’s reading it”. That was the most novel thing about the book, since because I have read a lot of these books, the grass is not growing for me on this particular path. If you haven’t read a lot of popular behavioral science books, this one is fairly well done and you would not disservice yourself if you were to read it as an introduction to the field. I do have to note there was one thing that Berger talks about which shined a different light on the world - he walks the reader through why counterfeiting is good for consumer product manufacturers. That starts around page 138.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Pragmatism Wins: Cohen and DeLong's "Concrete Economics"
Brad DeLong easily has the most interesting mind in modern
economics. Before this book, I was unfamiliar with his co-author. But when I
saw that DeLong was writing a book, no matter what the subject, I was ready to
pounce on it. Thankfully the people at the Harvard Business School Press gave
me and advance review copy, and then I was inconsiderate enough to not read
review it in any form until now.
What Concrete Economics calls for is an economic plan on pragmatism.
The realization is that both parties may have strayed too far into an ideology
that doesn’t work (neoliberalism in the vein of Thatcher and Reagan and
continued to this day) in the light of the crisis that was almost ten years ago
now. What we need, according to the authors, is to look at the administration
of Hamilton’s Treasury Department on doing what is needed to help the country
grow and prosper. It reminds me of the dictum attributed to FDR in the
Depression – Try something, and if that doesn’t work, try something else.
The prescription is timely, since growing inequality and
stagnating wages at the middle of the distribution have given rise to the
voices of populism and xenophobia. These
current developments are scary to people who have tried to make the economic
system work for everyone, and though I am to the left of the authors
politically, I would much prefer a politics and economics of pragmatism much
more than one based on fear of the other. Thankfully and hopefully, DeLong is a
creature on the edge of the establishment, so maybe his voice will be heard in
the next administration. (As long as the vox populi doesn’t make some sort of
fatal mistake.)
Chernow's Hamilton: Very Little Singing and Dancing
Reading Chernow’s biography of Washington several years ago,
it was clear that the author had a special warm place in his heart for
Hamilton. The biography shows Chernow’s affection for his subject in a greater
detail, as he goes from Hamilton’s life on the islands to his death on the New
Jersey shore. It even covers a bit of the afterlife with his killer and his
family.
Though Chernow obviously has admiration and affection for
the man, he is still able to show the flaws in Hamilton’s character, from the
fact he had an affair and was essentially blackmailed to his falling out with
the Federalists in charge of the party (and the country until the assention of
Jefferson). If you are interested in learning about the founding of the country
and the ideas behind it, this is a very strong secondary text to explore in
your own education.
A side note – there is little, if any, rapping in the text.
That was all made up in the mind of the writer of the smash Broadway musical taking
this book as its source material.
How Do You Like Kuznets?: On Milanovic's "Global Inequality"
I have a completely irrelevant critique on Milanovic’s new
book.
I’ll get to it, but first I have to praise him. I read the
book based on his blog, which Thoma links to often enough that when I saw that he
was talking about a new book to be released, I knew O had to buy it. He’s smart
and credentialed and has the resume, but most importantly, he is an engaging
writer. It was when I went to preorder this one that I saw that he had an
previous book, so I went and got that one to give me more background. And let
me tell you, that other book is a super fun read if you like short vignettes
about economics that build towards a larger point - there he was looking at three sorts of
inequalities: 1) between countries; 2) between people in countries; and 3)
between people globally.
Here he does the same thing, and I thinks that since its
post Piketty he thought he had to take some of the fun out of it and be more empirical
or rigorous or something.
Therefore, here’s the non-substantive critique: It was not
as fun to read as his earlier book. Which is a horrible thing to say since here
I should be looking at his ideas and assessing how he presents the Kuznets Wave
he theories and the wealth inequality charts. And that’s there and good and if
this were the first book, I read by him I just might be more engaged but it was
not and I am apparently not Milanovic’s ideal reader. I read too much in
economic history when the economist were telling stories and not having all
these clever graphs and charts.
Indexing is Common Sese: On Boogle's Little Book
I have read the most recent version of Malkiel’s “A Random
Walk Down Mainstreet,” and it made me thankful for those people who actually go
out and try to make a return for themselves on the market. It provides a
service that current leftist critiques of finance capitalism forget – they provide
liquidity and aid price discovery. Now, that is just a small part of what they
do, and the bulk of their profits are actual rents, and half of the people will
end up losers whatever system they try – because there are some patterns in the
market, but I am a believer that the market will stay irrational longer than I
can stay liquid. I guess at heart I am pretty conservative about what I do with
my money because people like Malkiel and Bogle speak to me so much.
"The Little Book of Common Sense Investing" is like a cover version of Malkiel’s classic,
coming in with a shorter page count and being less of a sales document – though
where the recent “Random Walk” made me curious about Wealthfront and reading
this made me go to the Vanguard website, I still am paying more in fees than I
should to the company-administered 403(b) even in their so-called Index
Fund. This is a pretty well-written
book, but it does have a bit of an odd structure, with short chapters closed by asides referencing
the current point made with an outside source instead of integrating it in the
main chapter. Overall, though, it is a strong case for indexing your funds and
taking advantage of the work the active traders do. When you are buying the
market, you are giving up the chance of some great stock or sector that goes
parabolic, but it also prevents you from thinking you are clever and taking a
short position in that same sector just before it goes parabolic. Buy and hold
and buy again seems to be the best way to ensure that the money you do invest
will be there when you need it at the end of your life. I’m not trying to get
rich by any means, but I’m also not looking to degrade the quality of my life
at the end.
One Brief Thought on Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Though I liked this book, the thing is that if you have had some formal training on
the subject –
Or if you have kept up on the state of the current discourse
through popularizers of science –
There’s nothing real new here.
But what I liked was how spare and elegantly Rovelli got the
concepts across, and tied into the mediated state of how we see the material
world, not just as the things themselves existing without any observation, but
with us as observers. It is worthwhile for both those trained and novices in
the craft and art of the science.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Brad Noticed Me!
Should have linked http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/06/procrastinating-on-june-8-2016.html earlier.
Delong picked up my post on Trekonomics and it is now my third most visited post. Thanks for the traffic, Brad.
Delong picked up my post on Trekonomics and it is now my third most visited post. Thanks for the traffic, Brad.
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