Book Review - The Price of Altruism - By Oren Harman - NYTimes.com
"But “The Price of Altruism” is about far more than Price himself. It covers the entire 150-year history of scientists’ researching, debating and bickering about a theoretical problem that lies at the core of behavioral biology, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology: Why is it that organisms sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others?"
Sounds like a good read both for those who have an interest in the altruism puzzle and like the histrory of ideas in general.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Essay - Hayek - The Back Story - NYTimes.com
Essay - Hayek - The Back Story - NYTimes.com
"As it happens, “The Road to Serfdom” — a classic attack on government planning as an inevitable step toward totalitarianism, published in 1944 and kept in print since then by the University of Chicago Press — had already begun a comeback of sorts. It sold 27,000 copies in 2009, up from about 7,000 a year before the inauguration of Barack Obama. But Beck’s endorsement catapulted the book to No. 1 at Amazon.com, bringing a temporary end to at least one tyranny, that of Stieg Larsson. Since the program was broadcast on June 8, 100,000 copies have been sold. "
It is nice to see a Hayek resurgence. But Hayek is a better and more profound writer than most who write about him. So if you are unfamiliar with Hayek's works, you are better off skipping the commentary pro and con and going directly to his "The Road to Serfdom," or even better "The Constitution of Liberty."
"As it happens, “The Road to Serfdom” — a classic attack on government planning as an inevitable step toward totalitarianism, published in 1944 and kept in print since then by the University of Chicago Press — had already begun a comeback of sorts. It sold 27,000 copies in 2009, up from about 7,000 a year before the inauguration of Barack Obama. But Beck’s endorsement catapulted the book to No. 1 at Amazon.com, bringing a temporary end to at least one tyranny, that of Stieg Larsson. Since the program was broadcast on June 8, 100,000 copies have been sold. "
It is nice to see a Hayek resurgence. But Hayek is a better and more profound writer than most who write about him. So if you are unfamiliar with Hayek's works, you are better off skipping the commentary pro and con and going directly to his "The Road to Serfdom," or even better "The Constitution of Liberty."
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
'High Financier' Book Excerpt - WSJ.com
'High Financier' Book Excerpt - WSJ.com
"From the moment he hit the headlines with the first ever hostile takeover bid in 1959 until his death in 1982, Siegmund Warburg was the City's presiding genius, a brilliant exponent of high finance – haute banque, as he liked to call it – who saw with unrivalled prescience the possibilities of global financial reintegration after the calamities of the Depression and two world wars. He was the architect of that transformation of economic institutions which led the Western world back to the free market after the mid-century excesses of state control"
"From the moment he hit the headlines with the first ever hostile takeover bid in 1959 until his death in 1982, Siegmund Warburg was the City's presiding genius, a brilliant exponent of high finance – haute banque, as he liked to call it – who saw with unrivalled prescience the possibilities of global financial reintegration after the calamities of the Depression and two world wars. He was the architect of that transformation of economic institutions which led the Western world back to the free market after the mid-century excesses of state control"
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist - A Little Economic Realism - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - A Little Economic Realism - NYTimes.com
"Moreover, public spending seems to have odd knock-off effects. Professors Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval and Christopher Malloy of Harvard surveyed 42 years of government spending increases in certain Congressional districts. They found that federal spending increases dampened corporate hiring and investment in those districts. You wish somebody could explain that one to you before you pass on more debt burdens to your grandchildren. "
"Moreover, public spending seems to have odd knock-off effects. Professors Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval and Christopher Malloy of Harvard surveyed 42 years of government spending increases in certain Congressional districts. They found that federal spending increases dampened corporate hiring and investment in those districts. You wish somebody could explain that one to you before you pass on more debt burdens to your grandchildren. "
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