Comments on: What Books to Read?

By: Alex Tabarrok

Alex Tabarrok — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 23:27:38 +0000

On the Great Depression Randall Parker has almost what you want in 3 books. The best is Economics of the Great Depression

http://www.amazon.com/Economics-Great-Depression-Twenty-First-Interwar/dp/1847209750/ref=la_B001JP4L9Q_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454887395&sr=1-1

He also has an earlier book Reflections on the GD which covers earlier economists and a very expensive Elgar set of volumes of classic articles.

By: Andrew'

Andrew' — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 14:46:02 +0000

I didn’t read enough books, but the only book I can say that I felt it changing my life was The Fountainhead. Perhaps categorize it under individualism or determination.

By: Ben Robins

Ben Robins — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 13:24:48 +0000

On the topic of “trying to extricate yourself from political tribalism”, it can be interesting to read the bible through this lens.

By: Rick Hull

Rick Hull — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 18:25:47 +0000

Excusing some bits of mild misogyny, *Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman* is entertaining yet gets to the heart of what it means to be a scientist.

By: Rick Hull

Rick Hull — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 17:19:38 +0000

Baumeister’s *Is There Anything Good About Men* is thought provoking and insightful, challenging some bits of orthodoxy.

By: Rick Hull

Rick Hull — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 17:06:06 +0000

William Easterly is a good inoculant against hubris in social science. His essay on planners vs searchers is great, and I can recommend Tyranny of Experts for a book length treatment.

By: Jeff R.

Jeff R. — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 16:33:39 +0000

There were some weird digressions, I thought, mainly involving the people in the underwater tunnels or whatever it was. I second Arnold’s sentiments. I was not a huge fan, actually. I thought the second half of the book was a kind of a letdown.

By: Paul M. Jones

Paul M. Jones — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 15:42:08 +0000

Editing note: Lord of the Flies is by Golding, not Fielding.

By: MichaelG

MichaelG — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 14:13:30 +0000

I love The Diamond Age. What’s confusing about it?

“Bud’s relationship with the female sex was governed by a gallimaufry of primal impulses, dim suppositions, deranged theories, overheard scraps of conversation, half-remembered pieces of bad advice, and fragments of no-doubt exaggerated anecdotes that amounted to rank superstition. In this case, it dictated that he should not request the scar.”