Note that on December 5, I will be talking at Cato about one book that came out this year, George Gilder’s Knowledge and Power. In it, he gives credit to the widely-unread Unchecked and Unbalanced. Another author who credits me is Kevin Williamson in The End is Near.
This was also the year in which I e-published The Three Languages of Politics and also had a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of major events in economic history.
This year, there were three books that were widely heralded that I thought were more “eh:” Michael Huemer on political authority; Martin Hellwig and Anat Admati on banks; and Jeremy Adelman’s Hirschman bio (an admirable book, but I cannot count it as a must-read).
Books that I thought deserved more acclaim than they got include:
Lant Pritchett on education
Zvi Eckstein on The Chosen Few
Ara Norenzayan on Big Gods
Mark Weiner on Rule of the Clan
Edmund Phelps on flourishing
Hasan Comert on monetary impotence
Nick Schulz on marriage
“Unchecked and Unbalanced” still stuck at $15.99 after 4 years. When will the price decease to make it less unread?
[I have contacted the publisher. I am outraged by the price, but it is not my call–AK]
The books you listed sound intriguing, but I’d like to see some reviews. Would be interested if you have any reviews to link to. Better yet, blog about them. Cheers,
If you look at my category of posts “books and book reviews” you will find reviews of many of them
Was your review of Phelps ever published?
not so far