Why the Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland – are different from the rest of the world has long fascinated scholars and political pundits alike. The left […]
Tag: Books
When Grand Histories Go Wrong
Last spring, I picked up Philip Coggan’s More: The 10,000-Year Rise of the World Economy. It looked like one of those big-picture stories I love, about where human societies came […]
Review of Ola Innset, Reinventing Liberalism
Reinventing Liberalism is an interesting contribution from the intellectual historian that sets out to help us understand the intellectual origins of neoliberalism. Innset wishes to recapture the word “neoliberal,” and […]
The Political History of Silver in America
The aptly-named New York University professor William Silber wanted to title his book “Silber on Silver” – but his publisher instead had him settle for The Story of Silver: How […]
Book Review: American Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID-19
John Fabian Witt highlights many cases where the American legal system influences the scope of public health rules in our ever-present fight against infectious diseases. Despite the number of cases […]
The Five Transitions to Modernity
When Vaclav Smil speaks, the educated mind would do well to listen. Or at least read, since he stays out of the chattering limelight – and assuming that you could […]
Incremental or Radical Policy Reform?
Those who would reform US public policy in the direction of increased efficiency fall along a spectrum, from those who seek incremental changes at some “margin” to those who seek […]