Knowledge Problem

What I’ve Been Reading … and Related Videos!

Lynne Kiesling

One thing I’ve been doing a lot this summer is catching up on my reading, both on books I’ve had on my list for a while and new releases. Right now I am in the middle of Mises’ Human Action, which I am slightly embarrassed to say I’ve never read from the beginning in its entirety, although I’ve read extensive excerpts. At some point I would love to discuss Human Action with some of my friends who are more familiar with it and its historical context, like Pete Boettke or Pete Leeson or Steve Horwitz.

In terms of fiction I’m also in the middle of A.S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book, which is just out in paperback (although I’m reading the hardcover version). It’s right up my alley — set in late 19th-century England, opening scene in my favorite museum (the V&A), lots of Arts & Crafts themes and imagery, a multi-layered and historically-informed plot, all written with Byatt’s characteristic subtle language and rich visual imagery in her prose. I don’t think the casual reader would enjoy it (i.e., it’s not a beach book unless you’re already predisposed to like Byatt and/or historically-contextualized fiction), but I am enjoying it a great deal. It’s definitely going with me on vacation up to the Boundary Waters at the end of the month.

Almost all of my recent reading has been nonfiction; let’s see if you can infer the unifying theme. In no particular order:

On their faces these works may not appear directly relevant to the political economy of regulation and competition in large infrastructure industries experiencing technological change, but I think they are all likely to interest you if you are interested in the political economy issues inherent in regulation. Some of the Smith scholarship may verge too deeply into philosophy and political theory, depending on your personal interests, but I have certainly enjoyed every one of these works and recommend them all as worthwhile reads.

But, since it’s a Friday afternoon in late summer, I’m going to close with a couple of videos of Matt Ridley discussing The Rational Optimist. The first is a recent TED talk he gave in Oxford (can’t get the embed to play well with WordPress, grrr), using the “when ideas have sex” meme that is the tagline for the book. The second is from the PBS Newshour.

Have a great weekend!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqet1woKe98]