[lit-ideas] Re: Book
- From: Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 19:13:29 -0700 (PDT)
Too much in the world to read. In looking at the book "A Farewell to Alms"
more closely, if the author explains the Industrial Revolution as beginning in
England because of some sort of cultural supremacy, then he will presumably
have to explain the loss of the English empire as a cultural inferiority, would
he not? I suspect that's not going to happen.
One of the explanations of the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in
England and not elsewhere is that coal as an energy source was discovered there
as a substitute for the trees that were being decimated for heating fuel. The
coal mines would flood and the steam engine (or the first engine whatever it
was) was invented to pump water out of the mines, and thus was born the IR in
England.
Regarding Bryan Caplan's book, again, I didn't read it, but if he's saying
market forces are the answer to voter mismanagement of democracy, he's wrong.
Market forces are all but worthless. Case in point, today market forces are
mysteriously and completely irrationally pushing the price of oil down, when
supply is still falling and demand is still rising. We're in recession, that's
a part of it, but given the supply/demand problem, oil should be rising and
it's not. The markets are emotional and clueless, irrationally exuberant as
has been said. It's hard to envision how they can steer democracy.
There's another really wonderfully premised book by Steven Stoll called The
Great Delusion: A Mad Inventor, Death in the Tropics, and the Utopian Origins
of Economic Growth, which I also have NOT read. I find it really intriguing
because I've heard that our current climate change woes and peak oil woes
(i.e., ignoring both to our detriment) as being blamed on the need for
economists to champion growth, or why have economics? In other words, the more
growth, the more pollution, the more oil being wasted. It's economists
apparently who denigrated the Club of Rome's predictions back in the 70's that
the world was running out of resources. Essentially economists would have us
grow a tree to the sky which needless to say is impossible. It's an idea
that's been haunting me since I came across it. Actually, I just searched him
and I'm right, that is his premise, plus the word Utopia in the title gives it
away. Here's a link:
http://heppas.blogspot.com/2008/09/great-delusion.html
--- On Sun, 9/7/08, David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Book
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sunday, September 7, 2008, 8:32 PM
It caused me to order the book Amazon recommends in tandem, "A Farewell to
Alms."
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
On Sep 7, 2008, at 12:13 PM, Andy wrote:
Is this the best cover? I would consider reading this book.
Other related posts:
