1. A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States, by Stephen Mihm. This book offers interesting tales of 19th century counterfeiters — an understudied topic — but it is too quick to slush together counterfeiters, capitalists, and Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man. I read about 80 pages, some of you will wish to read more.
2. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism, by Ha-Joon Chang. This is a less subtle version of the "free trade isn’t always best" arguments made by Dani Rodrik. Reread my post The New Attack on Free Trade.
3. Bill Clinton, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. Should we resent that this book is essentially a campaign prop for Hillary? Still, it was better than expected. It’s not deep but it does stress the virtues of commercialization and the profit motive. Less surprisingly, globalization and micro-finance are portrayed as positive forces as well.
4. Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke. The NYT gave it a rave, lead review, as did The Washington Post and other sources. So far it is being framed as the major American novel of the year. It’s an almost anachronistically modernist in its structure and seriousness. And is there really anything more to say about the Vietnam War? First I was bored but then I reread the first 150 pages and now I love it.
5. Herbert Spencer and the Invention of Modern Life, by Mark Francis. It’s the best intellectual history I’ve read since McCraw’s Schumpeter book, and did you know that he and George Eliot had a non-consummated fling? It’s a highly specialized topic, so I can’t recommend this book to everyone but I loved it and no you don’t need to care about Spencer the libertarian.
Tyler, I’m reading (well listening to) Giving as well. I agree, it’s not very deep but I do like the way Clinton talks about people making a difference outside of the government infrastructure in private organizations and business. It’s a good message. I wouldn’t be too hard on him. He’s championing a way of making a difference that can really work and he should be applauded for that. Granted, he expresses other views along the way that I don’t really agree with but I commend him for a genuine concern for the poor and looking to make a difference via private cooperation. Kudos to Billy.
Regarding Spencer:
I’ve often thought about who best represents liberalism century by century. In my view, Adam Smith clearly takes the 18th and Hayek clearly takes the 20th.
As for the 19th, I tentatively nominate Spencer. I don’t put Spencer in the class of the other two. There is a ridiculousness and pendantry about him. Just less sophicated about social science as a cultural project. Smith was actually best at these highest levels of character and purpose.
Other opinions about the 19th?
I admit that my knowledge and thinking is English-language centric, but I suspect that that doesn’t upset the issue.
19th century:
Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)
Klein, I’m gonna go with Darwin as the best representative of liberalism.
No thinker has fortified my libertarian values as much as Darwin.
Origin of the Species highlights the importance of diversity/variation. There is a humbleness in Darwin that strikes me as inherently liberal/libertarian. Darwin seems to be telling us to celebrate diversity, because man has no real idea how the world works. Its fruitless to try to master the inner workings of the world. Lets narrow our focus to solving specific problems.
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