Seems like a new theme…Again this week, I was happy to see Jason Zweig’s post on his experience with “one of the best interviewers anywhere,” our very own Russ Roberts.
And it turns out that this week’s guest is also quite the blues enthusiast, frequently jamming with her band, the Tomtown Ramblers. And here’s Clay Shirky’s review of O’Neil’s book, Weapons of Math Destruction, in the New York Times. (Shirky, too, was a guest on EconTalk back in 2008. I loved “Here Comes Everybody”…)
Another recent EconTalk episode that generated its share of controversy was this one with Terry Moe, in which he proposes greater legislative power for the President at the expense of the Congress. So I was interested to see this Washington Post story about the move to increase the US House of Representatives. Which one seems the better plan to you?
If you’ve been following the unfolding Brexit drama, the Telegraph reprints Theresa May’s speech at the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham. She calls for “an economy for everyone” and a much more activist role for government. Not quite the sort of vision for Britain offered here by Pedro Schwartz…
Also a lot of noise this week regarding who will be announced as the newest Nobel laureate next week… Our own David Henderson offered his thoughts here, and Don Boudreaux here. At Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen put out two possibilities. The folks from Reuters, who have a pretty good track record, name these two. Here’s the list of all the past recipients; you can also access their Nobel addresses. What do you think? Who WILL win, and who SHOULD win?
What else are you reading these days?
READER COMMENTS
Phil
Oct 8 2016 at 5:58pm
I’m reading Inside the Nudge Unit by David Halpern. The Nudge Unit is the nickname for the British government’s Behavioural Insights Team. Halpern launched it. I’m suspicious of government officials channeling us into doing whatever they think is best for us. So far I’m four chapters into the book and nothing creepy yet. At a minimum, I worry what government employees with big budgets will dream up to treat us as guinea pigs. At worst, I worry about the worst getting on top.
Amy Willis
Oct 10 2016 at 9:19am
@Phil, thanks for the suggestion!
We also got this great suggestion over twitter: Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.
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