Review of Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World (Hardcover)

Boaz has assembled a very fine collection of essays regarding liberty and the failings of modern societies to create a world in which we can live as free men. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in libertarian (or for that matter free market or conservative) political thought.

Just to tone down my entheusiasm a bit, though, I would add that many of the essays may seem a little elementary to someone who has been reading libertarian publications for a long time. But on the whole, this is a solid, highly readable work full of ammunition for your libertarian debating arsenal.



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Review of It's Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 years (Hardcover)

It is fashionable to bemoan the state of the world. The conventional wisdom is that global warming, Terrorism, drug abuse, crime, AIDS and all the rest of the crises threatening humanity lead us to the conclusion that the "good old days" were somehow better, safer and saner than today.

But, if things are so bad why is infant mortality going down around the world? If things are on the edge of anarchy why are proportionately fewer of us hungry, or sick today than one hundred years ago. If things are going to hell in a handbasket why is our life expectancy steadily improving?

These are inconvenient questions. The answers are tough on the prophets of doom.

Luckily, the conventional wisdom is wrong. Stephen Moore and Julian Simon prove this convincingly. Facts are often inconvenient. But, if you want to know the facts, this is the book for you.



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Review of Mad About Trade: Why Main Street America should Embrace Globalization (Hardcover)

Dan Griswold does an excellent job debunking plenty of myths about free trade and globalization in a friendly, easy to read way that appeals directly to the average American.

Although opponents of trade love to use anecdotes and tug on our heartstrings with depressing stories of layoffs and factory closings, Griswold makes sure to back up his assertions with facts and hard data (in addition to some compelling anecdotes of his own). There's no cherry picking of statistics from certain years, but rather a complete picture of who gains and who loses from trade. He directly addresses the fallacies in the points frequently brought up on evening news broadcasts that real wages have stagnated in recent decades and that our country just isn't manufacturing much of anything anymore.

He battles protectionists right on their own turf and very convincingly shows that trade barriers in fact have a very negative effect on our country's poorest. Griswold delves into a little public choice theory to explain how our regressive tariff schedule came to be in the first place, and shows the benefits of free trade are often not very visible, but very real. He also convincingly breaks down why our trade deficit with China is exaggerated, and how even for protectionists it can still be patriotic to buy an iPod made from parts from at least a dozen other countries.

If I had to recommend one book for any of my friends to read about trade, this would no doubt be it. It hits every relevant point on the issue, providing engaging, fun to read, and easy to understand arguments. I'm an economics major, and even after taking plenty of classes dealing with international trade, I still came away from this book learning some valuable new things myself.



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Review of Financial Fiasco: How America's Infatuation with Home Ownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis (Hardcover)

Having read the Swedish version of this book I have to say that it is one of the most complete and convincing books on the financial crisis that I have read.

It covers the role that both the state and the market play in this crisis.

On the behalf of the state in the form of the Federal Reserve pumping out liquidity at an incredibly low interest rate as well as in the form of the failed mortgage institutes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issuing loans to people with doubtful payment ability.

And on the behalf of the market in the form of the investmenk banks such as Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch in investing tremendous sums of money in complex products based on these mortgages that turned foul.

The book argues that it is the short-termism of both the politicians as well as that of the investment bankers that have played a major role in creating this crisis. It also argues that many of the actions implemented by american politicians to save the banks are short-term, have a rather small effect on the economy, costs a lot of money and send the wrong signals to investors in the future.

The book covers a lot more than what I have been able to summarize here, and feel free to add further information on this book, but all in all it is an entertaining and enlightening read that I advice everyone wanting to understand this financial crisis to read.



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