Dagny and Nike
Now I remember what this picture of Dagny Taggart reminded me of. Works of art, indeed.
Argentina, Hong Kong, and the psychology of belief
Over the last 80 years, the world rankings of Hong Kong and Argentina: Resource-poor Hong Kong’s relatively laissez-faire free market has taken it from poverty to riches. Resource-rich Argentina’s experiments in statism have taken it from prosperity to decline and semi-functionality. In this Wall Street Journal/Heritage ranking, Hong Kong is currently first in the world
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Defending Shylock — Kindle version
My essay, Defending Shylock: Productive Work in Financial Markets, is now available in Kindle format. In this essay, I discuss the great value that financial markets add to an economy and the nature of the intellectual work that underlays them. In addition, I argue against the critics of financial markets who argue that those who
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Atlas Shrugged movie — first reaction
As someone who read and loved the book, this movie totally worked for me. Schilling’s Dagny is intelligent, emotionally expressive, and beautiful. Bowler’s Hank Rearden is equally intelligent and competent, with occasionally bemused, understated humor and equally occasionally understated anger. And the sexual chemistry between the two — yes, indeed. Wisocky is tone-perfect as that
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APEE update — Deirdre McCloskey
Why did the modern economic revolution in production and trade first happen in north-western Europe? At the APEE conference, Deirdre McCloskey delivered a plenary address based on her new book, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World. Her argument is that neither material resources nor technology nor capital accumulation nor geographical factors drove
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Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 2.0 — Sleep
A stunning glimpse of the future of the new media:
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APEE update — Elinor Ostrom
I’m looking forward to learning new things at my APEE session tomorrow on “Hayek and Rand on Values.” The panelists are Emily Chamlee-Wright, Steve Horwitz, Edward Hudgins, and William Kline, each of whom knows a lot about both Hayek and Rand. At the opening banquet tonight, we heard an address from Lin Ostrom, 2009 Nobel
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Are babies born to dance?
“Babies Are Born to Dance, New Research Shows” is the headline of a recent report in Science Daily: “Researchers have discovered that infants respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech.” Data like this connect with key issues about mind-body integration. Music seems to be central to every
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