Make my day
“A wonderful book for an ignorant reader: it makes me a bit less narrow minded. One of best.”
Topping the charts
Topping the charts Rather inexplicably, The Mechanics of Modernity is doing really well on the Amazon sales charts. The rankings vary a bit since they are updated hourly, but right now it’s at #18 in “international economics,” at #16 in “development and growth economics,” and at #26 in “economic history.” But, I should add, this […]
Comments on Comments
Comments on comments My short, 1,500, word piece with “Comments on McCloskey and Weingast” was just published in Scandinavian Economic History Review. You can read it here. Remarkable how this happened. Once I finally realized that McCloskey had discussed my work to some considerable extent in her original article, I contacted the editors of the journal and suggested […]
A newer, more radical, modernity
A Newer, More Radical, Modernity I just finished another article, “A Newer, More Radical, Modernity: A Prolegomena to a Politics of the Potential.” You can read it here. The abstract goes like this: Radical politics in modern society was premised on a constructivist ontology which now increasingly has been abandoned in favor of political solutions based […]
Comments on McCloskey and Weingast
Comments on McCloskey and Weingast I wrote this brief, 5-page, article in response to the articles by Deirdre McCloskey and Barry Weingast in the Scandinavian Economic History Review. You can read the whole article here. A few quotes: “McCloskey is provocative to be sure, passionate as always, but also perfectly persuasive. Yet something is still […]
McCloskey on Why Europe Was First
McCloskey on Why Europe Was First This is an excerpt from an article by Deirdre McCloskey where she discusses my book Why Europe Was First. The Swedish political scientist Erik Ringmar’s answer to the question Why was Europe first? begins from the simple and true triad of points that all change involves an initial reflection […]
Bad Samaritans
Bad samaritans https://youtu.be/yZAfLIKrp9A New York Review of Books has a review by William Easterly, “The Anarchy of Success,” of Ha-Joon Chang’s latest book, Bad Samaritans. No, he doesn’t like it very much. I’m surprised Easterly comes across as such a free-market enthusiast. That’s unusual for someone writing in the NYRB. This is not to say, however, that […]
Deirdre McCloskey uses my book!
Economical writing Deirdre McCloskey, distinguished professor of economics at the University of Illinois uses my Why Europe Was First for a course she teaching at the University of Gothenburg this summer. Yes, I knew someone would discover this book in the end! Professor McCloskey is a very interesting person with some considerable cult following. Lets […]
CNN anchor reads academic book!
CNN anchor reads academic book Jamie FlorCruz is CNN’s leading man in China, and in his “Jamie’s China” column he is quoting my Mechanics of Modernity: Within its Great Wall, China has exerted strong control over its people. From the era of feudal warlords to modern China, rulers have been obsessed with avoiding bottom-up peasant revolts. The perpetual question […]
Paperback edition just out!
Paperback writer Routledge has finally decided to bring out The Mechanics of Modernity in a paperback edition. Yippie! The hardback was just far, far too expensive (180 dollars US). The paperback is expensive too, but at least it’s a price — 45 dollars — someone but a library conceivably could be imagined to pay. Btw, Ulrike […]