His column is here.
George Will on The Price of Everything
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{ 21 comments }
Congratulations! Nice to see a H/T to your book in a national news mag.
The George Will column is a well-deserved kudos from one great writer to another. I hope we get to read more such novels from you.
Wow! To have George Will writing about your book. That's awesome!
Congrats.
Russell– this post allows me to take back what I wrote earlier on the blog criticizing your book. I got to the end. I loved it. Very touching, human story. I loved how I could really see in Prof Lieber's accomplishment your own goals and dreams as an economics professor. Great stuff.
Got in the car last night and heard a familiar voice talking about markets on the radio. It was Russ being interviewed by a local radio host. They talked about his book and mentioned the Cafe Hayek several times. Congratulations. My backlog of books to read is long but I guess I'll have to add this one as well.
Good for you, Muirgeo. I suspect that you will read it the way I read the bible, i.e., hyper-critically… but still…
Hell, I guess I should start reading some of these guy's books too. Gotta support the people who are making sense… and I do spend a lot of time on airplanes with nothing better to do…
That reminds me…I'm wondering if the following is a good response to the "Libertarians still drive on roads" complaint, can you help me out:
Usual Fan of Government: blah, blah, blah, you're libertarian, but you still drive on public roads.
My new libertarian response: Well, if the government hadn't built those highways, we'd probably be all be getting around in a nice, efficient electric rail system.
Xmas… That reply paints you as a Ron Paul libertarian, which in my book isn't too flattering. The practical libertarian of today realizes that there is a large public sector. We're not just conservatives yelling "stop!". We're looking at systems and seeing where private competition can/should replace public monopolies. It is more than fair to say that in the past, the concept of private high capacity roads had a serious billing problem. It's also reasonable to speculate that the path to eventual widespread road privatization might involve more publicly funded toll roads or conversion of existing freeways or lanes to tollways or lanes, followed by selling the assets to private firms. It's better if this is driven by market need rather than ideological crusade. In fact, it's even more consistent with the ideological crusade if it pans out that way.
As for Russ's book… I loved it. I really didn't expect to. I bought it to support the cause. I thought that Arnold Kling and others were kinda chiming in to support the cause. But I was wrong. It is a great story. It is the kind of story we need to eventually combat the horrendous economic stupidity that follows disasters. That his story is lovable could be what might give it wider appeal than the libertarian echo chamber that wants to support the cause, so to speak.
Xmas,
That's my response too. Though I figure it would be mostly bicycles, golf carts, and ATVs. Many highways would still exist, but they would all be toll roads, jointly owned and operated by shipping companies.
Nice press release. I’m interested.
Found a used copy on ebay. hmmmm…. wonder if the economics of buying used products addressed in the book?
Oh yeah…since I butted in on the post with my own crazy ramblings…
That's a nice review for the book btw. I'll have to pick up a copy.
That is a nice euphemism for a beltway lobbyist/corporatist/fascist **wink**wink**
give me a bail out type closet Keynesian.
Oil Shock… Pick up a copy of this when it's out in paperback later this month:
http://www.amazon.com/Road-More-Traveled-Congestion-Matters/dp/0742551121
The author, Ted Balaker, was a college buddy of mine. He worked with Dan Klein (now at GMU). Was a producer for John Stossel. And lately has produced reason.tv segments for Drew Carey. I think you'll find that he and co-author Sam Staley take a very practical approach to transportation.
Bringing this back to Russ' book. I think the real genius of the story is that Ruth is confident enough in her ideas to let things play out and pick her teaching moments. Intentional or not, it's a lesson for libertarians trying to influence the wider society and culture.
Hats off to Russ. I haven't read it yet, though I have been on a buying spree of his other works for the unwitting subjects of my (remarkably successful) free market crusade. I can't wait to read this one too. Keep up the good work — this material actually serves its intended purpose very well; even if at the tail end of a series of long debates.
Ok, You all gotta see this:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/economists_warn_anti_bush
I think everyone will get a kick out of it here as it deals with markets and what happens when markets are in a sudden state of near-collapse.
Bosco,
I was responding to your suggestion that a practical libertarian is somehow more credible than a principled one.
I'm more wary of so-called principled libertarians, than practical ones.
People that describe themselves as principled or purists usually tend to be disconnected from reality. The Left has Utopia, the principled libertarian has some strange world where swords magically turn to plowshares when America finally disbands their entire military.
Anyway, I'm very happy for Russ. It's not Oprah, but that should bring in some much deserved sales, and the website might get some new visitors as well, though that might be a mixed bag.
"We," says Ruth, "create them with our actions, but not intentionally. They are tapestries we weave unknowingly."
Russ, there is no we.
Isn't capitalism great? You type on your keyboard and we all magically read that garbage. I would guess that it takes a lot less magic to turn swords into plows. No need to disband the military or for that matter "practical libertarians" to plan it for any of us.
We could disband most of the empire, and the idled resources would reorganize spontaneously into profitable organizations if we let them. What else would they do? Making plowshares doesn't require any more magic than making swords. Only a misplaced reverence for swordsmiths feeding at the public trough leads to this conclusion.
Mildly off topic: no link love for CafeHayek in the Newsweek online piece? Lame. Mainstream media in on the internet but not of it.
Speaking of "I pencil", my favorite show on basic cable is "How it's Made They show the manufacturing process of fire hydrants, saddles, car seats, butter, etc. Every episode is amazing, not just because there's so much involved in making, say, a hockey stick, but because of everything involved in making the machines that make the hockey stick.
It's almost a "it's turtles all the way down" kind of thing.