Of all the books that I’ve read in the past 15 years (which is about equal in number to the books that Tyler Cowen has read in the past 15 weeks), the one that has had the biggest impact on my view of the world is Democracy and Decision, by Geoffrey Brennan and Loren Lomasky, published in 1993 by Cambridge University Press. This book provides key insights for public-choice scholars – key insights that were largely unknown before this book’s publication.
And now, taking Brennan and Lomasky to the next, higher level is my colleague Bryan Caplan’s first book, The Myth of the Rational Voter (Princeton University Press, 2007). I will bold but sincere in my praise: persons who do not grasp the lessons in Bryan’s book cannot understand politics as well as persons who do grasp those lessons.
Buy a copy. Read it. Ponder it. Learn.
