I assume posting is going to be light around here for the next couple of weeks since we’re nearing the end of the semester. (Fun fact: I’m in the process of turning one of my very first blog posts into a paper this semester.) In lieu of something substantive, I thought I’d start a new tradition on this blog.
Tyler Cowen periodically posts “What I’ve Been Reading” which sums up all the books he’s read recently. My productivity is nowhere near his, so I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m making something called “Amazon Arrivals.” Every so often I get the Amazon itch and order a few of the books that have been on my wish list for months. I’ll probably read them over the coming vacation. The last batch included:
The Great Transformation: I’m a little bit embarrassed that I haven’t read this yet. Polanyi explains why I’m a big dope for advocating for more free market institutions. Also, he explains why labor cannot be treated like other commodities in economic analysis. Without having read it yet, I’m probably in agreement there. It’s a subject I don’t think the Austrians have explored adequately yet.
Government and the American Economy: This book is what happens when you take the best economic historians of our time and put them together. Seriously. It’s got Fishback, Higgs, Engerman, Hummel, Margo, and a foreword by North (among others!). I want to be to economic sociology what these guys are to economic history.
Work Under Capitalism: If one Tilly is good then two of them are even better. I got to know Chris when he was teaching at UMass (now he’s out directing the UCLA Labor Center). He was one of the only professors who could ask me simple questions which I couldn’t even attempt to answer without at least a week’s worth of thought. He’s also the reason I got into sociology in the first place. I’m slowly trying to read everything written by anyone named Tilly.
Critical Theories of the State: The book surveys all the major Marxist theories of the state. I’ve got my knowledge of Public Choice theory down, so now I’m working on really understanding all the fine differences in the varieties of Marxist theory. Barrow breaks it down into Marxist, Neo-Marxist, and Post-Marxist. See, I didn’t even know there was a Post-Marxism!
The Handbook of Economic Sociology: 2nd edition. I’ve been reading all the articles over the semester from a borrowed copy, but I figured I had to give it back sooner or later. Besides, this is one of the books that you should own if you want to call yourself an economic sociologist.
- Josh McCabe
Interesting list Josh!
My Amazon Arrivals are the following:
1. Up From History: The Life and Times of Booker T. Washington
2. Alexis de Tocqueville: The First Social Scientist
3. Tocqueville’s Political Economy
4. The Politics of Bureaucracy
(While I certainly do not have the time to do so, I plan to read these by the end of January)
“Government and the American Economy” is truly great; I use it as one of the texts in my economic history class.
Let me know how you like Up From History. I might have to add it to my list!
Also, the WP version of Robert Margo’s chapter had considerable influence on my dissertation.
On my not-so-very-recent Amazon arrivals list were
Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts by Hunter Lewis
The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates by Pete Leeson
and
Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective by Kevin Carson.
Also a lot of fun.
I’m slowly trying to read everything written by anyone named Tilly.
I think Meg Tilly has an autobiography.