This book is a loose collection of interviews the authors had with ten economists about the free market–its history, future, and contemporary intersection with modern society around the world.
At the beginning, the authors differentiate between what they call Economics 1.0 and Economics 2.0. The former is how economics has been studied for most of its history–in terms of commodities and the “scarce allocation of resources.” The latter is less about raw materials or tracking the swings in supply and demand, and more about the value of information.
Another way of looking at it is that Economics 1.0 studies the hardware in a computer, and Economics 2.0 studies the “software layer” containing the intangible things that have economic value–and the social and political institutions that are a necessary condition for this sort of value to develop. Economics 2.0 explains that when I purchase a new car today, most of the sale price is not going toward the physical materials making up the vehicle; rather, I am paying for all the knowledge and information accumulated over time that go into that vehicle: the physics required to design an aerodynamic body, the electrical components and computer systems that make a thousand minor calculations and adjustments per second as I speed onward, the insights required to design an anti-lock brake system, or airbags, or rear-view cameras, or electric engines.
Takeaway: An American Classic.
Takeaway: Is anyone better at writing paranoid fiction than Philip K Dick?
Summary: Cedar, the new Queen of TÃr na nÓg, is trying to adjust to her new life and new powers. But all the Unseen (the magical creatures of Earth) have started dying.
Another fast-paced, well-written whodunit from JK Rowling. It’s been 8 months since Cormoran Strike solved the murder of model Lula Landry, and now an Owen Quine, an author of mild success, has gone missing. He ultimately turns up dead–in a gruesome scene that mirrors the ending of his latest to-be-published novel. That novel is a non-subtle attack on numerous celebrities in the publishing world, and the list of those depicted who may respond with murder is a long one. Strike and his assistant Robin meticulously gather the evidence in pursuit of a killer with an impressive ability for planning and forethought.
Summary: Very practical and biblical look at the way we are to handle the everyday small and large conflicts in our lives.
