Malthusianism? That Malthusianism, The "theory" That Human Populations Always Eventually Grow To The

The mutuals were so right. Reading On Self-Respect by Joan Didion DOES stop you from losing your fucking mind

I'm enjoying The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy so far, but it's rather high level, and it's been a few years since I last studied economics. So, I picked up a little refresher. And read the whole thing in a day.

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, by Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman, is very, very good.

Graphic novels are great for bringing dry subjects to life. Klein and Bauman's examples show that economics is about people making choices, and their choices affecting each other's lives:

And it helps put abstract concepts into concrete terms:

The text is funny and easy to follow, even if you hate math and know nothing about economics. I think it's a very good introduction to how capitalism is supposed to work, in theory. You can certainly criticize capitalism - I do - but these books will show you the nature of the beast that we're up against.

It's very difficult for an economics book to be politically neutral. But Klein and Bauman's work is factual, avoids strongly right-wing or left-wing slants, and they acknowledge systemic problems like colonialism, exploitation of poor communities, and climate change. They also offer a few suggestions for addressing these problems. The books are USA-centric but include examples from other countries, too.

Oh yeah, there's actually two books. One for micro-economics, and one for macro-economics.

Microeconomics looks at a single individual, business, or market. So volume one covers:

Marginal utility and cost

Supply and demand

Cost-benefit analysis

How markets self-organize and stabilize

Auctions

Risk

How interest rates work

Present vs. future value of a good

Information asymmetry

What makes a market competitive or not

Game theory, including the prisoner's dilemma and the tragedy of the commons

How taxation affects markets

Price and demand elasticity

Macroeconomics looks at an entire economy, or multiple economies, and how they interact. Volume two explores:

Gross Domestic Product

How to measure quality of life

Monetary policy and fiscal policy

Unemployment

Inflation and deflation

Classical vs. Keynesian economics

Free trade vs. protectionism

Aging populations

Currency exchange

Foreign aid and exploitation

Climate change and pollution

Addressing global poverty and inequality

Strategies for mitigating economic crashes

However, these books do not cover:

Marxist and socialist views of economics

Effects of colonialism and discrimination

The role of unions

Social safety nets

Indigenous and traditional societies' economics

Behavioral economics

Personal finance

Stock markets

What causes economic bubbles and crashes

And probably more things I forgot

They're not a substitute for a real textbook or college course. But they're a great starting point, and a fun read.

The number one phrase I have adopted into my lexicon from ACD Sherlock Holmes is all the times Watson says “I cudgeled my brains” when he’s trying and failing to think through a mystery. Huge mood, deeply relatable, I too spend far too much time cudgeling my brains with no real result

if only cicero HAD chosen catullus for his son-in-law.

📺

From the ask game: 📺 - Favourite show?

It's gotta be Yes Minister, a British political comedy from the 1980s. It follows the newly-elected, party-unspecified minister Jim Hacker in his attempts to fix problems and survive government bureaucracy. Usually, he fails. Sometimes, this is for the best. He is a short-sighted, rather panicky politician, after all.

The writing, acting, directing, and humor are incredibly, consistently great, and it's held up remarkably well for its age. I think much of that is because the conflicts are based on real events and conflicts of interest, rather than putting down "the other side" or minorities. (When Jim says something ignorant, he is the butt of the joke.) This also makes the show pretty bipartisan. Even the main antagonist, Humphrey of the civil service, is likable, clever, and occasionally in the right.

If you watch it, get the original, not the remakes. Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington are national treasures.

hey you're doing a great job, just remember: a semicolon can be used to combine two sentences where you might otherwise use a period; this allows you to create longer and longer run-on sentences

reading any dostoyevski book your main takeaway will always be yeah no i see why every other author was in love with this miserable russian man . and justice prevails slow and greets you when youve changed too much to still be in need of its comfort

I'm reading about the Victorian Aesthetic movement and I was violently reminded of...

...Sherlock Holmes's 'rose monologue' from The Naval Treaty, HI HELLO CAN ANYONE HEAR ME

when you start reading again and it's like oh. oh . the sun actually does still shine.