This book is extremely good. Robert C Allen is a serious economic historian and examines one of the great "what ifs" in history, the 1920s-30s transformation of the USSR against plausible counterfactuals. Examines everything from living standards to demographics. V much recommend

Wrote something up on taxes

Life update, I recently got a new study buddy. She's not super across the literature but I'm quickly getting her up to date

Against Money by @jwmason.bsky.social and @arjunjayadev.bsky.social is simply terrific, probably the best book I've read this year. From capital, to the interest rate, to GDP, they examine the ways in which the money form governs our lives and can observe social relations. Definitely recommend.

My recommendations on tax and tax policy

There's a lot of discourse rn about capital taxation, and the principle that should govern it. I recommend people check out this recent Stiglitz work on the topic. He's a leading thinker on the topic and knows much more about the econ models used in the debate than most.

This new @drodrik.bsky.social book is extremely good. Adapting old insights to a changing world, such as the decreasing labour intensity of manufacturing, Rodrik argues forcefully for a sensible approach to global governance and development. Strongly recommend.

During WW2, Milton Friedman argued against sales taxes in favour of the income tax. This was primarily for equity reasons, noting income tax “permits the cost of the war to be distributed explicitly in a socially desirable manner.”

I turned the Atkinson-Stiglitz (1976) critique of Ramsey Taxes into a meme

My reads since July

Some recommendations in economic history

Interesting Stiglitz passage reconciling Piketty's R>G with traditional neoclassic understandings of capital. Basically the volume of wealth ≠ the capital stock, as it also includes exploitation rents. Wealth can actually increase while the capital stock declines.

This tome of a book is excellent. I've always liked Stiglitz, but wished his books did more academic deep dives. This book does that, presenting the current research on inequality, as well as the corresponding models plus variations. Highly recommend.

My contribution to the welfare state debate: Pre-transfers, the Child Poverty Rate is 100% [Link below]

A nice passage from Barr explaining why publicly provision is gold flr healthcare, but food stamps are bad (just give them money). It comes down to whether market mechanisms work in the sector. If they do, then the key issue for the poor is their lack of purchasing power.

Here are some recommendations for progressive policies analysis

I've been reading/rereading a few biographies recently, these are a few I've enjoyed

Picked my brother up from the train station and feeling like a unique individual

My reads since April

Here's a few well written critiques of mainstream economics

A few recommended readings on the welfare state

My favourite reads of the year so far

Some recommendations on history of economic thought

I've been reading/rereading a few biographies recently, these are a few I've enjoyed

Olson however has a more coherent theory of political economy

With billionaires in the discourse again, here are some great reads on the topic of extreme wealth

My reads this June

While people cite Atkinson-Stiglitz (1976) to argue against capital taxes, both the paper's authors supported such taxes. Here Stiglitz notes "Those who [advocated abolishing capital taxes] typically did not understand (or did not want to understand) the limitations of the model.

In many ways, Milanovic's recent book reminds me of Chomsky's Understanding Power, which collates many of his interviews and responses to Q&A. It's an unusual book structure, but provides a better overall picture of how someone's thought fits together than you do for normal books

During WW2, Milton Friedman argued against sales taxes in favour of the income tax. This was primarily for equity reasons, noting income tax “permits the cost of the war to be distributed explicitly in a socially desirable manner.”

I wish there were more books by significant thinkers like this: a collection of musings on topics from migration to inequality to history. @brankomilan.bsky.social recent book is a collection of his articles: curated and sorted by theme. Thoroughly enjoyed, very much recommend.

My recommendations on economic growth and development

Me when somebody asks for my opinion on a policy question

Capitalism and its Critics by @johncassidysays.bsky.social is great, enjoyable read. It's structure reminds me of the Worldly Philosophers, a chronology of thinkers tied together based on a common theme, here being notable critics of capitalism. I v much recommend.

Macroeconomists explaining Real Business Cycle theory to their students

My recent reads: Rebels Clinic - terrific work, absolutely would recommend Inflation - good and highly readable, wish it was longer and more technical

My favourite books on economics as a discipline

Amartya Sen: "[the] result [of the Second fundamental theorems of welfare economics] can be of real use only as a part of some 'revolutionary's handbook', transforming the ownership of means of production before getting the market to do the rest."

I only recently started The Rebel's Clinic and I'm already hooked. This detailed, engaging and deeply human work examines the life of Franz Fanon, a psychiatrist and revolutionary, and one of the 20th century's most important thinkers. Highly recommend.

Reads since April

This tome of a book is excellent. I've always liked Stiglitz, but wished his books did more academic deep dives. This book does that, presenting the current research on inequality, as well as the corresponding models plus variations. Highly recommend.

My favourite reads of 2024

"Abundance" is getting a lot of discourse, so here's some great books with similar themes

The Measure of Progress by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social is a terrific recent work. If you've ever wondered what goes into the numbers which dominate economic discourse: GDP, Productivity etc, this is a great deep dive into them. It's also a nice balance between technical and accessible.