Archive for September, 2009
Currently Reading Roundup
Posted by Benjamin J. Thompson | Filed under Economics, Essays, Fiction, Liberty, Literature
At the moment I am working my way through the following books:
- End the Fed by Ron Paul
- A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (this is my second read through)
- Socialism by Ludwig von Mises
End the Fed
It may just be the fact that I am a ravenous reader of LewRockwell.com and Mises.org, but End the Fed is by far the quickest, easiest read out of the three at the moment. Ron Paul was never a stunning public speaker, but his writing — or what becomes of his writing when his editor(s) get through with it — is concise, incisive and accessible. Amazon.com was gracious enough to send the book early, and in spite of not cracking it open for several days, I’m most of the way through it. He starts by making the case for why the issue of monetary policy is so important, then walks the reader through his own intellectual journey, his experience of history so far, and his confrontations with past chairmen of the Federal Reserve. Further on, he makes several cases as to why a 100% reserve, hard money standard is vastly superior to what we have now.
A Fire Upon the Deep
I read this book years ago while still lazily studying computer science at UW Whitewater. I recently read the prequel (A Deepness in the Sky), which is in part a brilliant parable of liberty versus tyranny. Knowing a little more of Vinge’s political philosophy drove me to re-read this book, since I picked up so few of those hints the first time around.
Just as in A Deepness in the Sky, Vinge takes for granted at every turn that the reader is curious and observant. I’d been reading so much economic commentary, and so much fluffier fiction in the Harry Potter books recently that Vinge was an intellectually challenging change of pace. It felt like the first day resuming an exercise regimen after a long hiatus.
Socialism
Precipitated by all the political tension around that word, socialism, these days, I decided I should read the book known as the ultimate refutation of every fallacy that feeds into the socialist theory. It is translated from German, and the man was notorious for his unique turns of phrase, even after translation. Reading Mises is a bit like seeing the same old room, but illuminated from the bottom. The light is coming at things from an unfamiliar angle, revealing obvious things you never saw before.
Anyway, that’s what I’m up to reading right now. I highly recommend all these books, but please start with End the Fed. Whether you know it or not, it is at the root of every political issue today. The arguments might be about jobs or health care or bailouts or wars, but we will be facing the same problems over and over again until we confront central banking, for it is loose monetary policy that makes possible all the evils that bad politicians waste money on.