Books (not Boobs)

Not exactly exciting, but very interesting.

I admit to cheating. Audiobooks make the commute much more enjoyable.

I have it, but it's still in the waiting queue.

This is supposed to be just as good and an easier read:

Tony Atkinson is a pretty smart guy.

Capital isn't really all that difficult of a read, but he goes over the supporting data exhaustively so it can be pretty tedious. Does this book come to the same conclusions more or less?

Basically Piketty's recommendation at the end of the book is to implement a progressive tax on wealth with a large one time tax to kick it all off. Not exactly something you are going to hear from politicians any time soon.

Capital isn't really all that difficult of a read, but he goes over the supporting data exhaustively so it can be pretty tedious. Does this book come to the same conclusions more or less?

Basically Piketty's recommendation at the end of the book is to implement a progressive tax on wealth with a large one time tax to kick it all off. Not exactly something you are going to hear from politicians any time soon.

I haven't read it. Only reviews (it's on order). I think that the conclusions similar. Here is a review from The Economist.

Mr Piketty’s book sprawled over more than 600 pages, laying claim to the intellectual traditions of David Ricardo and Karl Marx and serving up a neat, all-encompassing (if controversial and widely challenged) theory of long-run inequality. Wisely, Sir Anthony has chosen a more digestible approach; “Inequality” is quieter, shorter and more direct. Whereas Mr Piketty offered long ruminations on Honoré de Balzac, Sir Anthony’s is a crunchy book that analyses policy discussions in detail but avoids dullness, thanks to its unapologetic support for aggressive government intervention.

just ordered:

Am currently reading this one. I highly recommend it to anyone who is learning/teaching any martial art.

highly recommended, well written with a dark sense of humour similiar to alot of Coen Brothers films.

Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Chronicles, an three-parts series…

Fantasy really made a comeback eh? Tolkein's got company now it seems.

Game of Thrones got me reading the genre again after decades away.

Over the last year i worked through the famous "appendix N", Gary Gygax's and Dave Arneson's list of inspirational reading.

http://www.digital-eel.com/blog/ADnD_reading_list.htm

I've read through most of the list, it has been really interesting seeing some of the inspiration behind modern SciFi and fantasy. For example George Lucas seems to have taken some "inspiration" from Edgar Rice Burrough's (a racist, be forewarned) use of a villain named "the sith" and a mixed group of space adventures with a large intelligent hairy sidekick rescuing a princess…

Anyhow, if anyone's looking for a whole bookcase of fantasy to get through, there's the list.

Right now I'm really looking forward to reading Patrick Rothfuss, he's been great to watch at Pax.

highly recommended, well written with a dark sense of humour similiar to alot of Coen Brothers films.

Excellent book! Highly recommended.

Nemesis Games. The duo-authors are back on solid ground with two in a row after a crap third book in their "trilogy". Not done, but loved everything so far.

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't. Another book on probability and why it's the "right" way to think. The baseball section dragged on for me but the explanation of Bayesian Probability was one of the best ones I've come across.

The Wee Free Men I read about 40-50 of Pratchett's books in a row when I discovered the first. The Tiffany Aching series is perfect for my girls so I got the audio book version of it for our trip to the interior this summer. It was loved by all.

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics A book by Richard Thaler, a dude who worked a lot with Daniel Kahneman who've I've yet to shut up about. Behavioural psychology, good stuff.

All of the Iain M. Banks books. Sigh. Can't believe I've finished them. Think I liked Excession the best, but Hydrogen Sonata was incredible as well.

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't. Another book on probability and why it's the "right" way to think. The baseball section dragged on for me but the explanation of Bayesian Probability was one of the best ones I've come across.

If you like Bayesian stuff. You'd probably like this. I really liked it.

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics A book by Richard Thaler, a dude who worked a lot with Daniel Kahneman who've I've yet to shut up about. Behavioural psychology, good stuff.

I assume you've read Nudge too? In a similar vein, I just picked this up, which is a bit duller/slower than Thaler's stuff.

Also in behavioral econ, this is out in the UK, but I cant seem to find it here yet. Bound to be some interesting stuff in it.

If you like Bayesian stuff. You'd probably like this. I really liked it.

Hmmm, that used to be on my wish list but has disappeared! Thanks for the reminder…

I'm a believer of "paternal libertarianism" and "choice architecture".. that said, I think Nudge could have been chopped in half.

I'd love to hear if:

Brings anything new to the table…

Nemesis Games. The duo-authors are back on solid ground with two in a row after a crap third book in their "trilogy". Not done, but loved everything so far.

Don't read this until next June-ish.

Hmmm, that used to be on my wish list but has disappeared! Thanks for the reminder…

I'm a believer of "paternal libertarianism" and "choice architecture".. that said, I think Nudge could have been chopped in half.

I'd love to hear if:

Brings anything new to the table…

You mean 'libertarian paternalism'? ;-)
Ive got some issues with it, but Thaler did a good job addressing them in Misbehaving. If nothing else, I think it adds to the 'debate'. I've yet to read any of Cass Sunstein's individual efforts but I might have to give one a go just for sh*ts and giggles.

Also, if you like economics and such, and you're a fan of Thaler, this might make your head explode. Hal Varian interviews Thaler at Google :love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42qbHeFxdzE

You mean 'libertarian paternalism'? ;-)

Haa! Totally. So is it age that fucks us up or is it the simple fact of filling our heads with limitless info that bungles it all about? I sticking to the latter until someone proves me wrong ;)

Ive got some issues with it, but Thaler did a good job addressing them in Misbehaving. If nothing else, I think it adds to the 'debate'. I've yet to read any of Cass Sunstein's individual efforts but I might have to give one a go just for sh*ts and giggles.

Out of the entire group, Tetlock included, Sunstein's book was the worst, but relative to the others that can be construed as praise.

Also, if you like economics and such, and you're a fan of Thaler, this might make your head explode. Hal Varian interviews Thaler at Google :love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42qbHeFxdzE

Thanks for that, I'll watch it soon!

(re: McGrayne - I had no idea how much of an impact Laplace had on society)