Dennis Leyden - aNobii

Books (49)

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- Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles (1)
- By Huerta de Soto, Jesús
- Reading since Sep 12, 2011
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- Branch Rickey (2)
- Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman
- By Lee Lowenfish
- Reading since Jul 19, 2010
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Branch Rickey

I'm looking forward to reading this. Branch Rickey was general manager of the Pirates in the 1950s and brought Jackie Robinson up with the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the color line. Should be interesting.

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— Jul 20, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Historical Atlas of New York City (13)
- A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City's History
- By Eric Homberger
- Finished on Jan 12, 2012
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- Barcelona (9)
- (Vintage)
- By Robert Hughes
- Finished on Dec 28, 2011
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- Booms and Depressions (1)
- Some First Principles
- By Irving Fisher
- Finished on Sep 29, 2011
  
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Booms and Depressions

http://dennisleyden.blogspot.com/2011/09/good-explanati…

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— Sep 30, 2011 | Add your feedback

- Tribes of Britain (5)
- By David Miles
- Finished on Jul 21, 2011
  
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Tribes of Britain

Enjoyable and quite readable demographic history of the British Isles. If there is one lesson from the book, it is that, for all their differences, the peoples of the British Isles are all closely related in an ever evolving mix of ethnicities and cultures. The US is not the only melting pot nation. ... (continue)

Enjoyable and quite readable demographic history of the British Isles. If there is one lesson from the book, it is that, for all their differences, the peoples of the British Isles are all closely related in an ever evolving mix of ethnicities and cultures. The US is not the only melting pot nation.

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— Jul 25, 2011 | Add your feedback
Utilit-
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- Utilitarianism (35)
- By John Stuart Mill
- Finished on Aug 3, 2010
  
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Utilitarianism

I just finished reading John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism for the first time. While I find it interesting, I have some problems with it, and given that it is in many ways the foundation for modern microeconomic analysis, it has led be to think hard about its implications for economics. Utilitarianis ... (continue)

I just finished reading John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism for the first time. While I find it interesting, I have some problems with it, and given that it is in many ways the foundation for modern microeconomic analysis, it has led be to think hard about its implications for economics. Utilitarianism is broadly defined as the belief that people are motivated by a desire for the greatest happiness (defined in the broadest sense) for the greatest number with all individuals of equal value, and with the route to happiness being justice which is defined as the right to not be coerced ("freedom") and to some basic set of goods (presumably associated with the basics of life). As a policy for government, I am sympathetic to it and suspect that most in the US would in the abstract find it attractive. But in practice it presents a fundamental problem: namely, greater freedom necessarily means a reduced ability to provide those certain goods, and an increased ability to provide those certain goods means less freedom. Thus, in practice, some balance between the two is needed, and here is where political battles are fought (think Libertarians versus Socialists). The reason for there are battles is that while Utilitarianism may appear to be desirable from a public policy, it is my experience that people in general do not use it to run their own lives. Thus, for example, Libertarians would resent the taxes needed to provide those necessary goods.
The implications for economics derive from the fact that standard microeconomics has for the most part focused on the goods aspect of Utilitarianism (think consumer surplus) and ignores the freedom notion (think process). How this might play out in economic thinking, I am not sure. It may be significant; it may be trivial. But I do think the dichotomy between goods and freedom lies at the conflicts that we see being played out in US politics today.

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— Aug 5, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Crazy '08 (3)
- How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History
- By Cait N. Murphy
- Finished on Jul 19, 2010
  
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Crazy '08

Fun book full of wonderful details about a remarkable baseball season. My only reason for not rating it higher was that as a story I didn't find it as gripping as I had hoped.

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— Jul 20, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Atlas Shrugged (1)
- (Part 3 of 3 parts)
- By Ayn Rand
- Finished on May 25, 2010
  
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Atlas Shrugged

Listened to this book for the first time. As a novel, it's a decent story that keeps you attention, though the heroic prose takes a while to get used to. As a philosophic treatise, it's interesting. I was rather surprised how much Rand's philosophy seems grounded in Aristotle (particularly his Et ... (continue)

Listened to this book for the first time. As a novel, it's a decent story that keeps you attention, though the heroic prose takes a while to get used to. As a philosophic treatise, it's interesting. I was rather surprised how much Rand's philosophy seems grounded in Aristotle (particularly his Ethics), something that I am quite sympathetic with. Her Libertarian conclusions which she derives from that ethical foundation make sense in the context of the novel. My problem lies in the fact that the real world is more complex that the world of the novel, and Rand doesn't address those complexities (issues such as imperfect information, public goods). But all in all, I am glad I listened to the book. It raises deep and complex issues, and that is a very good thing.

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— Jun 13, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Macroeconomics (2)
- By Charles I. Jones
- Finished on May 10, 2010
  
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Macroeconomics

Good intermediate macro text with one reservation

I used this textbook for the first time in spring 2010 in my intermediate macroeconomics class. I chose it in part because of its innovative use of the inflation rate (instead of the price level) in the aggregate-demand/aggregate-supply model. It is generally well written and manages to make what ... (continue)

I used this textbook for the first time in spring 2010 in my intermediate macroeconomics class. I chose it in part because of its innovative use of the inflation rate (instead of the price level) in the aggregate-demand/aggregate-supply model. It is generally well written and manages to make what can be rather arcane mathematics fathomable to students who are less mathematically inclined. My only problems, and they were severe, were with the online homework materials that accompany the text. They were full of mistakes and glitches that created serious problems when I taught the course.

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— Mar 23, 2009 | Add your feedback

- Animal Spirits (69)
- How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism
- By Robert J. Shiller, George A. Akerlof
- Finished on Apr 1, 2010
  
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Animal Spirits

A needed critique to modern macroeconomics

This is a wonderful book that provides a wonderful and needed critique of macroeconomics. In brief, macroeconomics desire for precision and elegance has been pursued at the expense of accuracy. The authors provide a general framework for how to correct this and suggest what difference it will make ... (continue)

This is a wonderful book that provides a wonderful and needed critique of macroeconomics. In brief, macroeconomics desire for precision and elegance has been pursued at the expense of accuracy. The authors provide a general framework for how to correct this and suggest what difference it will make. Every economics major should read this book.

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— Apr 5, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Happiness is like a Cur Dog (1)
- The Thirty-Year Journey of a Major League Baseball Pitcher and Broadcaster
- By Nelson J. King
- Finished on Feb 10, 2010
  
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Happiness is like a Cur Dog

This book is a charming memoir that will warm the heart of those who care about baseball in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and especially those with emotional attachment to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The editing is a bit rough, but that only makes the author's voice come through more authentically. The book ... (continue)

This book is a charming memoir that will warm the heart of those who care about baseball in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and especially those with emotional attachment to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The editing is a bit rough, but that only makes the author's voice come through more authentically. The book reads like a series of letters from a dear uncle.

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— Feb 11, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Macroeconomics in Context (1)
- By Neva Goodwin
- Finished in Dec 2009
  
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Macroeconomics in Context

A wonderful principles of macroeconomics text!

I used this textbook in fall 2009 with my principles of macroeconomics courses. I chose it because (1) my good experience with the authors' microeconomics principles textbook and its broad perspective, and (2) of its innovative use of the inflation rate (instead of the price level) in the aggregat ... (continue)

I used this textbook in fall 2009 with my principles of macroeconomics courses. I chose it because (1) my good experience with the authors' microeconomics principles textbook and its broad perspective, and (2) of its innovative use of the inflation rate (instead of the price level) in the aggregate-demand/aggregate-supply model. I was delighted with it, and it seems to have been well received by my students. Of particular interest is the strong historical perspective that helps students understand the origins of macroeconomic thinking.

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— Mar 23, 2009 | Add your feedback
- Mussolini (14)
- A Biography
- By Denis Mack Smith
- Finished on Nov 27, 2009
  
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Mussolini

A nice chronicle of events but ...

This biography is a comprehensive chronicle of Mussolini's life but does not include deeper, coherent psychological analysis of Mussolini or a political analysis of how he came to power. Because I was looking for those analyses, I was disappointed.

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— Nov 28, 2009 | Add your feedback
- Public Finance (1)
- In Theory and Practice
- By Holley H. Ulbrich
- Finished in May 2009
  
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Public Finance

I like the general approach of the book. However, there are some technical mistakes in the book (probably typograpical), and it does not have much in the way of support materials (practice problems, test backs, etc.).

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— Mar 23, 2009 | Add your feedback