#AcademicRunPlaylist - 11/30/24

I had a great day down in Rhode Island with the family, and while driving to and from the beach I was able to enjoy some great books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "Slouching Towards Utopia" by J. Bradford DeLong. If you like your history with a healthy dose of economics, this is the book for you. While I was expecting a more rigorous, academic review of the roots of the rapid growth in prosperity through 1980 and the subsequent slowdown due mainly to the stranglehold of neoliberal thought and policies, DeLong instead delivers a mostly by-the-numbers review of major events. There is good grounding in the philosophical writings behind decisions that certain actors took which I found helpful, but I was slightly disappointed with the book overall. Particularly concerning were assertions around more recent events (e.g. "the China Shock wasn't a real thing") that are so at odds with the last decade plus of economic research and smack of covering for DeLong's role in facilitating some of these policy failures. If you focus on the earlier sections and read it more from a history perspective, however, it is certainly a good review. For an economics-focused analysis you're better off going to any of Piketty's recent books. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/j-bradford-delong/slouching-towards-utopia/9780465019595/?lens=basic-books

Last was "Capitalism without Capital" by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake. Most of the time we don't think about how companies and governments account for investments, assets, and costs, but it is essential for our understanding of the state of these entities and how they're changing over time. Haskel and Westlake detail the gradual shift from easily accountable, tangible production making up the bulk of economic growth to today's world where investments in processes, knowledge, and intellectual property make up the majority. In doing so they illustrate why this difference is critical for everything from investment in and prioritization of government policies to investment strategies and vehicles to corporate strategies.

There are a few hiccups in this journey, particularly in the cursory and somewhat off treatment of topics better categorized as organizational behavior and urban planning (and the anecdotal takes of some demonstrably misguided and failing entrepreneurs should be relegated to the dustbin). Still, those sections don't take the shine off a phenomenal book on a critical topic. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691175034/capitalism-without-capital