It needs some drama. Vol. 2 had it. It also needs pictures, to bring to life the frequent discussions of paintings, for example. Start collecting them. Chapters need to be about 1/3 shorter each (now 4400 average: cut in half after adding new material would do it) Lysias, “Against the Corn dealers,” q.v. Not all (more…)

“I suppose the highlight of the entire Road Show was getting to know Professor Deirdre McCloskey, who took part in four of the seven conferences. Deirdre is a first-rate economist, a committed advocate of freedom, and a genuine renaissance woman with impressive knowledge of just about everything.” ~ Dan Mitchell, after meeting Deirdre in Skopje. (more…)

Child, Francis James. 1860. English and Scottish Ballads, Vol. VIII. Boston: Little, Brown. At http://books.google.com/books ?id=XgRbgUII054C&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 Cumberland, Richard. 1771. The West Indian. Pp.713-749 in Nettleton, Case, and Stone. Nettleton, George H., Arthur E. Case, George Winchester Stone, Jr., eds. 1939 (1969). British Dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan. 2nd e. 1969. Carbondale, IL: University of Southern (more…)

Some texts are ever-relevant, ever popular. Recent blog excerpts: From Mark Liberman’s “Language Log” (UPenn) April 5, 2010: For those who are interested in the sociology of economics (about which I obviously know very little), I recommend Deirdre McCloskey’s The Secret Sins of Economics. [View original entry.] And from Liberman’s September 16, 2004 archives of (more…)

“Some really interesting ideas here. A challenge to artists to represent more of the world than we typically do.” [original post] Go to referenced article: “Art, Fleeing from Capitalism: A Slightly Sublime Interview/ Conversation with Deirdre McCloskey (and Jack Amariglio)”

Go to ORIGINAL POST, “Capitalism versus the good old days” Hicks: Some wise words from Deirdre McCloskey, for those who fear that things were healthier in the good old days and that we are degrading our environment and living less authentic lives: “‘Ah, but the environment was better.’ Briefly for now, no. Consider that you (more…)

Go to ORIGINAL POST: “Why life is 255 times better now than in 1800″ Hicks: I’m reading Deirdre McCloskey’s fascinating, intriguing, and wonderfully learned The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (University of Chicago Press, 2006). Early on McCloskey cites three statistics about progress between 1800 and now: Wealth: “The amount of goods (more…)