A review of “The Vision of Léon Walras” (audiobook)

So I recently finished an audiobook about Léon Walras (pronounced “Valras”), a French economist who was alive from the years 1834 to 1910. I knew almost nothing about him before I listened to this audiobook about his work, I am sad to say. So I learned a lot from it, which was good for someone like me to know about. (Although I was basically an economics minor, I didn't hear Mr. Walras's name until well after I had graduated. So if you haven't heard of him, you're not alone – although I had heard some of his ideas before, I had never heard of him personally before I graduated.)

A review of “The Bill of Rights and Other Amendments” (audiobook)

“The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress … ”

– The United States Constitution (signed 1787), Article 5

The United States Constitution included a process by which the original document could be amended (quoted above). It was designed to allow some flexibility within the Constitution, while at the same time protecting the Constitution from voluminous (and excessively rapid) changes. At the time that I write this, there have been 27 amendments to the United States Constitution, in accordance with this process. The first ten of them were the ones that make up our Bill of Rights. These ten amendments were ratified simultaneously with each other on December 15th, 1791. But obviously, they are not the only amendments to the Constitution. There have been 17 others at the time that I write this, and this audiobook covers most of them in some detail.

A review of PBS’s “Native America”

“An act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi … ”

– Full title of the “Indian Removal Act of 1830,” as passed by the United States Congress

This television history of Native Americans is more cultural anthropology than history

This television history of Native Americans seems to be more cultural anthropology than history. In part, this is because they are focused primarily on pre-Columbian history (or history before Columbus). This may explain why they don’t rely much on written records, whose availability for this period is somewhat limited – although I should acknowledge that some examples of it do exist here. History is defined more as the study of written records from the past, whereas archeology is more about the study of physical objects from the past. There is some overlap between these things, but there are also some significant differences. By this traditional distinction, there isn’t much history in this documentary, although there is much archeology in it. More to the point, there is also a lot of cultural anthropology in it. This seems to be one of the weaknesses of this documentary. I tend to be a little skeptical of cultural anthropology in general. (Although I tend to be more supportive of physical anthropology, which I see as quite different.) Cultural anthropology has some interesting things to say, but it would seem to be more humanities than social science, and makes a lot of assumptions that are hard to support scientifically. These assumptions underlie much of the discussion in this documentary.

A review of “Modern Marvels: The Suez Canal” (History Channel)

Long before the Panama Canal was built, the Suez Canal was opened in 1869. This is the same year that America’s Transcontinental Railroad had been completed. But the Suez Canal was even more important for world history. It allowed ships to pass from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, without having to go around Africa. For a trip from Britain to India, a ship could thus save 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) by going on this route. This may make the Suez Canal the most important canal in the world – arguably even more important than the Panama Canal, which is saying something.

Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869

A review of “Frank Knight and the Chicago School” (audiobook)

So I recently finished listening to an audiobook about the American economist Frank Knight, who lived from 1885 to 1972. It was just called “Frank Knight and the Chicago School” – and as its title suggests, it was partly about the Chicago school of economics. It was a good audiobook, which spoke about both the philosophical and economic aspects of Mr. Knight’s work. But it also covered some other economists who were prominent in the Chicago school of economic thought.

A review of Étienne de la Boétie’s “Discourse on Voluntary Servitude” (audiobook)

Étienne de la Boétie

When “Discourse on Voluntary Servitude” was first published in 1577, its author had been dead for more than a decade. The author was Étienne de la Boétie, who had never made it to his 33rd birthday. His friend Michel de Montaigne said that Boétie had written it when Boétie was just 18 years old. Boétie had made quite a mark for someone so young, but most people have never even heard of his name. Even in the political philosophy world, his name is fairly unknown. Nonetheless, he is one of the most important political philosophers of the Renaissance era, and arguably of all time. His ideas are still studied today in universities.

Michel de Montaigne

A review of “The Federalist Papers” (audiobook)

“I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars: The utility of the Union to your political prosperity; the insufficiency of the present Confederation to preserve that Union; the necessity of a government at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the attainment of this object; the conformity of the proposed Constitution to the true principles of republican government; its analogy to your own state constitution; and lastly, the additional security which its adoption will afford to the preservation of that species of government, to liberty, and to property.”

– Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers (Federalist No. 1)

“The Federalist Papers” has long been one of my favorite books. More than any other book, it helped to get the Constitution ratified by the thirteen states. But the importance of the Federalist Papers transcends the ratification debates. It is a timeless work, because it explains the intended purposes of virtually every clause in the Constitution, which is still the law of the land today. It is the most important work written by the Founding Fathers about the Constitution, and is used to interpret the intended meaning of the document today. Since this is an area of major controversy, this debate is one of the most practical in all of American politics.