Helpful votes received on reviews:
51% (22 of 43)
Location: New London CT
In My Own Words:
I am an economist and economic historian (PhD from GMU). I write mostly about the economic and intellectual history of interwar years. The biggest influences on my thinking were JA Schumpeter, FA Hayek, LE Mises, Mancur Olson, RH Coase, and R Nozick,. I also ski, cycle, climb, swim, and do some photography. I have summited on most of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, Mt Adams in the Cascades, T… Read moreI am an economist and economic historian (PhD from GMU). I write mostly about the economic and intellectual history of interwar years. The biggest influences on my thinking were JA Schumpeter, FA Hayek, LE Mises, Mancur Olson, RH Coase, and R Nozick,.
I also ski, cycle, climb, swim, and do some photography. I have summited on most of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, Mt Adams in the Cascades, The Three Sisters, Long's Peak, many of the White and Green Mountains, Katahdin, Ben Nevis, and many lesser peaks.
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Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Human Action is a rare type of book. It is a system of ideas, not just in economics, but in philosophy, sociology, scientific methodology, psychology, ideology, and politics. It is also a controversial book. Its divisive nature reflects not only profound disagreements over the subjects that it inquires into, but also the authors confrontational style of argumentation. This book is at odds with the current mainstream of academia mainly because of its first principles. Mises sought to understand social orders on the basis of individual human action. The individualistic approach of von Mises puts him at odds with most academics outside of the economics profession. Notions of a collective… Read more
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This book possesses two distinct features. It errs frequently and amateurishly. Perhaps the most important error in this book is in using the Arrow-Debreu model in discussing the debate over Socialism between Lange and Hayek. In the ADM scheme of things there is a complete set of markets where unrestricted competition among perfectly informed persons reigns. Naturally, such perfect conditions yield perfect results- on paper. Actual markets do not deliver these results so "the competitive paradigm is not robust" (p107). Of course, it makes no sense to think of the Lange-Hayek debate in terms of Arrow Debreu anyway. This debate over socialism took place mainly in the nineteen thirties. The… Read more
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0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Under Fire is certainly a well made and well acted film. There is some real history in this movie as well. The most accurate history is that of the brutality of the Samoza regime. However, the directors shot the scenes of the Sandinistas through a rose colored lens. When the Frenchman (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant) is about to be executed by the Sandinistas he says that Samoza is a butcher too, but in 20 years we will know who is right. It has been 20 years and we now know that the cause that this movie glorifies was a colossal failure. The fall of the Berlin wall made this film's perspective laughable. In recent years Nicaragua has been moving towards freer markets. So much for the… Read more
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