Why Liberalism Works
By: Deirdre Nansen McCloskey – University of Illinois
With her trademark wit and deep understanding, McCloskey shows how the adoption of Enlightenment ideals of liberalism has propelled the freedom and prosperity that define the quality of a full life. In her view, liberalism leads to equality, but equality does not necessarily lead to liberalism. Liberalism is an optimistic philosophy that depends on the power of rhetoric rather than coercion, and on ethics, free speech, and facts in order to thrive.
Deirdre McCloskey is the patron saint of the simple yet history-changing idea of letting people choose for themselves without patronage or coercion. In this deeply impassioned and carefully reasoned book, she persuasively argues that freedom of choice is both desirable in itself and the key to remarkable declines in poverty.
William Easterly, New York University
Artificial Intelligence – A Guide for Thinking Humans
By: Melanie Mitchell – Portland State University
Flavoured with personal stories and a twist of humour, Artificial Intelligence illuminates the workings of machines that mimic human learning, perception, language, creativity and common sense. Weaving together advances in AI with cognitive science and philosophy, Mitchell probes the extent to which today’s ‘smart’ machines can actually think or understand, and whether AI even requires such elusive human qualities at all. Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans provides readers with an accessible and clear-eyed view of the AI landscape, what the field has actually accomplished, how much further it has to go and what it means for all of our futures.
Meeting Globalization’s Challenges: Policies to Make Trade Work for All
By: Luís Catão, Maurice Obstfeld – Lisbon School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Meeting Globalization’s Challenges draws on new research to examine the channels through which international trade and the diffusion of technology have enhanced the wealth of nations while also producing unequal benefits within and across countries. The book provides needed perspectives on the complex interplay of trade, deindustrialization, inequality, and the troubling surge of nationalism and populism—perspectives that are essential for crafting sound economic policies. It tackles the vexing issue of how to most effectively compensate globalization’s losers and reintegrate them into job markets. The book also explores how to design social insurance policies that can mitigate the risks posed by automation and offshoring, such as mass unemployment and its inherent dangers to democracy.
1931 – Debt, Crisis, and the Rise of Hitler
By: Tobias Straumann – University of Zurich
The reason for the financial collapse was Germany’s large pile of foreign debt denominated in gold currency which condemned the government to cut spending, raise taxes, and lower wages in the middle of a worldwide recession. As the political resistance to this austerity policy grew, the German government began to question its debt obligations, prompting foreign investors to panic and sell their German assets. The resulting currency crisis led to the failure of the already weakened banking system and a partial sovereign default.
Hitler managed to profit from the crisis, because he had been the most vocal critic of the reparation regime. As the financial system collapsed, his relentless attacks against foreign creditors and the alleged complicity of the German government resonated more than ever with the electorate. Sadly enough, Germany’s creditors hesitated too long to take the wind out of Hitler’s sails by offering debt relief.
In 1931,Tobias Straumann reveals the story of the fatal crisis, demonstrating how a debt trap contributed to the rapid financial and political collapse of a European country, and to the rise of the Nazi Party.
