Shewing the fly

Wow, three weeks holiday! What on earth am I going to do with myself…

On my reading pile:

(further suggestions appreciated)

Thinking, Fast & Slow – Daniel Kahneman. Started this last week, and already know it will permanently change the way I think.

Engineering the Financial Crisis - Jeffrey Friedman & Wladimir Klaus. Really looking forward to this, as it’s been a while since  I’ve read something on this topic where I’ve learned something new and interesting. I think that is going to change.

The Devil’s Derivatives - Nick Dunbar. Felix Salmon calls it the best crisis book so far, so I’m in for a double treat.

Launching the Innovation Renaissance – Alex Tabarrok. I have a pretty strong conviction that something needs to be done about the patent system, although I have no idea (yet) what that should be.

Race Against the Machine – Erik Brynolfsson & Andrew McAfee. Tyler Cowen says (tongue-in-cheek) this is the second best e-book this year; which given how highly I rate Ryan Avent’s The Gated City makes me very excited.

How to Be a Rogue Trader - John Gapper. Apparently rogue trading is much more common than one might expect.

Robust Political Economy – Mark Pennington. The issue of public choice is one I have been late to the party on, but I’m trying to make up for lost time.

Growing Public – Peter Lindert. Definitive account of the welfare state and its effects on growth. Been meaning to read this for a long, long time.

A Great Leap Forward - Alexander Field. I’m mentally preparing myself to radically revise my priors.

Lords of Finance – Liaquat Ahmad. Started this ages ago, but work intervened. Looking forward to getting back in.

The Tell-Tale Brain - Vilyanur Ramachandran. But will it be as good as David Eagleman’s superb book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain?

Prosperity without Growth - Tim Jackson. Was recommended this by a friend, and I will try to leave my skepticism at the cover.

Exorbitant Privilege – Barry Eichengreen. Been meaning to read something by him for ages.

On my watching pile

Breaking Bad, Season 2. Seriously, where has this show been all my life?!

Spiral (Engrenages), Season 1. Mentally preparing myself for an examination of the French justice system, and an ensuing (unwarranted) sense of Anglo-Saxon superiority.

State of Play. I’ve had this on DVD for a long time and never gotten round to it (H/T Alyssa Rosenberg)

Stuck on replay

Ut ur min skalle by Movits!. All you really need to know is, they are a Swedish jazz/swing/rap group – and I swear that language was born to be rapped.