Economics with heart and soul!

There are two economists I love to hear - Alan Greenspan and Russell Roberts.

Greenspan gave an insightful discussion about Federal Tax Reform, the statement that caught my attention was about the need to raise taxes but chiding the legislators not to hide them - be upfront and honest with the people. No wonder this guy is so respected!

Russell Robert's post comments on Mario Vargas Llosa statements about free market economies and the importance of ideas and culture. Economics with heart and soul!

Don't miss reading Llosa'a speech as I linked above. Here are some delicious quotes:

Even the left has been reluctant to renege on the privatization of pensions--which has occurred in eleven Latin American countries to date--whereas the more backward left in the United States opposes the privatization of Social Security.

The problem those of us who try to combat these stereotypes face is that no country produces as much anti-U.S. artistic and intellectual material as the United States itself--the native country, let us not forget, of Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky--to the extent that one must wonder if anti-Americanism is not one of those exquisite export products manufactured by the CIA to enable imperialism to ideologically manipulate the Third World masses. Previously, anti-Americanism was especially popular in Latin America, but now it occurs in some European countries, especially those clinging to a past that was, and that resist accepting globalization and the inter-dependence of nations in a world in which borders, once solid and inexpungable, have become porous and increasingly faint.

Wow! How come I just heard about him now?

Comments

[Dan]

If you are "the" Stuart Berman, congrats on getting your review up on Barnett's blog!

http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/archives2/001602.html

[Stuart]

Thanks - I was honored by Tom's comments. I'll take 'average' guy and 'perfect' any day! As someone who enjoys reviewing books I am interested in the reviews that have a low ration of 'unhelpful' votes. Seems like many reviewers are more interested in advocating their viewpoints rather than offering an honest review of the books. I strive to offer meaningful analysis that helps other readers and avoid infomercial like commentaries.