Daily Archives: January 1, 2013

What to read in 2013, part 1

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A quick browse through some of the publishers’ catalogues reveals plenty of enticing new books due out this winter and spring. I’ll start with a selection from some of the university presses.

From my own publisher Princeton University Press, a lot of economics and finance titles coming out. One I’ve read in proof and will be reviewing is [amazon_link id=”0691158681″ target=”_blank” ]The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the World Economy[/amazon_link] by Michael Pettis, an outstanding book. Others that look enticing are [amazon_link id=”0691057761″ target=”_blank” ]Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age [/amazon_link]by W. Bernard Carlson; [amazon_link id=”0691155674″ target=”_blank” ]Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman[/amazon_link] by Jeremy Adelman; and [amazon_link id=”0691149097″ target=”_blank” ]The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order[/amazon_link] by Benn Steil.

[amazon_image id=”0691158681″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the World Economy[/amazon_image]

Yale University Press will be bringing out Stephen King’s [amazon_link id=”0300190522″ target=”_blank” ]When The Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence[/amazon_link]; and at the same time (May) Timothy Beardson’s [amazon_link id=”0300165420″ target=”_blank” ]Stumbling Giant: The Threats to China’s Future[/amazon_link]. Sounds like they need to be read as a pair. I also like the look of Emma Griffin’s [amazon_link id=”0300151802″ target=”_blank” ]Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution.[/amazon_link]

[amazon_image id=”0300190522″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence[/amazon_image]

Oxford University Press has forthcoming books looking at a couple of very important issues, global governance and corporate governance. [amazon_link id=”0199693900″ target=”_blank” ]There’s Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing, and what we can do about it[/amazon_link] by Ian Goldin; and [amazon_link id=”0199669937″ target=”_blank” ]Firm Commitment Why the corporation is failing us and how to restore trust in it[/amazon_link] by Colin Mayer.

[amazon_image id=”0199693900″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing, and what we can do about it[/amazon_image]

At Cambridge University Press, the range of titles includes quite a few that intrigue me: [amazon_link id=”1107609623″ target=”_blank” ]Outsourcing Economics: Global Value Chains in Capitalist Development[/amazon_link] by William Milberg and Deborah Winkler; [amazon_link id=”1107678943″ target=”_blank” ]An Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups and Networks [/amazon_link]by Paul Frijters and Gigi Foster; and [amazon_link id=”B00ADP734S” target=”_blank” ]Wall Street Values: Business Ethics and the Global Financial Crisis[/amazon_link] by Michael A. Santoro and Ronald J. Strauss are among them.

[amazon_image id=”1107678943″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]An Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups, and Networks[/amazon_image]

In the spring, the University of Chicago Press is bringing out a new book by the excellent science writer Philip Ball, [amazon_link id=”1847921728″ target=”_blank” ]Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything[/amazon_link]. I’m very interested in [amazon_link id=”0226256618″ target=”_blank” ]Political Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics[/amazon_link] by Robert Fogel; and somewhat interested in both [amazon_link id=”022603772X” target=”_blank” ]The Rise of the Public Authority: Statebuilding and Economic Development in Twentieth-Century America[/amazon_link] by Gail Radford; and [amazon_link id=”0226066959″ target=”_blank” ]The Great Inflation: The Rebirth of Modern Central Banking[/amazon_link] by Michael D. Bordo.

[amazon_image id=”0226256618″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Political Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics (National Bureau of Economic Research Series on Long-Term Factors in Economic Development)[/amazon_image]

Out any time now from MIT Press is [amazon_link id=”026201842X” target=”_blank” ]Banking the World: Empirical Foundations of Financial Inclusion[/amazon_link], edited by Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt and Jonathan Morduch. Given the interest economists have in robots at present, maybe we should all read [amazon_link id=”0262018624″ target=”_blank” ]Robot Futures[/amazon_link] by roboticist Illah Reza Nourbakhsh. I like the look of [amazon_link id=”0262018713″ target=”_blank” ]America’s Assembly Line[/amazon_link] by David E Nye and James Heckman’s [amazon_link id=”0262019132″ target=”_blank” ]Giving Kids a Fair Chance (A Strategy that Works)[/amazon_link] – Heckman being one of the first economists to identify the importance of early years upbringing and education for both private and social outcomes.
[amazon_image id=”0262018713″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]America’s Assembly Line[/amazon_image]
Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list of either academic publishers or their titles, and other suggestions will be welcome. I’ll report on what’s in the catalogues of some of the general publishers another time.