1. The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
2. Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger
3. Loads of Milton Friedman and a bit of Rothbard.
Ghosts of Columbia by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.: 8/10. I really enjoyed this pair of alternate history novels published together in one volume. Intriguing world-building, excellent characterizations, and a thoroughly entertaining take on a Godfatheresque theme of a retired spy who wants to get out but keeps getting pulled back in. I never liked Modesitt’s Recluce novels, but the Columbia ones are quite good.
The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons from Japan’s Great Recession by Richard Koo: 7/10. While I was impressed with Koo’s balance sheet recession theory and his accessible writing style, a few historical errors of fact were surprising and I don’t buy into his policy recommendations that ultimately amount to a circuitous entrance of neo-Keynesianism by the back door. It’s great that he recognizes when monetary policy simply isn’t working, but the answer is not a perfectly timed injection of expansionary fiscal policy. I don’t know how much Austrian theory Koo knows, but it strikes me that aspects of his theory are perfectly compatible with it.