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That is a new paper by Kevin D. Hoover and Andrej Svorenčík: The leadership structure of the American Economics Association is documented using a biographical database covering every officer and losing candidate for AEA offices from 1950 to 2019. The analysis focuses on institutional affiliations by education and employment. The structure is strongly hierarchical. A […] The post Who Runs the AEA? appeared first...

That is the new book by Nicholas McDowell, and it is one of my favorite non-fiction works this year.  Milton is today more relevant than he has been in a long time, excerpt: Milton’s political development is shaped by his evolving understanding of the ways in which ‘tyranny’ — defined initially in ecclesiastical and clerical […] The post *Poet of Revolution: The Making of...

From Alice Evans: Region is a strong predictor of female survival, literacy, autonomy, employment, and independent mobility. A woman with the exact same household wealth/ caste/ religion will likely have more autonomy if she lives in the South. It does not seem to be a function of wealth, nor was colonialism a major factor.  And […] The post Why are North and South India...

Daniel Klein sets the record straight: Olsson: But was it Christianity in particular, or monotheism more generally, that opened up the road to liberalism? Don’t other religious traditions and civilizations also have ideas on individuals, moral agency, and the conscience? Klein: Monotheism is necessary but not sufficient. Other monotheistic religions didn’t have moral agency, moral […] The post From Christianity to liberalism appeared first...

Here is the transcript, audio, and video.  Here is part of the summary: Nathan joined Tyler for a conversation about which African countries a theory of persistence would lead him to bet on, why so many Africans live in harder to settle areas, his predictions for the effects of Chinese development on East Africa, why […] The post My Conversation with Nathan Nunn appeared...

This 19th century French sociologist is worth reading, as he is somehow the way station between Pascal and Rene Girard, with an influence on Bruno Latour as well.  Tarde focuses on how copying helps to explain social order and also how it drives innovation.  For Tarde, copying, innovation, and ethos are all part of an […] The post Gabriel Tarde’s *On Communication and Social...

Ian Bremmer offers one account of all the wrongdoing, which I will not summarize here.  In any case, many of you have asked me what I think of these recent events. I do not at all favor replacing India’s secular democracy with “Hindu nation” as a ruling principle.  For one thing, I believe in strong […] The post What to think about Modi these...

A growing body of research suggests that populations around the globe vary substantially along several important psychological dimensions and that populations characterized as Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) are particularly unusual. People from these societies tend to be more individualistic, independent, and impersonally prosocial (e.g., trusting of strangers) while revealing less conformity and […] The post Did the medieval church make us...

That is the highly controversial book by Frederick Martel, subtitled Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy.  For some time I had been resisting reading the book, as usually I find tales of corruption and scandal boring.  But I misunderstood the fundamental nature of the account.  It is not quite a homage, but Martel seems to admire the evolved […] The post *In the Closet of the Vatican*...

By contrast, liberal women — defined in my research as those in traditions like Episcopalianism and (most) Lutheranism that officially affirmed female leadership — fought for denominational policies that gave them standing in the pulpit. And yet there are few progressive female celebrities. Ordained progressive women secure a measure of institutional sway, but they lack […] The post Claims about religious women appeared first...

We are excited to announce the program for the Dec. 7 Holberg Debate! Slavoj Žižek will give the keynote “Why I Am Still A Communist” and then be interviewed by @tylercowen We invite everyone to watch the livestream and tweet Qs for Žižek. Use #qholberg. https://www.facebook.com/events/2524051877814963/ Bergen, Norway — I’ll be there! The post My forthcoming debate with Slavoj Žižek appeared first on Marginal...

Political parties sponsor weddings for young members to reinforce their loyalty, and gratitude. Religious and ethnic minorities — which means everyone in splintered Lebanon — consider marriage and procreation essential to their long-term survival. And armed groups encourage their fighters to marry so that their children can become the fighters of the future. A few […] The post Lebanese/Gaza marriage markets in everything appeared...

I will be doing a Conversations with Tyler with him, no associated public event, so what should I ask him? The post What should I ask Salman Rushdie? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

That is the new and excellent book out by David Sorkin.  I feel I have read many good books on Jewish history, and I don’t always see the marginal value of adding to that pile, but this one really delivered.  Plenty more detail without losing any conceptual overview.  Ever wonder what exactly happened to Jewish […] The post *Jewish Emancipation: A History Across Five...

The author is Eugene McCarraher, and the subtitle of this Belknap Press book is How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity.  Here is one excerpt: The world does not need to be re-enchanted, because it was never disenchanted in the first place.  Attending primarily to the history of the United States, I hope to demonstrate […] The post *The Enchantments of Mammon* appeared first...

Interesting and excellent throughout, here is the audio and transcript.  Eric is political scientist at Birkbeck College in London and the author of the recent Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities.  Here is part of the opening summary: Kauffman’s latest book Whiteshift, which examines how declining white ethnic majorities will respond to […] The post My Conversation with Eric Kaufmann appeared...