What books are you reading, OT?

[Tarik Torgaddon]

Right now, listening to PJ O'Rourke's "Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the world's worst places and asks, 'what's funny about this?'"

[Nine-ball]

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes. It's a brilliant appraisal of The New Deal and just how incredibly ineffective it was by virtue of forgetting about entire sectors of society, usually by not understanding how economics work.

I'm not quite finished, but the main theme is that Roosevelt's celebrated "Brain Trust" were all admirers of the Soviet Union. To that effect, they tried implementing price controls and regulations that were supposed to help people, but ended up actually hurting them due to the necessary ignorance of government in economic matters.

For example, the price of chicken meat was falling rapidly as a result of deflation of the currency. There just wasn't enough money around for everyone to have some. In certain areas, barter was adopted as a substitute.

In order to protect the farmers, wholesalers, and butchers from poverty, the Roosevelt administration passed a very unconstitutional piece of legislation that fixed the price of chicken meat. But you can't sell if nobody has that kind of money, so the producers just ignored the law, and as a consequence, were sometimes arrested for violating the law that was supposed to protect them.

At the same time, in an era where people were going hungry, the Federal government ordered the burning of crops and slaughter of livestock in an attempt to keep prices from falling. Naturally, it accomplished nothing but starvation as anyone with an ounce of surplus food was inclined to sell it for whatever they could get from the penniless consumer base.

All these stupid decisions were based on one principle fallacy: inability to understand the money supply. With a Federal Bank in charge of such matters, that had ostensibly been created to keep such wild economic swings from happening, and a government with unprecedented control, the Great Depression was worse in the US than in any other country because those in power wanted to keep the currency from devaluing.

To fix this, they devalued the currency to worthlessness by going off the gold standard once again in 1936. That created a second recession as foreign investors withdrew and decreased the currency supply again. The response was to go back to the gold standard, but by then it was too late. US gold was actually worth less than other gold because international investors didn't consider the US to be trustworthy in redeeming their money. It wasn't fixed until the dollar was tied to oil with Bretton-Woods after World War 2.

Really, this book is a great read. It provides historical context for how the same sorts of stupid economic decisions are made by governments the world over even today. I only provided simple examples, but in each case you get to read the reasoning behind these decisions, and sometimes it seems like it might be sound. Until you consider the far-ranging consequences of state meddling in the economy and inadvertent harms, where it shows you the Forgotten Man.

[Astro_80 (WASH YOUR HANDS!)]

Първоначално публикувано от Solarstrike:

Choose Your Own.Adventure books from the early-mid 80's. Brilliant stuff. "Escape from Tenopia", my current read.

I used to love reading those kinds of books back in primary school. They were great books.

[Esoteric]

Children Of Dune by Frank Herbert.

[About 37 hobos]

Първоначално публикувано от Purusha:

Children Of Dune by Frank Herbert.

never got around to reading dune. should I read them or listen to them on audible

[Tarik Torgaddon]

Първоначално публикувано от Nine-ball:

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes. It's a brilliant appraisal of The New Deal and just how incredibly ineffective it was by virtue of forgetting about entire sectors of society, usually by not understanding how economics work.

I'm not quite finished, but the main theme is that Roosevelt's celebrated "Brain Trust" were all admirers of the Soviet Union. To that effect, they tried implementing price controls and regulations that were supposed to help people, but ended up actually hurting them due to the necessary ignorance of government in economic matters.

For example, the price of chicken meat was falling rapidly as a result of deflation of the currency. There just wasn't enough money around for everyone to have some. In certain areas, barter was adopted as a substitute.

In order to protect the farmers, wholesalers, and butchers from poverty, the Roosevelt administration passed a very unconstitutional piece of legislation that fixed the price of chicken meat. But you can't sell if nobody has that kind of money, so the producers just ignored the law, and as a consequence, were sometimes arrested for violating the law that was supposed to protect them.

At the same time, in an era where people were going hungry, the Federal government ordered the burning of crops and slaughter of livestock in an attempt to keep prices from falling. Naturally, it accomplished nothing but starvation as anyone with an ounce of surplus food was inclined to sell it for whatever they could get from the penniless consumer base.

All these stupid decisions were based on one principle fallacy: inability to understand the money supply. With a Federal Bank in charge of such matters, that had ostensibly been created to keep such wild economic swings from happening, and a government with unprecedented control, the Great Depression was worse in the US than in any other country because those in power wanted to keep the currency from devaluing.

To fix this, they devalued the currency to worthlessness by going off the gold standard once again in 1936. That created a second recession as foreign investors withdrew and decreased the currency supply again. The response was to go back to the gold standard, but by then it was too late. US gold was actually worth less than other gold because international investors didn't consider the US to be trustworthy in redeeming their money. It wasn't fixed until the dollar was tied to oil with Bretton-Woods after World War 2.

Really, this book is a great read. It provides historical context for how the same sorts of stupid economic decisions are made by governments the world over even today. I only provided simple examples, but in each case you get to read the reasoning behind these decisions, and sometimes it seems like it might be sound. Until you consider the far-ranging consequences of state meddling in the economy and inadvertent harms, where it shows you the Forgotten Man.

Sounds like a redpill I need to read! In return, may I suggest The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin? It's about the Federal Reserve, and how its skullduggery and tricks have caused wars, inflation, and economic crises for the last 100 years.

[Nine-ball]

Първоначално публикувано от Jack D. Ripper:

Sounds like a redpill I need to read! In return, may I suggest The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin? It's about the Federal Reserve, and how its skullduggery and tricks have caused wars, inflation, and economic crises for the last 100 years.

You most certainly may. I appreciate the suggestion, and I might check it out, but first I'd like to hear a brief synopsis.

As far as I'm concerned, the Federal Reserve created economic crises through nothing more than the incompetence that is to be expected of a centralized system that claims to serve the public good of any kind. Most often, as in any economic or political matters, the interest is immediate, rather than in any far-ranging consequences. Whether that interest is public or private, what matters most isn't what one can see ahead, especially when it comes to economics, but what one can see now.

Without even reading the book, I expect that's it's a list of ways in which the Federal Reserve has tried to consolidate power and made mistakes. Or possibly an enlightening perspective on why they chose to make them. From my understanding, people tend to make short-sighted economic and political decisions, especially when their own money is not at stake. You might want to read Milton Friedman, who argues that people only ever do anything with self interest.

That's what you're up against in your book recommendation. I'd love to hear what you have to say, I'm just trying to save you some time.

[Tarik Torgaddon]

Първоначално публикувано от Nine-ball:

Първоначално публикувано от Jack D. Ripper:

Sounds like a redpill I need to read! In return, may I suggest The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin? It's about the Federal Reserve, and how its skullduggery and tricks have caused wars, inflation, and economic crises for the last 100 years.

You most certainly may. I appreciate the suggestion, and I might check it out, but first I'd like to hear a brief synopsis.

As far as I'm concerned, the Federal Reserve created economic crises through nothing more than the incompetence that is to be expected of a centralized system that claims to serve the public good of any kind. Most often, as in any economic or political matters, the interest is immediate, rather than in any far-ranging consequences. Whether that interest is public or private, what matters most isn't what one can see ahead, especially when it comes to economics, but what one can see now.

Without even reading the book, I expect that's it's a list of ways in which the Federal Reserve has tried to consolidate power and made mistakes. Or possibly an enlightening perspective on why they chose to make them. From my understanding, people tend to make short-sighted economic and political decisions, especially when their own money is not at stake. You might want to read Milton Friedman, who argues that people only ever do anything with self interest.

That's what you're up against in your book recommendation. I'd love to hear what you have to say, I'm just trying to save you some time.

Investopedia, a website that explains finance concepts in layman's terms, names it the #1 book for understanding the American banking system, whether you believe the tinfoil hat stuff or not:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/091216/top-5-books-learn-about-banking-industry-jpm-bac.asp

For a case study on gross, shortsighted negligence, read Michael Lewis' The Big Short. The TLDR summary is that unscrupulous banks gave lousy mortgages to gullible people. Said mortgages had interest rates that increased sharply after a few years, causing borrowers to default and the housing bubble to burst. Thus, the economy collapsed around 2007-09.

The sad thing? Very few people responsible, if any at all, went to jail.

[Harieiv]

To Kill a Mockingbird

Not like your usual book, kind complicated, but overall a great story to me and surely anyone who is capable of appreciating litterature.

[Ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍]

I am torn between reading "We Happy Few" and Easy Companies exploits during the European Campaign, King's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes", or cracing on with some of the Heinlein I haven't actually read like "Time Enough for Love".

Also, wrapping up "The Deed of Paksenerrion". I love that series.

[Astro_80 (WASH YOUR HANDS!)]

Първоначално публикувано от Harieiv:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Not like your usual book, kind complicated, but overall a great story to me and surely anyone who is capable of appreciating litterature.

That was the last Novel I read in High School. I have seen the film aswell, which I thought was better.

[Pigeon Pecking Keyboard]

Първоначално публикувано от ⓥenom Ⓢnake 🐍:

Also, wrapping up "The Deed of Paksenerrion". I love that series.

Googled it coz it sounded familiar. Sypnosis sounds like a typical high fantasy story (I have nothing against tropes), but interestingly, a lot of gushing over it despites its age & seemingly boring storyline. I will push it up the Mount TBR.

[Good Hunter]

The eye of the world

[Salvation_crucifix]

Reading Five Nights at Freddy's: the Twisted Ones and listening to the Dark Tower: Song of Susannah.

[tiseno100]

I mostly read random books and never finishing them, mostly religious but also fantasy and adventure ones.

[Vince ✟]

A bunch of boring books about MLK, as I have assignments due post-holiday