- So you want my opinion (as an economist)? Scott Sumner, EconLog
- Don’t Let Doubts About Blockchains Close Your Mind Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg View
- Hayek, Radner, and Rational-Expectations Equilibrium David Glasner, Uneasy Money
- Beautiful art from the Armenian diaspora Avedis Hadjian, Le Monde Diplomatique
Links
Nightcap
- China’s Christianity problem (and Islam too) Ian Johnson, NY Times
- An Indian Merchant in Marseilles, 1792 Blake Smith, the Appendix
- The Island Where France’s Colonial Legacy Lives On Maddy Crowell, the Atlantic
- The Ugly Critique of Chick-Fil-A’s Christianity Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg View
“The staying power of ‘Citizen Kane'”
That’s the title of my Tuesday column over at RealClearHistory. An excerpt:
The relevant socio political commentary is more interesting, in part because people today still use the film to attack media moguls they don’t like (such as Fox News’ Rupert Murdoch). One narrative about the film’s sociopolitical impact even likens the film to a subtle anti-fascist, and pro-war, production because of the attention it draws to the immense power media moguls wield, and the incentive structures they face (and produce). This argument has at least some bite to it, as one of America’s most powerful media moguls in the 1940s, William Randolph Hearst, refused to give the film any sort of advertisement in any of his many publications. This blackballing on the part of the powerful led, of course, to the Citizen Kane’s relative flop at the box office.
Read the rest, baby!
Nightcap
- An ancient epic poem recounts the ‘Indian war’ of Dionysus Blake Smith, the Wire
- Sketchbook of 15th-century engineer Johannes de Fontana Bennett Gilbert, Public Domain Review
- Van Gogh’s love affair with Japan Joe Lloyd, 1843
- Relatedness: De-toxifying the mind Peter Miller, Views
Lunchtime Links
- 25 years after Waco | Freedom of Conscience and the Rule of Law
- The US-Japan Alliance and Soviet competition | Some thoughts on “Thinking About Libertarian Foreign Policy”
- Japan’s rent-a-family industry | In Search of Firmer Cosmopolitan Solidarity
- The story of the skull of a victim of the Indian Uprising of 1857 | Myths of Sovereignty and British Isolation, III
- Reviving India’s classical liberal party | Classical Liberalism and the Nation State
- The decline of regional American art | A History of Regional Governments
- Michelle Pfeiffer keeps getting better and better | On the paradox of poverty and good health in Cuba
- “It was the most devastating loss in the history of the Library.” | No, natural disasters are not good for the economy
Nightcap
- The West’s bombing of Syria meets some approval from Muslims Bruce Clark, Erasmus
- Should the Italian Prime Minister support the Democrats? Michelangelo Landgrave, NOL
- The ugliness of international politics Edwin van de Haar, NOL
- Rent-Seeking Rebels of 1776 Vincent Geloso, NOL
Nightcap
- What is the cost of “tractable” economic models? Beatrice Cherrier, Undercover Historian
- Facts vs. hand-waving in economics Chris Dillow, Stumbling and Mumbling
- How factories changed the world Donald Sassoon, New Statesman
- Defending the Mughals became a way to defend colonial rule Blake Smith, the Wire
Nightcap
- The end of empire and the birth of neoliberalism Deirdre N. McCloskey, Literary Review
- Gimme shelter: safe spaces and f-bombs in higher ed Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
- Can Fresno State fire a professor for being an ass on Twitter? Ken White, Popehat
- The worst effects of climate change may not be felt for centuries Charles C. Mann, TED Ideas
“10 little-known fascist governments”
That’s the subject of my weekend’s RealClearHistory column. An excerpt:
7. Romania and the Iron Guard. Sandwiched between the communist Soviet Union and the fascist Axis powers of central Europe, Romanian society struggled to find its footing after a comparatively wonderful campaign during World War I, but Bucharest eventually chose to side with Berlin and Rome instead of Moscow. Romanian fascism was known for including the Orthodox Church into its anti-communist, anti-Semitic, and anti-capitalist rhetoric. Romania’s fascists almost made the Nazis look like boy scouts, especially when the Iron Guard organized and implemented one of Europe’s bloodiest pogroms, ever: the Iași pogrom. Just over 13,000 Jews, along with their liberal and Orthodox defenders in the city of Iași, were butchered on the streets where they once plied their trades. Romania, a member of the Axis for most of the war, was second only to Germany in the number of Jews it killed during World War II.
Please, read the rest.
Oh, and I wrote about America’s greatest maritime disaster on Tuesday for RCH‘s blog, the Historiat.
Nightcap
- One of the 19th century’s most mysterious and eccentric figures Rhys Griffiths, Public Domain Review
- Internationalists are more libertarian than non-interventionists Isabel Hull, London Review of Books
- Why is the US military all over Africa? Eric Schewe, JSTOR Daily
- California is a model for divorce, not domination David French, National Review
Nightcap
- The cursed wonders of India Rishika Yadav, Spontaneous Order
- Robot of Jihad? A Guide to Tipu’s Tiger Blake Smith, the Appendix
- Black pictures (film) Darryl Pinckney, New York Review of Books
- A Male Feminist’s Crisis Michael Friedrich, New Republic
Nightcap
- Why the West is Suicidal Daniel McCarthy, Modern Age
- US Constitution requires congressional authorization for war Ilya Somin, Volokh Conspiracy
- When autarky becomes the only solution Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- Revolution, Lightning, and the People’s Will Kevin Duong, Public Domain Review
Nightcap
- India Moves Toward a Regional Reset Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu
- France’s troubled obsession with India Blake Smith, the Caravan
- How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World Bridgett Kendall, Literary Review
- How Soviet artists imagined life in space Vincze Miklós, io9
Nightcap
- Between property and liability Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
- National Health Service S.O.S. James Meek, London Review of Books
- Life lessons from reading Thucydides and hiking at night Miguel Monjardino, City Journal
- Blowing stuff up John Quiggin, Crooked Timber
Nightcap
- The art of everyday politics in imperial China Michael Szonyi, Aeon
- Busting the myth of Global Britain Nick Pearce, New Statesmen
- The Russia-Turkey-Iran Axis is flimsy, at best Dimitar Bechev, American Interest
- Does the West have a vision for the Western Balkans? Mieczysław Boduszyński, War on the Rocks
Notes On Liberty 