Another Book Recommendation
For the second time in the history of this blog (and the second time in a month), I'm going to enthusiastically recommend a book. I just finished reading Jonathan Chait's book--The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked By Crackpot Economics, and I have to say, it's really really good.
Based on the title of the book, I had expected it to be more or less a history of the rise of supply-side economics, and Chait certainly covers that ground. But the book is actually much more ambitious than its title suggests. Chait uses the story of how supply-side economics took over the Republican party as a case study on how modern politics operates. The first part of the book, which is everything you would expect based on the title, serves as a springboard for the second half of the book, which offers an incredibly insightful and accurate analysis of the fundamental structural asymmetries of American politics. In particular, Chait does a really good job explaining how prevailing norms in the media and fundamental differences in the way the Democratic and Republican parties operate have allowed conservative ideologues to inject what were once (rightly) considered fringe ideas into the mainstream.
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll recognize much of Chait's analysis because it very closely mirrors my own (for example here, here, here, here, and here). But Chait does something I've never had the time to do: he puts everything together into a compelling narrative filled with numerous examples and plenty of citations.
Honestly, if I were to recommend one book to help someone who doesn't follow politics very closely understand how our political system currently operates, this would be it. The explanatory power of this book is tremendous. Indeed, it covers so much familiar ground and so many of the ideas and themes that I've focused on over the years, that at times (when temporarily succumbing to delusions of my own self-importance) I wondered whether Chait was a secret fan of this blog. I'd be flattered if that were the case, but I suspect this is just a case of people seeing the world very similarly.
Anyway, it's very very good book and I highly recommend it. You can purchase it here if you are so inclined.
Based on the title of the book, I had expected it to be more or less a history of the rise of supply-side economics, and Chait certainly covers that ground. But the book is actually much more ambitious than its title suggests. Chait uses the story of how supply-side economics took over the Republican party as a case study on how modern politics operates. The first part of the book, which is everything you would expect based on the title, serves as a springboard for the second half of the book, which offers an incredibly insightful and accurate analysis of the fundamental structural asymmetries of American politics. In particular, Chait does a really good job explaining how prevailing norms in the media and fundamental differences in the way the Democratic and Republican parties operate have allowed conservative ideologues to inject what were once (rightly) considered fringe ideas into the mainstream.
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll recognize much of Chait's analysis because it very closely mirrors my own (for example here, here, here, here, and here). But Chait does something I've never had the time to do: he puts everything together into a compelling narrative filled with numerous examples and plenty of citations.
Honestly, if I were to recommend one book to help someone who doesn't follow politics very closely understand how our political system currently operates, this would be it. The explanatory power of this book is tremendous. Indeed, it covers so much familiar ground and so many of the ideas and themes that I've focused on over the years, that at times (when temporarily succumbing to delusions of my own self-importance) I wondered whether Chait was a secret fan of this blog. I'd be flattered if that were the case, but I suspect this is just a case of people seeing the world very similarly.
Anyway, it's very very good book and I highly recommend it. You can purchase it here if you are so inclined.
posted by A.L. at 5:21 PM
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