Jake

Informative and interesting, but repetitive

Revisado: 07-27-18

He tells an excellent history of psychedelics with fascinating stories. I do think this is an important book. However, he does repeat himself so much that it felt self-indulgent.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent! Must Read!

Revisado: 08-03-17

This is a fascinating, dispassionate look at the mechanics of the drug industry, not just the economics. It was highly entertaining and informative! Everyone needs to understand these horrible dynamics or there will never be positive change.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Sweeping

Revisado: 02-22-15

I just listened to this course for the second time. Taylor covers all of the main happenings in the global economy in the past half-century. You really get a bang for your buck. There's just so much good information in this course. Check to see the outlines of all the topics covered at the Great Courses website.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Packed With Fascinating Information

Revisado: 02-17-15

This was a riveting look at America's recent economic history. Taylor is really good at providing interesting statistics to illuminate trends. He disabuses the listener of common economic fallacies and inculcates the economic way of thinking about a host of important issues. A major theme throughout the course is the dramatic increase in the size of government over the century. Taylor analyzes different policies and gives the consensus economist view on most of them. I highly recommend this course.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Timothy Taylor is the best

Revisado: 02-15-15

This was an excellent survey of the basics. Taylor establishes where economists agree, and highlights where they don't (mostly macroeconomics). He really knows how to explain economic thinking. He focuses on the intuitions at the heart of economics. Trade-offs are everywhere and we need to understand what these trade-offs are. He rids the listener of zero-sum thinking, as I think many people who don't understand economics succumb to. Any good citizen should be familiar with the basics of economics and this book is a superb deliverer of those basics. Graphs and complex mathematics are unnecessary for the most part. Taylor's Great Courses lectures on economics are also fantastic. I highly recommend them for anyone seeking to understand the world.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Wonderful

Revisado: 02-06-15

This book was an absolute joy. Dennett is a fantastic writer. He's really good at mixing astute analysis with insightful quotes from luminaries. The narrator was the best I've heard on Audible, far and away. He inflects his voice perfectly, making even seemingly dry material fresh and profound. I didn't think this book was too dense for audio and I thought the part on Gould was essential to the thesis. Darwin expunged teleology from nature and Dennett guides you through this deep insight and its discontents. Many have said this is a classic and I would agree.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Preachy, redundant, and unpersuasive

Revisado: 02-05-15

I really wanted to like this book. I'm sympathetic with the thesis, but Howard just persistently talks at the listener in a condescending manner. He provides a few cases here and there of maddening rule abuse but doesn't offer any in depth analysis of why the culture of excessive rules is the way it is. It's as if the whole book he is repeatedly saying, "Bah! Look at this! Isn't this crazy??" Yes it is, Howard. So do the intellectual work that I thought I was paying for and tell me why it's like this. It's hard to believe this guy is an accomplished writer. If you want a more scholarly, persuasive book about dumb laws and government failure in general, read Why Government Fails So Often by Peter Schuck. He actually gives a more comprehensive analysis of the dumb law phenomenon and it's only one section of his book! Plus, you get way more for your money!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Erudite, Systematic Analysis of Government Failure

Revisado: 02-05-15

This is a phenomenal book. Peter Schuck, a self-described independent who has always voted for Democrats, has shown why government consistently fails in systematic ways. He covers many, many programs and provides astute analysis for each. The book is never boring, despite being so comprehensive. The narrator is excellent, with perfect intonation to match the prose. I hope this book is more discussed. Unfortunately, as Schuck has regretted in interviews, left-leaning media has ignored this book for the most part. That's a shame. America needs to have this conversation.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Weak analysis

Revisado: 12-02-14

This course was just a meandering series of quotes from the forefathers followed by vacuous reverence. It felt like the professor just threw something together at the last minute.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Good analysis mixed with libertarian rants

Revisado: 12-02-14

Ridley makes the very important point that the modern world is fundamentally built on trade and the specialization of labor. This idea can often be overlooked. Many people seem to think that we would be better off doing everything ourselves. Ridley shows that this is deeply misguided. However, I agree with William Easterly's review in that there are numerous rants throughout the book that don't really advance any idea and instead chafe otherwise sympathetic listeners. This book could've been a lot better. I was hoping this book would be a nice complement to Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature but it paled in comparison to Pinker's rigor and depth.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas