Thomas Sowell, Charter Schools and Their Enemies. I reviewed this for Regulation and Forbes.com. It’s not Sowell’s best work (here’s my guide to Sowell), but even Sowell’s worst work is better than a lot of people’s best work. That’s to say you should still familiarize yourself with it. Charters are an off-the-shelf education reform that […]
I Play Things: Monopoly (Two New-to-Me Versions) and Mastermind
Monopoly Junior. David, my youngest, has wrecked me at this version of the game three games in a row. Every time, he has reminded me that “Monopoly isn’t everything.” It’s dramatically simplified, with a smaller board–two property groups and a chance space on each side, no railroads, no utilities, no houses or hotels–and it makes […]
I Write Things: Economics and the Environment
I’ve always been interested in environmental issues, and I’ve written some papers, articles, and reviews on the issue. Here’s sort of a one-stop shop for those. The Creation of Knowledge in Society: Waste Defined by Property and Exchange (Independent Institute, July 25, 2017) More and Better: Resources Defined Through Property and Exchange (Independent Institute, May […]
I Eat Things: New(ish) Restaurants in Birmingham
One of the biggest increases in my standard of living in the last few years comes from the fact that we recently went from zero Ethiopian restaurants in the whole state of Alabama to two in Birmingham. Both are outstanding. There’s Red Sea on Green Springs and Ghion Cultural Hall at the Pizitz Food Hall […]
I Eat Things: Ghost Pepper Cheese at Carrigan’s Public House
It’s official: I no longer enjoy really spicy food. One of Birmingham’s better places is Carrigan’s Public House. They make a very, very good burger, but I’ve learned that the ghost pepper cheese option simply isn’t for me. On a recent visit, I got the burger with the ghost pepper cheese, and while the fries […]
I “Read” Things: Audiobooks and Webcomics
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises. I found it bleak, honestly–a story about people with what seems like nothing more to live for than the next drink. I could be completely off base with this, but I’m reminded of Deirdre McCloskey’s description of the characters in La Boheme. Audiobook: if you don’t have Audible, you […]
I Read Things: Bedtime Stories
Essential Hulk, Volume 1. This is bedtime reading with David (our five-year-old). It’s interesting to read comics from the 1960s and see, among other things, one of the ways in which fear manifested itself in the early cold war. Rise of the Isle of the Lost. This is the third novel in the Disney’s Descendants franchise, […]
I Listen to Things: Led Zeppelin Since Led Zeppelin
I was that kid in high school who knew that Led Zeppelin was originally called the New Yardbirds (and that Jimmy Page had, with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, been a member of the Yardbirds). When I got my first iPod in 2007, one of my first purchases was the complete Zeppelin catalog—a bargain at […]
I Play Things: Civilization Revolution 2
We got our first “real” computer when I was in high school. It had a two-speed CD ROM and a 435 MB hard drive. It ran Windows 3.11. And it was powerful enough to run Civilization and SimCity 2000. These were, as far as I was concerned, the peak of computer gaming (just as, in opinion, […]