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Noah Smith @Noahpinion
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Here is a thread of the top 10 books I read this year.
1. "How Asia Works", by Joe Studwell

A history of East Asian economic development, focusing on land reform, export promotion, and financial policy.

amazon.com/How-Asia-Works…
2. "Nixonland", by Rick Perlstein

A history of the late 60s and early 70s, focusing on social and political turmoil. Very relevant for the current era.

amazon.com/Nixonland-Rise…
3. "Ametora", by W. David Marx

A history of postwar Japanese men's fashion. Fascinating for both the history and the insights into how culture spreads.

amazon.com/Ametora-Japan-…
4. "Our Towns", by James and Deborah Fallows

A travel diary about small American cities that are using industrial policy to reinvent and revitalize themselves after the devastation of the Rust Belt, the China Shock, and the Great Recession.

amazon.com/Our-Towns-000-…
5. "Invisible Planets", by Hannu Rajaniemi

Some of the best science fiction and fantasy short stories I've read.

amazon.com/Invisible-Plan…
6. "The Gift of Global Talent", by William Kerr

All about skilled immigration. A short, incredibly well-informed, very clearly written book.

amazon.com/Gift-Global-Ta…
7. "The Other Side of Assimilation", by Tomas Jimenez

When he's underwater, does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

amazon.com/Other-Side-Ass…
8. "The Diversity Paradox", by Jennifer Lee and Frank Bean

Some data, interviews, and theories about America's racial and ethnic future.

amazon.com/Diversity-Para…
9. "The Obelisk Gate", by N.K. Jemisin

A good sequel to "The Fifth Season", which you should read if you haven't. Fantasy with an eco-disaster twist.

amazon.com/Obelisk-Gate-B…
10. "Days of Rage", by Bryan Burrough

A history of lefty terrorists in the 1970s. Really, a history of what happens to hardcore revolutionaries when the national culture moves on without them.

amazon.com/Days-Rage-Unde…
Note: I *tried* to make this list in order, but of course it's very hard to make such fine-grained comparisons.

(end)
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One thing I think would help reduce elite Millennial burnout/disappointment/rage is for people to stop thinking that their job should save the world.

"Save the world" and "make the world a better place" are probably just things employers tell you to get you to work for cheap.
Maybe your job will give you meaning and purpose and a sense of doing good for the world.

Or maybe it'll just make you some money so you can raise some kids, have some pet rabbits, and be active in your local community.

There's more than one way to get meaning in life.
Also, people glorify saving the world when it probably just gives you PTSD.

We like watching Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and whatever, but we wouldn't want to actually fight Darth Vader or slog through Mordor. That would cause major burnout!
Read 3 tweets
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1/Since Trump's demand for his Wall is in the headlines, I thought it would be a good time for a thread about a history book I just read:

"Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America", by Daniel Tichenor (2002)

amazon.com/Dividing-Lines…
2/The book starts out with a chapter or two of dense, unnecessary political science jargon, saying that - essentially - U.S. immigration policy tends to move very slowly, because powerful politicians and officials resist the tide of public opinion.
3/But most of the book is an extremely readable, eye-opening history of U.S. immigration policy, from the founding through the 1990s.

It shows how the immigration debates we're now having have been with us, in some form or another, for a very long time.
Read 27 tweets
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Thread about why very high tax rates on very rich people don't raise much revenue (or reduce inequality much, even within the top tier).

Our system has a million loopholes. Closing them is more important than raising top rates.
That's not to say there's a trade-off between raising the top rate and closing loopholes! They are complements, not substitutes.

But if you just raise the top rate without closing loopholes, you'll likely be disappointed.
The fact is, raising effective taxes on the very rich will require a comprehensive sustained push on a large number of policy fronts. There is not going to be one silver bullet.
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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2018 has been a great year and I have recounted on the great things that happened in it already here 👇

#Thread is the list books I consumed during the year

1. It started with Art of War - Sun Tzu
Valuable strategy in the book for life and business, I have it in my 2019 list again

2. Zero to One - @peterthiel
Impressive look into the art of innovation
3. Blue Ocean Strategy - Renée and Chan
One of the best reads of 2018
I went on recommending it throughout the year.

A compelling view of how to carve for your organization a strategy that wins long enough. Sequel to it Blue Ocean Shift (not read yet) @BlueOceanStrtgy
Read 21 tweets
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Here's a thread about the books I read this year!

#reading #books #libraries #readingrainbow
1. "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by Michael Wolff. Yes, I hate-read this book in a matter of days. Problematically, Bannon comes across as an articulate, insightful source and not an arch nationalist parasite. Will Wolff's depiction be hagiography in the future?
2. "The Invention of the White Race, Volume 1: Racial Oppression and Social Control" and "The Invention of the White Race, Volume 2: The Origin of Racial Oppression in Anglo-America" by Theodore Allen. Who knew how important Bacon's Rebellion (1676) was to the history of racism?
Read 27 tweets
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Here’s a #thread about #judges and #judges’ opinions. I don’t want to name names. I’m hoping Twitterland will get the word out. It’s important, to that small audience at least. It’s about a lack of awareness and humility 1/
So there’s this emerging cadre of judges who write opinions that seem clever and erudite and get some adoring attention. But here’s the thing. At a conference of pretty bright academics of various persuasions and we have two things we seem to all think about those opinions 2/
The first is a little catty; the second is deadly serious. They both matter. (And I’m not naming names of judges or academics but you know who you are.) 3/
Read 8 tweets
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#Thread

Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) is an critical tool for financially empowering micro businesses, (artisans, market women) and petty traders at the base of the pyramid.
GEEP (comprising @MarketMoni, #FarmerMoni, @Trader_Moni) has disbursed N27.4 billion in interest-free loans from N10,000 to N350,000 to more than 1.1 million market women/men, artisans, farmers, petty traders across 36 States & FCT. Under GEEP, 56% of the loans have gone to women
Loans disbursed (MarketMoni) – more than 300,000
-Loans disbursed (FarmerMoni) – more than 5,000
-Loans disbursed (TraderMoni) – more than 800,000 so far (target is 2 million by end of 2018)
Read 9 tweets
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From Poverty Central to Prosperity: How the Obiageli 'Oby' Ezekwesili Presidency will lift 80+ million Nigerians out of poverty. #Thread
#Fight4Naija
Today is an exciting day for this campaign as we will be sharing the most important issue in our ambitious plan for Nigeria that shows our readiness to govern from Day One. I will be telling you how we intend to lift 80 million Nigerians out of poverty. #Fight4Naija
We expect citizens to hold us to account for every word we say and every promise we make, not just on our innovative solutions for tackling poverty which I would be sharing today, but on our entire manifesto to be released to the public on Friday. #Fight4Naija
Read 237 tweets
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Thread: The Chinese Maritime Silk Road

1. Past threads have covered the Chinese Belt-Road Initiative (BRI) and their ongoing economic development/penetration of southwestern and southern Asia. More on the BRI:
economist.com/the-economist-…
2. A key element of the BRI is the Chinese intention to develop a “New Silk Road” through central Asia. The ancient Silk Road was the East-West commercial route ....
2A. ...from Marco Polo’s time onward that introduced silk and spices to the West. An excellent description is found here:

ancient.eu/Silk_Road/
Read 35 tweets

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