Responding to my invitation for paid subscribers to suggest a topic, one of my readers (InkyFingers) proposed the top five or ten novels that have influenced me as an economist.
I was a voracious reader as a child, and nothing influenced me more than Robinson Crusoe, which I read closely at least 3 times. Teenage years, 1984 and Brave New World, and of course Lord of the Rings. Stephen Jay Gould galvanized me in my middle age, with Wonderful Life, The Mismeasure of Man, and Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle. For an understanding of Australia's relatively recent past, Donald Thompson in Arnhem Land... tragic, shocking, uplifting, inspirational writing and photography.
I also have done a line in songwriting (including parody song writing) and performing at my local pub's jam session in 2016-18. In childhood I got a solid diet of Pete Seeger, the Weavers and the early Bob Dylan, and then got into Redgum as a young adult. I liked anything that was anti-war. In terms of my political outlook, Die Gedanken Sind Frei, Solidarity Forever and Banks of Marble stand out.
Works of fiction that have influenced my outlook include 1984 by George Orwell and But The Dead Are Many by Frank Hardy. Among non-fiction books I would list Bertrand Russell's Power, Beyond The Fragments by Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright, The Economics of Feasible Socialism by Alec Nove, Piketty's Capital and The Great Transformation by Polanyi. The Bible was also an influence on my values in my very formative years, but I'm not sure which of the two preceding categories it belongs in. ;-)
Thanks for this, John. It’s very interesting (as I expected it to be). I have only read Middlemarch, but enjoyed that. I think the 19th century novel that influenced me was Dickens’s Hard Times, which is a critique of utilitarianism. It also has the benefit of being one of Dickens’ shorter novels. I will read my KSR novels. I have been meaning too for sometime. Have you read the Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin? I thought that was a good thought experiment about anarchism versus capitalism. C21 is a masterpiece and one I have read 3 times. I am looking forward to P’s new book with his partner Cage next year. I am about to read Goldin’s Career and Family. I just confess she flew beneath my radar until her Nobel prize. I should get a copy of Work for All. I have a copy of Great Expectations at home (the one you wrote, not Charles Dickens). Zombie economics was a great book, as was Economics in Two Lessons. I am looking forward to your course notes next year. Have you read the Power Broker by Robert A Caro? I think it’s a fascinating study of power. I love his bio of LBJ but that humungous. This is still humungous but not as humungous.
I was a voracious reader as a child, and nothing influenced me more than Robinson Crusoe, which I read closely at least 3 times. Teenage years, 1984 and Brave New World, and of course Lord of the Rings. Stephen Jay Gould galvanized me in my middle age, with Wonderful Life, The Mismeasure of Man, and Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle. For an understanding of Australia's relatively recent past, Donald Thompson in Arnhem Land... tragic, shocking, uplifting, inspirational writing and photography.
I also have done a line in songwriting (including parody song writing) and performing at my local pub's jam session in 2016-18. In childhood I got a solid diet of Pete Seeger, the Weavers and the early Bob Dylan, and then got into Redgum as a young adult. I liked anything that was anti-war. In terms of my political outlook, Die Gedanken Sind Frei, Solidarity Forever and Banks of Marble stand out.
Works of fiction that have influenced my outlook include 1984 by George Orwell and But The Dead Are Many by Frank Hardy. Among non-fiction books I would list Bertrand Russell's Power, Beyond The Fragments by Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright, The Economics of Feasible Socialism by Alec Nove, Piketty's Capital and The Great Transformation by Polanyi. The Bible was also an influence on my values in my very formative years, but I'm not sure which of the two preceding categories it belongs in. ;-)
Lots of commonality there. I'm in the tiny minority who prefer pre-electric Dylan!
Thanks for this, John. It’s very interesting (as I expected it to be). I have only read Middlemarch, but enjoyed that. I think the 19th century novel that influenced me was Dickens’s Hard Times, which is a critique of utilitarianism. It also has the benefit of being one of Dickens’ shorter novels. I will read my KSR novels. I have been meaning too for sometime. Have you read the Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin? I thought that was a good thought experiment about anarchism versus capitalism. C21 is a masterpiece and one I have read 3 times. I am looking forward to P’s new book with his partner Cage next year. I am about to read Goldin’s Career and Family. I just confess she flew beneath my radar until her Nobel prize. I should get a copy of Work for All. I have a copy of Great Expectations at home (the one you wrote, not Charles Dickens). Zombie economics was a great book, as was Economics in Two Lessons. I am looking forward to your course notes next year. Have you read the Power Broker by Robert A Caro? I think it’s a fascinating study of power. I love his bio of LBJ but that humungous. This is still humungous but not as humungous.
Thanks for kind words on my work. Love LeGuin. Have read journal articles by Goldin, but should catch up on book.