Blogging the Bookshelf

Blogging my bookshelf – one book at a time

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Entries from August 16th, 2010

“The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom”, Yochai Benkler

August 16th, 2010 · Comments Off on “The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom”, Yochai Benkler · Economics, ICT, Policy

Synopsis: By lowering the transaction costs of group action, the Internet has made possible a new model of production – commons based peer production. Not market driven, not government directed and not organisationally controlled, peer production within online communities of interest represents a qualitatively new form of production. Benkler was the first to identify it. […]

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“All The King’s Men”, Robert Penn Warren

August 13th, 2010 · Comments Off on “All The King’s Men”, Robert Penn Warren · History, Literature, Politics, Under-Rated

Summary: Political hack turned apparatchik Jack Burden, narrates the rise and fall of “The Boss”, depression era Louisiana Governor and demagogue, Willie Stark. The roman à clef par excellence. My Take: “All the King’s Men” is quite simply the best dramatic exploration of the political experience in any medium. While it’s most famously known as […]

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“Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge”, Cass Sunstein

August 9th, 2010 · Comments Off on “Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge”, Cass Sunstein · ICT, Under-Rated

Synopsis: University of Chicago Professor of Jurisprudence and polymath at large, Cass Sunstein reviews traditional models of aggregating and filtering information in the context of the impact of rapidly evolving technological change. If it was published on Twitter, I’d give it a re-tweet. My Take: The best summary of Cass Sunstien’s “Infotopia” comes from a […]

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“Atlas Shrugged”, Ayn Rand

August 2nd, 2010 · 5 Comments · Over-Rated, Politics

Synopsis: In a dystopian alternative reality in which the US Government imposes ever greater burdens on America’s industrialists, one man, John Galt, leads the “men of the mind” to withdraw their productive capacity from society. And then talk about it for 1200 pages. Crypto-fascist. My Take: Oh dear, Where to begin? Atlas Shrugged is much […]

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