Reviews for The folklore of the Isle of Man

The average rating for The folklore of the Isle of Man based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-03-17 00:00:00 Bill Welsh This one is by Robert H. Nelson, a classically trained economist who made a hobby out of cataloging when economists lapsed into creepy religious thinking and then turned it into an entire book. That's a teensy bit disingenuous in that Nelson is very earnest in his topic but it does describe the final product in that the man knows a stunning amount about economics. He does not know a lot about religion. This produces a book of amazing insights that sit next to freshmen level nonsense, making the book a touch bumpy. Nelson starts by outlining the basic relationship between morality and economics. You need a certain amount of trust and security in your economy, like if a car mechanic fucks up my car I can feel secure that I can sue him in court or call the cops. Countries that lack this often have slow or weak markets because you reduce efficiency via bribes or murder or lack of basic civil rights, etc. So, Nelson posits, certain cultures and religions are going to get along better with free market capitalism if they allow for centralized authority, not stealing things, and a strong idea of private property. And then down the rabbit hole we go. First he explains how someone like Marx or Keynes can be described as prophets. Then he talks about how both are predicting heaven on earth and utopias that can be achieved by economics. Marx is a pre-millenial prophet, in that he is saying the world will end and Keyne is a post-millenial, which means the world ended and now it will get better. The analogies grind on, economists say if we just manage efficiency properly life will be perfect. That's just like how Christians say if we manage sin heaven will happen. Or economists ignore the social costs of free markets/privitization for the greater good, just like Christians ignore mortal suffering for heaven. His idea for an economic religion is: private property is a necessary albeit shitty reality of living in scarcity. Self-interest is good for your economy, but it also can't exceed certain limits. Your basic three sins in any economic system are: 1) Don't charge different people different prices for the same good. 2) Don't allow sellers and buyers to get into collusion and rig prices. 3) Don't allow people to take advantage of supply shortages by charging high prices in emergencies. The problem is that this already exists. For centuries. Mostly because breaking those rules will get you killed or worse. So the book shifts into a culture study and importance of a religion that introduces morals that constructively limit self-interest. The book is okay overall, it was published in 2000. Like most academic texts it peaks about half-way through, rattles off a few more clever ideas, and then spends the final 1/4 dry humping your brain with leftover notes and ideas. Like sober sex with a stranger. Socially speaking, it should be seen as a precursor to the big things going on today like reassessing risk, the 2008 crash, and the secular crisis we are experiencing today. I liked the ending, where he talked about the 2000 Republican Nomination going to Bush instead of McCain. He said it was a pretty strong indicator that the economic ideologies and secular beliefs about government had won. Much to the party's detriment.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-07-14 00:00:00 Don Dutcher Brilliant analysis of the limits of economics. He's also blogged on the topic on the Leiter economics blog--that's highly recommended.