2 comments about Hayek on Hayek: An Autobiographical Dialogue (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek).

1. This book about Hayek's life in Hayek's eye. It contains not only his academic life, but also his way in looking the world. This is a readable introduction to Hayek's philosophy, not because it has presented some theoies, but because it has provided the necessary introduction on this man--Hayek.



2. Concern for the self in this book zeroes in on the intellectual basis for a tremendous reputation in free world economics. It is by and about Friedrich August von Hayek, who died on March 23, 1992. Most of the 170 pages are devoted to the years leading up to THE ROAD TO SERFDOM, which Hayek wrote during World War II and published in 1944. The "autobiographical notes that Hayek wrote over a period of years beginning in 1945," (p. ix) which are used throughout the book, tend to look back into his past. Part Three, beginning on page 99, explains that the war provided a setting for thinking and writing "studies on the abuse and decline of reason to which I had devoted the first two years of the war." (p. 99). Part Three ends with a transcript (pp. 110-123) of a Radio Discussion, April 22, 1945, with University of Chicago assistant professor of economics Maynard C. Krueger, national chairman of the Socialist party, who ran as vice-presidential candidate on the national Socialist ticket in 1940, and Professor Emeritus Charles E. Merriam, who served three terms as alderman on the Chicago "City Council, and in 1911 was narrowly defeated for mayor of Chicago." (p. 109).

   The discussion begins with a few pages on planning. When directly questioned about TVA, Hayek responded, "There is a great deal of the TVA to which no economist in repute, and certainly not the laissez-faire people, will object. . . . If the hydroelectric power really could not have been provided by private enterprise, I have no objection." (p. 113). If you really want economic growth, Hayek has a point, "where you can create a competitive situation, you ought to rely upon competition." (p. 113). This might be the same point: "I am a convinced free-trader, and free trade is part of the same philosophy." (p. 115).

   The former alderman, Merriam, notes how the competition of ideas may result in the opposite of Hayek's ideal. "It was not the fact of communism but the fear of communism that was the most powerful factor in the development of Naziism." (p. 117). The argument gets back to planning, as Hayek says, "That method of central planning which is proposed as an alternative method of organizing production to take the place of competition means that a government, or some central authority, must take complete control of the resources." (p. 119). "Most of the war controls are central planning, but it is only temporary. ... During the war, we all have to go to some extent totalitarian." (p. 119).

   If people have truly lost control of the government whenever it puts itself in a war unnecessarily, the socialist Krueger might be addressing everybody when he asserts, "You seem to place no faith whatsoever in the political process as a means of keeping government responsible to the people. Is that really your position? Do you have no faith in the political process as a means of establishing responsibility?" Hayek is as contrary as possible on this point. "I am quite convinced that it cannot be effectively controlled by the democratic process. It requires a degree of agreement among people which we can never expect in a free society." (p. 121). One sure quality of death, particularly during wartime, is that we will never hear a live broadcast of those three thinkers on the radio again. Since television has cut attention spans, Merriam might be truer than he knew then about Hayek's chapter of THE ROAD TO SERFDOM "on `Why the Worst Get on Top,' you seem to express grave doubts about the ability of a democratic society to accomplish much. You say, for example, that the more intelligent people are, the less likely they are to agree." (p. 122). Who would be willing to apply Hayek's concluding sentence to a current catastrophe -- lacking any economic sense, but costing billions -- American activities in Iraq? "I had realized that some kind of state action is extremely dangerous. Therefore, my whole effort was to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate action. I have attempted to do that by saying that, so far as the government plans for competition or steps in where competition cannot possibly do the job, there is no objection; but I believe that all the other forms of government activity are highly dangerous." (p. 123).

   Part Four starts out with some "wholly abstract problems." (p. 125). He spent years writing THE CONSTITUTION OF LIBERTY, "so that I was able to take the finished manuscript to my American publishers on my sixtieth birthday, May 8, 1959." (p. 130). Most of us were a lot younger back then, and to escape retirement at the age of 65, Hayek moved back to Germany. While the conversations quoted in this book are often after that date, they usually refer to what occurred in the years when he was most active in what was going on in the world. As a thinker, it is not surprising that he made more money than Karl Marx. The Index of Persons and Places on pages 161-170 is one of the best I have seen for explaining who each person mentioned in the book was, with more about Lord John Acton than about Achilles, and not much on Karl Marx (1818-1883). A question that he was asked in an interview printed in Reason magazine (July 1992), supposed that Joseph Schumpeter had been more right than Marx on how governments could be more responsible for "the collapse of capitalism due, not to its weakness (as Marx had predicted), but due to its strengths." (p. 154). Hayek could enjoy this paradox of Schumpeter, "that capitalism was certainly much better but it will not be allowed to last, while socialism is very bad but it is bound to come." (p. 154). Democracy allows the freedom for people to complain in ways that can inspire the government to make things worse, if I am catching the drift.

5 comments about COMMON SENSE NOT REQUIRED: Idiots Designing Cars + Hybrid Vehicles: My Career with Chrysler.

1. A few months ago, I stumbled upon this book while surfing the net for information about hybrid cars. Despite my regard for Mr. Boberg as a complete a$$hole, I read the entire book. I was extremely interested in purchasing a hybrid vehicle; the author seems to think anyone that would consider buying one is an "idiot."

   Several news stories have popped up recently where hybrid owners have been complaining about the fuel economy of their cars. Combined with the information in CSNR, I found myself thinking "sucker" when I observed a hybrid car. I read the book again and realized that it is only Mr. Boberg's intent to educate people about what hybrids are really all about.

   It is not a popular notion for someone to criticize new technology. The author predicts that hybrids will never become mainstream. Thinking back in automotive history, the wankel was the future, but it never caught on, though it did survive in the Mazda RX. I hope he his wrong, but I have to give him credit for making a credible argument to the contrary.

   I was expecting more inside "secrets" to be revealed. But the biggest secret he reveals is that there just aren't that many secrets. The book is more focused on the bumbling of some of the management and the success Chrysler experienced despite this.

   I highly recommend reading Common Sense Not Required. Despite my initial irritation with the author and his unpopular views, I couldn't put it down. The humor is sarcastic, but effective. I really enjoyed reading it twice.




2. 'A reader' sums it all up in his/her May 16, 2004 review.
   
   However, considering it was only a $4 download I didn't feel too cheated at reading this very amateurish, unedited, and unproofed piece of work.
   
   Mr. Boberg certainly has some useful experiences to share with people interested in the auto industry generally and Chrysler's mixed fortunes specifically. However, only his analysis of the costs and benefits of hybrid autos is worth the trouble here. In fact, anyone who believes a hybrid is a magic solution to the problems of fuel consumption and pollution might do well to acquaint themselves with some of the facts here.



3. I'm an engineer; I'm used to reading bad prose. I'm used to dealing with technical people deficient in people skills, but I just can't get past more than a few paragraphs in this book. I'll probably give it another try when I'm feeling more masochistic, but for now this book will be sitting on the shelf. If you have a low tolerance for badly written, egocentric self aggrandizement, then give this piece of work a wide berth.



4. If you are a true car buff, particularly if you are interested in the technical side then this is a must read.



5. I bought the book because I was looking for ideas with regard to converting a gasoline powered vehicle to electric power. If this is your purpose, then this book has absolutely no value for you.
   On the other hand, if you are simply interested in the grotesque manner in which large corporations lurch along, then you will find this amusing - and possibly even worth while. Having spent a goodly number of years within the corporate world, I can empathize with this man. His main problem, however, is that he did not have the good sense to get out early.

3 comments about Toast of the Town: The Life and Times of Sunnie Wilson (Great Lakes Books).

1. and Sunnie Wilson lived up to that motto by giving back generously to the black community. His motto might also have been "a bed and good meal for every musician" because he owned and operated the Mark Twain Hotel expressly for that purpose. BB King, Dizzy Gillespie,Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and many more stayed there. Sunnie also ran several show bars in Detroit's "northern" Paradise Valley. The book contains hundreds of stories having to do with musicians whose names are very common today. He was also very influencial in the political climate of the 1930 and 1940s in Detroit, and provides much insite into those times. Some of his greatest successes occured in the rich entertainment district that centered around John R, where today the Detroit Medical Center sits. To understand the history, you have to read the book, almost nothing remains of what was sometimes called the "near eastside ghetto".

   A great read. It reads like a novel, but leaves you with hard facts that easily pop up in conversation, and give perspective into the future.




2. Sunnie Wilson was like the John Dancy's and the Francis Kornegay's of the Detroit Urban League: High-yellow blacks who loathed the dark-complexioned blacks. If you don't believe me, read E. Franklin Frazier's Black bourgeois, or Victoria Wolcott's Remaking Respectability.
   It was not my intention to linger on the issues regarding Wilson's conspicuous story, rather than to make the point that Wilson belonged to a particular elite social circle that was set apart from the common black folk of/in Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. Albeit not stated in my theses, it is my belief that one of the reasons that Black Bottom fell was because black elites abandoned the community in time of real need. Instead of coming together to forge a political strategy to battle Mayor Jeffries infamous Detroit Plan, Black elites (with the aid of a 1946 Supreme Court ruling) fled to the suburbs, and Idlewild.
   Wilson's story is an important source in Black Bottom historiography because he forces us to rethink the hiring practices of Detroit Urban League, where Forrester B. Washington, and other black community leaders, believed that light-skinned women seeking employment - as opposed to the those of darker skin tone - were more attractive because they "were as a rule girls who have had better opportunities than the pure blacks who were mostly southern girls from the rural districts." This reductionist viewpoint allowed leaders like John Dancy to place light-skinned women employees in coveted positions in effort to improve the image of African American female workers in Detroit. In other words, the Detroit Urban League - composed mostly of color-conscious, "high-yellow" blacks - funded by wealthy whites, allowed themselves to become the filtering station for the white establishment to scrutinize and choose the type and kind of blacks they would allow to enter their workforce. And who would be better suited for such a job other than the black bourgeois, whose main goal and objective was to be loved and accepted by white folks. Now, one could argue that the Detroit Urban League had simply played the cards they were dealt (as Richard Thomas might would argue), or one could argue that the Detroit Urban League could have done more to challenge the racist, paternalistic, and patriarchal actions of the white establishment, and pushed for a more humanistic approach to solving the problems of employment affronted the black southern migrant - both dark and light-complected.
   Wilson's book forces us to look at these problematic issues that would, in my opinion, ultimately cause the fall of a great and unprecedented example of perhaps the most impressive black community the world would ever know. Wilson was part of an elite circle of (high-yellow) black folk that fleeced the black community in the same way that Jews had historical done. And when Black Bottom and Paradise Valley began to see hard times, rather than bond together their resources, influence, political power and wealth, the rich and elite black folk (including Wilson) packed their bags and fled the scene. Wilson would like to make us believe that it was black crime ("Soon I made up my mind that I could no longer do business in a section full of dope peddlers and petty criminals") that pushed him away from his responsibilities toward the black community revitalization movement, but it was probably the opportunity to retain his elite ties and lifestyle that ole Sunnie - a high-yellow elitist - saw the benefit in heading up north to forge together a community of "well-to-do black cottage owners and vacationers." Wilson reveled in the joy and prestige of rubbing elbows with the black rich and famous, who would become regular attendants of Idlewild: Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Madame C. J. Walker, Charles Waddell Chestnutt, and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams who originally owned the island from 1915 to 1916 before giving it to his sister, Virgil (whom Wilson, consistently obsessed with color, describes as "a very light-compected woman..."). As I read Wilson's story, I became somewhat convinced that part of the reason that Black Bottom and Paradise Valley "became a victim of `slum clearance,' or what became known as urban renewal," was because the black community's most vital resources -black wealthy elites - abandoned it. Rather than see the benefit of fighting to restore, rebuild, and revitalize the fledgling black economy (fledgling since the riots) the black economic power-base (the Barthwells', the Gordys', The Roxboroughs' , the Wilsons' ) closed ranks and hit the dirt running. And the "big-money interests like Mr. Webster and the J. L. Hudson family bought up parcels of land," while, "to make way for the I-75 freeway, the city decimated Black Bottom and Paradise Valley."
   Today, a comfortably retired Wilson unapologetically recants his act of treason: "I thought the takeover was wrong, but sometimes you can't fight `progress,' especially when you are poor and your adversary is armed with the power of millions of dollars." But Wilson, like his friends and associates, were wealthy, or at least, collectively wealthy, which meant power. Rather than fight, they ran to the suburbs and Idlewild, while the less affluent blacks in Black Bottom watched their lives crumbled beneath the mammoth city-owned bulldozers.



3. I was there. The stories are all true, Sunnie was exactly that: "sunnie", always a smile and ever dapper, he was the consumate host. The Mark Twain Hotel was a great place to meet the most famous jazz musicians in informal settings while they lounged or rehearsed. As a young, white broadcast engineer traveling with a national jazz radio program, I must say the Hotel was more like a home away from home than a Hotel. I stayed in room 38. Good times. Great book.

2 comments about Best Face Forward.

1. THIS BOOK IS A BEAUTIFUL STORY OF HOW MARILYN MIGLIN MADE
   IT IN THE WORLD OF COSMETICS. IT'S AN EASY READ AND FUN TO
   LEARN ABOUT THIS VERY AMBITIOUS LADY. SHE IS, HOWEVER, VERY
   GUARDED ABOUT WHAT IS REVEALED IN HER LIFE STORY. THIS IS
   FOR SURE, NOT A TELL ALL BOOK.



2. This is not at all the vanity autobiography you might expect. It's a well-written, complete and detailed first-person saga of a girl who came from next to nothing to build a major cosmetics empire, become a television celebrity and make international civic and social contributions of great importance. The book is just like having Marilyn Miglin to yourself for a cozy afternoon; it's just like she's talking to you. Her life is engaging from the start--she's been a dancer, one of Chicago's leading high fashion models, a cosmetics empress and also a daughter, wife and mother-- and she tells about it all with grace and warmth. The most astounding part of the book is her recounting the loss of her handsome and charismatic husband Lee, one of Chicago's business and civic stars. She tells exactly what came before, what happened, what was going on outside and inside of her, how she survived and went on. There's no doubt this is a valiant woman whose price is far above rubies! The key to this book is a photo of Marilyn at the age of 4, already a wide-eyed European-featured beauty, clear-eyed, shining from inside and dressed like a fairy princess. This clearly is someone who already had her lights on bright as a kid. The photos are all interesting, if only because Miglin is such a unique beauty. She isn't a standard issue American blonde but has very strong ethnic features which somehow come together into a face which is ever fascinating, ever mystifying. Whatever IT is, she has it, plus terrific business talent, great people skills and a deep, deep sense of social service and justice. If you don't believe it, she and Lee sent their kids to the Chicago Public Schools when they could have afforded the best private academies. They wanted their children to know a spectrum of people. Miglin continues to serve their elementary school in many ways. Chicagoans adore Marilyn Miglin for her elegance, her always being herself, her warmth, her generosity and above all her courage. No, you won't find gossip here, you won't find insults of other people, no won't find private family matters which should remain private family matters (her daughter and son will never be embarrassed by this book). You will find a classy and rewarding story by one singular sensation.

5 comments about Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom.

1. As a backyard railroader for the last 30 years, I had always wanted to find out more about Walt Disney's backyard, the "Carolwood Pacific". Now in "Walt Disney's Railroad Story", you can read about all of his interest in railroading, first building a miniature railroad in his backyard, and finally developing theme parks, complete with railroads. Author Broggie knew Walt personally, and covers all of the details of the many Disney railroads. This is one book that I could hardly put down until I had read it completely. I feel that this is a book that should be on the shelf of every backyard railroader and most Disney fans.



2. I have always loved the trains at Disneyland more than any other attraction. I always had dozens of questons about the trains that I wished I could get answers to. When I found out about this book I ordered it immediately. (My first experince with "one-click" ordering by the way, and WOW how easy!!) The book arrived on a Friday and I sat down to read it as soon as I got home from work. I could not put it down! I read straight through until 4am the next morning and finished it. It answered all the questions I ever had about the trains at Disneyland. It is a wonderful glimpse into the life of Walt Disney, and the group of incredibly talented people who worked for him. If you love trains, this book is a must. If you love Disneyland, this book is a must. If you could care less about trains and Disneyland, but you love a good story, this book is a must. Thank you Michael Broggie, for sharing this wonderful story.



3. I normally only read technical books. I picked this book up just to look at the pictures. Then I started to read the short articles within the chapters. I found them so fasinating that I found myself reading the main articles. My son asked my wife "what is Dad doing reading?". Walt Disney said that it all started with a mouse, but after reading this book you will realize that it all started with a train.



4. I consider myself an expert on Disneyland; I'm a former Imagineer and a collector of Disneyland information. Michael Broggie is not exaggerating his father's importance to the realization of Walt's dream. This book goes slightly beyond the sanitized "official" version that the Disney company promulgates and includes some stories and details that haven't been widely known. It's a beautiful coffee table book, complete and accurate (except for one or two nits someone like me might pick). I love it particularly for all the never-before published photos--you get so tired of seeing the same old approved shots when you collect Disneylandiana.

   In case Amazon doesn't provide links, I would also recommend "Walt Disney Imagineering" by David Mumford, et.al. and "Inside Story" by the late Randy Bright. Both are "official," but just as authoritative as Broggie's.




5. Having been a "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour guide at Disneyland AND an engineer on the Steam Trains, I can say with full confidence that this is THE best book written about Walt Disney and his vision of Disneyland, and his love of trains.
   
   The photographs are outstanding, the writing is wonderful, interesting, and easy to read, and the the stories, history, and facts are amazing.
   
   Buy this book for yourself, and get an extra copy to give to someone who likes Disney - they'll be very thankful!

No comments about Television Tightrope: How I Escaped Hitler, Survived CBS, and Fathered Viacom.

No comments about Bloomberg por Bloomberg.

5 comments about Carl Crow, a Tough Old China Hand: The Life, Times, and Adventures of an American in Shanghai.

1. Carl Crow was a unique individual in a unique time and place -- early 20th century Shanghai. His best-selling book, 400 Million Customers, published more that 70 years ago, is remarkable in part for great writing, but more importantly for insights into business in China, insights that still resonate in 2007, and likely will for decades to come, for these insights are not about transient political or economic trends, but about the Chinese as they truly are.
   
   With his biography of Crow, Paul French (author, director of one of China's most respected research houses, Access Asia, and a tough old China hand himself), gives us a great look at his fellow author's life and times, but also at Crow's Shanghai. French spent years researching in Shanghai (his own residence), other parts of Asia and the USA to bring us this insightful work.
   
   With China in such obvious ascent, we of the West owe ourselves and the coming generations a better understanding of the country and its history. Reading Crow's own book, and French's biography of him, is a great step toward such understanding. I strongly recommend both.



2. There are many books on the market about Shanghai. However, Mr. French's book is your best choice for seeing how Shanghai's past is prelude to the present. Carl Crow lived during an era when Shanghai embraced a cosmpolitan culture that is strongly reminiscent of the city today. His writings about life and business custom made him the Shanghai counterpart of Peking's compelling and gifted foreign-born writers, like George Kates and John Blofeld. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. French for rescuing Carl Crow from obscurity and bringing him back to the attention of those of us whose lives and work take us to this great city by the sea. Highly recommended.



3. I enjoyed the book because Carl Crow did live an interesting life (journalism, marketing and hobnobbing with China's elite), in an interesting place (Shanghai) at an interesting time (pre World War 2).
   
   That said, I have a few complaints. It is obvious that the author was working with very incomplete archival material, as the book has a "distance" from the subject that if he had talked to many people who had known Carl Crow should not be present. I felt like I was reading a summary of other reports, rather than a book that made Carl Crow really come alive. It is unfortunate that no one wrote a good biography before he died or shortly thereafter.
   
   Secondly, I think the editing was terrible. Numerous times throughout the book, I read something and I said "Didn't I just read that?", and there it was - a similiar fact or statement in the paragraph above. No excuse for that kind of thing...
   
   By far the best part of the book for me was when Japan invaded and the recently evacuated Carl Crow decided to go back to China, via the Burma Road, to report on the resistance and drum up support for China in America. This had the makings of engrossing book right there but unfortunately it was only one chapter of this effort.



4. A book on the varied career of an American businessman/author in China during the first half of the last century. Carl Crow is still worth reading about today both as an early example of Western commercial influence and involvement in the Middle Kingdom and because of his observations on the scrambled internal politics that ultimately led to war with Japan and later the Communist takeover. (Anyone who knew Chaig Kai-Shek, Zhou En-lai, the Soong sisters, and Owen Latttimore is worth some time.)
   
   I think the author (and/or his editor) might have spent more time polishing this text's prose to remove some small but noticeable style errors. At the same time, I think Mr. French exhibits in his book a very keen understanding of the complex politics that confronted China between the two world wars. He does not lapse into giving us just the story of Mr. Crow. This is really a social and political history of a great city and nation during turbulent times.



5. Carl Crow was an American journalist, then later, adman in Shanghai. His engagement with China started almost accidentally, but over time, like many westerners who have spent time in China, he came to identify with the country, and especially with average Chinese citizens, who suffered much through the civil wars, then Japanese invasion. To quote Crow himself (through French's book)"No one can live in intimate contact with the Chinese without coming to act and think like them, to take on a likeness which is more than superficial. Even the British and American missionaries have not been able to escape this. There is a great deal of the Chinese in every one of them who has lived long in this country."
   
   Paul French has done an excellent job of capturing the mood of the country and people during a chaotic time in its long history. For those who are interested in getting a deeper understanding of contemporary China and what drives the Chinese today, they would do well to treat this book as a introduction to where China and the Chinese are today, and where it is likely to go in the future.

No comments about Across Fortune's Tracks: A Biography of William Rand Kenan Jr..

1 comments about Henry Edwards Huntington: A Biography.

1. If you revere books and are an avowed bibliophile, then Henry Huntington is someone to admire and respect. His book collection is one of the premiere collections in the world, especially his concentration of incunabula. Huntington's mammoth collection is stored in the incomparable Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California - one of the most lovely places on earth. The permanent exhibitions include a first edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and numerous Shakespearian folios. Huntington's massive collection of autographs is also on display.

   The story of how Huntington amassed these priceless treasures is fascinating: the amount of zeal and money he poured into this endeavor makes for a world class story. Unfortunately, this book doesn't focus enough on this aspect of his life. The narrative becomes slow, plodding and ultimately tedious. One wishes that Thorpe would have concentrated more completely on Huntington's mania for book collecting, a passion to be envied for those of us not blessed with being multi-millionaires. Instead he veers off into areas not particularly interesting, though his history of early 20th century California is exceptional.

   Huntington's story is not one full of scintillating orgies, nor was he a riveting personal character, like Hearst. But this book paints a rather dour, boring picture of one of the greatest American collectors.