Hoodwinking the Nation

I have always been a fan of Julian Simon who provided a useful antidote to the apocalyptic thinking (my crap-detector goes into overdrive when people indulge in that form of argument) of the likes of Paul Ehrlich, et al.

I first ran across Simon after I read a long article about the famous bet back in the early eighties. (http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/02/magazine/betting-on-the-planet.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm) Essentially a battle between two schools of thought, the Malthusians v. the Cornucopians, the bet enlivened the debate between two ways of looking at the world.

I was reminded of this book recently when I read Penn Jillette's homage to books and reading show more target="_top">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/books/review/penn-jillette-by-the-book.html?pa... in which he cites Simon's book as being important to changing his perspective.

I note there is a soon-to-be-released book about the famous bet in which the author takes a different tack. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/books/review/penn-jillette-by-the-book.html?pa... I would quibble with his rather broad statement that it was the bet that created the gulf between economists and environmentalists, but I look forward to getting a copy of his book for my kindle when it's released in early September. show less