The Myth of the Rational Whatever

By Justin Fox | April 26, 2007 | +

George Mason University economist and blogger Bryan Caplan has a new book out called The Myth of the Rational Voter. I haven’t actually seen a copy yet, but I have read about it.

This news is making myself kick myself even harder than I usually do, because I have a long-delayed book due out a year from now called The Myth of the Rational Market (Amazon still lists it by its old name, The Myth of the Rational Investor). If I’d just finished it earlier it could have been marketed with Bryan’s as a packaged set. We could have gone on book tour together. We could have shared the cost of bodyguards to fend off our legions of teen-aged fans. What a missed opportunity!

All of which means I’m thrilled to announce that Bryan and I will be collaborating on our next book project, Good Times: Why Absolute Monarchy and the Feudal Economy Weren’t So Bad After All.

Update: Professor Caplan appears to be having second thoughts.

Related Topics: Economy & Policy

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http://www.literalmayhem.com Martin

You should read it… actually… i’s a great insight into just how badly a theoretician can be unhinged from reality. And just what a danger it can be if he’s left in charge of public policy. Caplan’s book is full of illogical and contradictory arguments, mangled terms, cultural prejudice, and a whole lot of other weaknesses. It’s also pretty scary when you really think about what he is arguing for. Like a lot of cloistered academics, he’s hermetically sealed inside his own thinking and theories, and totally unhinged from the real world… past and present. I won’t recap the whole list of objections here… but it’s on my site. (literalmayhem.com)