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Interesting fact about the economy of the USSR. Effectively an element of the economic plan was to be constantly ready for war mobilisation. Hence, tractors were deliberately excessively large and heavy, so as to allow easy transition to tank production if needed.

This book is extremely good. Robert C Allen is a serious economic historian and examines one of the great "what ifs" in history, the 1920s-30s transformation of the USSR against plausible counterfactuals. Examines everything from living standards to demographics. V much recommend

www.bevansadvocate.com/p/notes-on-c...

Wrote something up on taxes

Life update, I recently got a new study buddy. She's not super across the literature but I'm quickly getting her up to date

If I have capacity in the next weeks will try and write a longer review

Against Money by @jwmason.bsky.social and @arjunjayadev.bsky.social is simply terrific, probably the best book I've read this year. From capital, to the interest rate, to GDP, they examine the ways in which the money form governs our lives and can observe social relations. Definitely recommend.

My recommendations on tax and tax policy

There's a lot of discourse rn about capital taxation, and the principle that should govern it. I recommend people check out this recent Stiglitz work on the topic. He's a leading thinker on the topic and knows much more about the econ models used in the debate than most.

This new @drodrik.bsky.social book is extremely good. Adapting old insights to a changing world, such as the decreasing labour intensity of manufacturing, Rodrik argues forcefully for a sensible approach to global governance and development. Strongly recommend.

During WW2, Milton Friedman argued against sales taxes in favour of the income tax. This was primarily for equity reasons, noting income tax “permits the cost of the war to be distributed explicitly in a socially desirable manner.”

I turned the Atkinson-Stiglitz (1976) critique of Ramsey Taxes into a meme

My reads since July

Some recommendations in economic history

Interesting Stiglitz passage reconciling Piketty's R>G with traditional neoclassic understandings of capital. Basically the volume of wealth ≠ the capital stock, as it also includes exploitation rents. Wealth can actually increase while the capital stock declines.

This tome of a book is excellent. I've always liked Stiglitz, but wished his books did more academic deep dives. This book does that, presenting the current research on inequality, as well as the corresponding models plus variations. Highly recommend.

www.bevansadvocate.com/p/pre-transf...