Entries by Joakim Book

No Science Is Ever Settled

Purity is a poor test for us fallen creatures: Nobody, bar perhaps the occasional Mother Teresa, is that good. Not strictly because we individually fall short of our ideals, but because it’s impossible for anyone to reach, establish, or even view the end destination – neither in scientific knowledge nor in moral virtues. With the […]

To Lean, Clean, or Reign Supreme

In the early 2000s, before the financial crisis, a debate dominated central banking: whether central bankers should try to rein in financial bubbles in what was called “lean against the wind.” That is, over and above their macroeconomic targets – keeping inflation at or around 2% and ensuring full employment – central banks should also […]

The Ignorant World and What to Do About It

A spectre is haunting the Western world – the specter of a grossly mistaken understanding of the world. British kids have nightmares about the climate. Half of French respondents think it likely that climate change will cause “the extinction of the human race.” American teachers coddle students who have panic attacks when wildfires rage somewhere on the planet. Eco-anxiety […]

The New Right Is All about the Left

The ironic thing about Michael Malice’s book The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics is that it mostly deals with the Left. What unites the Right, argues Malice, is that they all hate the Left. His definition of the New Right reads: a loosely connected group of individuals united by their opposition […]