Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
From an American standpoint, what is most relevant about the medieval period is the experience of England, since this was the proximate source of our ideas and institutions. English and continental politics of the Middle Ages had much in common, but differed sharply at the outset of the modern era. On the continent, far from … Read more
I recently had a conversation about how both American and British conservatives have gotten mixed up too much with the idea of “tradition”, and have tried to “conserve” the wrong things. It makes a certain amount of sense that this error occurs in England, where there really are castles and grand houses and people called … Read more
I had a dispute with a friend about the degree of exceptionalism which may be attributed to England and the Anglosphere. While England is unique for a lot of reasons, it is still part of several larger groupings. I put it as follows: Let us not go too, too far with our exceptionalism. England was … Read more
(I enjoyed putting together my list of books read in 2004, and got some positive responses. But since the list for the entire year was too long, the individual entries were a little bit truncated. So, I decided to do a more substantive post now, since the additional detail may be of interest so some … Read more
I was going to do a “best of 2004” list, but then I realized I liked all the books I read recently. I have a friend who keeps a list of all the books he reads, and when he finished them. I have never done that before, but I was able to dig back and … Read more