Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Kevin Rudd, and more for PS Read More

The Resilient Society, by Markus Brunnermeier; Flying Blind, by Peter Robison; and more The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Read More]( In this week's edition of PS Read More, we share recommendations from Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Professor of Economics at Yale University and a former World Bank Group chief economist. We also highlight a recent work written by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and recommended by European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer. And don't miss recommendations from author Ian Buruma and Daniel Gros, a member of the board and distinguished fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies. [The PS Sustainability Book Award is now open for submissions.]( Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg Recommends... [The Resilient Society]( By Markus Brunnermeier Demands for resilience began to dominate economic and political discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gained further momentum after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet there is a startling lack of any rigorous conceptual treatment of resilience in the economics literature. Brunnermeier makes important progress on this front, first by defining “resilience,” which he contrasts with “robustness.” One analogy was particularly illuminating: whereas the robust oak can withstand many shocks, but breaks in extreme circumstances; the resilient reed sways in the wind, but does not break. Brunnermeier also provides a clear conceptual framework. While he does not offer concrete policy recommendations, this book remains a must-read for those seeking a rigorous understanding of resilience as it applies to social science. [The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe]( By Mark Mazower This rich, captivating account of the events that led to the 1821 Greek Revolution, the struggle for Greek independence, and the establishment of the modern Greek state should appeal not only to students of Greek history, but to anyone interested in modern European history and, more broadly, how nation-states emerge. Mazower explores the forces that shape national identity as a small population asserts itself against a superpower – in Greece’s case, the Ottoman Empire – as well as the critical role that geopolitical alliances and interventions by other superpowers play. Two centuries later, the forces Mazower examines seem as relevant as ever. [Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing]( By Peter Robison Some consider the 2008 global financial crisis to have been the catalyst for a reevaluation of unbridled capitalism. For me, it was reading this book. Robison probes the recent history of Boeing to identify the critical decisions – and gross missteps – that led to the launch of the 737 Max and caused its fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. The book is much more than a recounting of corporate dysfunction. It raises important questions about our market-based system, the pressure of competition, the role of the government in both promoting and regulating national champions, the tradeoff between safety and sales, the incentives of managers and shareholders, and the tension between short- and long-term thinking. In the end, the market may well weed out the bad: it heavily penalized Boeing. But 346 people had to die first. Don't miss Goldberg's recent Say More interview, in which she discusses inflation targets, rising protectionism, the US-China rivalry, and more. [Read now](. By a PS Contributor [The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping’s China]( By Kevin Rudd "This is a crucial book right now," writes Werner Hoyer. In it, Rudd explains, he seeks to show what could cause the US-China relationship to "devolve into an 'avoidable war'," and offer a "detailed framework" that would "enable the US and China to manage the scope of their competition during this 'dangerous decade,' cooperate on pressing global challenges, and avoid a catastrophic conflict" – one that, as Hoyer puts it, would "usher in a dark new era." In "China’s Lessons from Russia’s War," Rudd considers how Russia’s fumbled invasion of Ukraine will affect Xi Jinping’s strategic thinking. [Read now](. More Contributor Recommendations Ian Buruma Recommends... [Kapo]( By Aleksandar Tišma Tišma, a Serbian writer, tells the bleak and merciless story of Lamian, a Jew who horribly abused other Jews in order to survive Auschwitz. The camp was hell, but so was life after the war as a paranoid and guilty survivor. First published in 1987, Kapo was reprinted by the New York Review of Books in 2021. Two other books by Tišma – The Book of Blam and The Use of Man – similarly explore the plight of those who survived WWII death camps. (From 2022) --------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Gros Recommends... [In Defense of Public Debt]( By [Barry Eichengreen]( Asmaa El-Ganainy, Rui Esteves, and Kris James Mitchener Public debt can support growth if it is used to finance productive investment and if its status as a risk-free benchmark helps to drive financial-market development. This excellent study shows how public debt first emerged in the Western world to finance wars, but became much more productive when it was used to finance large-scale infrastructure projects. This shift also made debt much safer, as infrastructure fosters growth, leading to higher revenues. The analysis by Eichengreen and his co-authors is highly relevant today, as policymakers and economists debate whether the ongoing surge in public debt – fueled by social spending – will lead to more growth or threaten financial stability. (From 2022) [PS. Subscribe now to claim your copy of PS Quarterly: The Year Ahead 2023]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter does not entitle the recipient to re-publish any of the content it contains. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.