Re: Postrel on Dynamism and Tech. Progress

Fred C. Moulton (moulton@moulton.com)
Mon, 23 Nov 1998 20:43:18 -0800

Yes, the book by Virginia Postrel titled The Future And Its Enemies has just been published. I just got my copy over the weekend and have not had a chance to read it yet, however I have heard Virginia give several talks on the subject over the past year or so and I expect the book to be well worth reading. Virginia's thesis is that left vs. right and liberal vs. conservative are often not as useful as the destinction between static outlook vs dynamic outlook. She claims that the static outlook explains why you see persons who claim to be right wing or conservative joining with persons who claim to be left wing or liberal in opposing free trade. Although the static anti-change tradition within conservatism is probably well known by readers of this list, this book help explain it to a larger audience.

The publisher is Free Press. Laissez Faire Books http://www.lfb.org/ has it on sale.

Fred