Book Review: Nothing is Sacred

I was familiar with some of Robert Barro’s academic work, but not the man. I then read this article and decided to read his book Nothing is Sacred.

In the beginning of his book Barro briefly narrates personal stories with various famous economists and characters. I liked the stories, they offered a more human side to people I only know of in a more technical aspect.

He then touches on many brief economic issues, ranging from the drug war to dollarization to oil. The none of the issues were covered in depth, but rather gave a good introduction into far reaching topics.

All in all I enjoyed the book and learning more about this Nobel Prize candidate. Most of the economics I didn’t need to read, but it was a worthwhile to skim through. To someone who hasn’t studied economics and wants to know more, this would be a good book to have. To people who have studied economics, it could be good to go through (I read it in about two hours) to learn more about one of the most influential economists in the past 30 years, if for nothing else then his short tales on other economists. Here’s hoping that Barro will be another classical liberal to win the Nobel Prize.