The Crossed Pond

As a new blogger here, it’s time to introduce my choices for the blogroll.

Freakonomics is a blog that continues the discussion started in the book of the same name. I find this blog a joy to read. Topics are diverse and enthralling. Authors are intriguing and even though the some of the contributors are left leaning, the tone is never dogmatic or off-putting. The subject matter is often somewhat academic economics, but the language and concepts are totally accessible to laymen. It is not overly political and is often a nice change of pace from the purely political blogs I’ll also be mentioning. If you have even a passing interest in economics in the real world, I strongly urge you to consider taking a look around Freakonomics.

My next choice is a tough one to heartily recommend. I have been reading it for over a year and a half now and still look at it with a love-hate relationship. I stumbled across it in the aftermath of the Virgina Tech shooting when it was loudly decrying Gun-Free Zones. I have remained around ever since. It is my source of doctrine “big L” libertarian commentary and bitching. The blog is shamelessly bitter and angry. The tone is tiring after a while and the subject matter can be similarly abrasive, yet I frequently gain valuable insight and information from Classically Liberal. If I had to create a category for guilty pleasure/morbid curiosity websites, it would be populated with Classically Liberal and the Drudge Report. I hate them both. Yet I also love them both. Consider giving this one a chance. The quality and perspective of the content is frequently worth the aggravation.

Coupled with my weekly intake of the print magazine I find myself hanging out on a couple of the Economist’s blogs. Free Exchange is somewhat dry and does not have the most enthralling commentary, but it’s functions as a nice, detached view of daily politics and economic events. It is decidedly focused on world economics and is an invaluable source of information. There are wonderful “link exchange” postings quite frequently that are usually filled with some high quality third party material. These alone merit the inclusion of this into the blogroll. When coupled with the quality of commentary, Free Exchange is another easy recommendation.