I have just started reading Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. The aim of the book is to explain why some nations are successful and why others fail. The thesis of the book is that institutions matter for economic development, whilst geography and culture play a somewhat limited role. The book's website and associated blog can be found here. The video below is a short talk given by Acemoglu at the Cato Institute about Why Nations Fail.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.