If your conservative friends and relatives won't read the books you recommend because they're "shrill" or "angry" or off-putting in some other way, try giving them Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang. Chang is a Korean economics professor from the prestigious University of Cambridge.  He has written a very readable, understandable book explaining why everything you know about economics -- particularly the economics of developing countries -- is wrong. But he doesn't pound the table about it because, well, he doesn't have to -- the facts are sufficient.

Chang speaks both from scholarship and from deep experience: He was born in South Korea when it was one of the world's poorest countries, and he lived through its transition into a relatively advanced, wealthy nation. So he knows first-hand that Korea's story, told accurately, has a lot to do with trade -- but not free trade. He recalls, for example, import controls so severe that a tin of Spam smuggled from an American military base was something to daydream about.

I've been reading that Barack has been planning a trip overseas sometime between now and the PA primary.  Places like the Middle East...!

IMHO Barack should stay out of problem regions until he is in a position of power to have some positive influence there.

On the other hand, I think a trip abroad to the United Kingdom might be an AMAZING plus.

Seeing the responses, and given the importance of this decision for Barack, maybe you guys want to get it on rec?

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