People will sometimes ask what I read. Here are some of the books I read in 2009, and would recommend.

1. Economics in One Lesson  by Henry Hazlitt. A really concise read on free market economics in layman terms. Couple hundred pages long, so not a heavy read.

2. The Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballve. A little tougher read, though just over a hundred pages. But Ballve, a Spanish economist, has gems like this: “. . . the free market is the most obvious expression of the sovereignty of the people and the best guarantee of democracy. Individual guarantees stated in writing in the constitution are of no use to a nation if it is not the people, but a third party, whether government or trade-union, that fixes prices and wages . . . for in that case the people, in being deprived of their right to free choice in the market, i.e. their right to assign everything the rank and the value it suits them to give it, from being sovereign are reduced to the status of slaves.”

3. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes.  Shlaes does an excellent job of really taking another look at the history of the Depression, FDR’s policies, and some of the impacts, short term and long term, of those policies. Really good read. Little longer, but worth it.

4. The American Cause by Russell Kirk. Not a long book, but a must read for those wanting to better understand who we are as a nation, what the principles are that have made us great, and why they’re worth fighting for. 

More recommends tomorrow.

There are a lot of groups out there these days trying to get off the ground purported doing the Lord’s work for the advancement of freedom. Not all of them make it. Some of them are questionable. I pray very hard these days for God to give me some sense of discernment between the groups worth standing on the bridge with and those not worth it.

I won’t always be right and sometimes will be had. That’s life.

But over the past year I have fallen in love with one new group that has yet to disappoint and that frequently excites me. It’s American Majority. Those of you who attended the RedState Gathering last August know them well. They helped sponsor the event and made a presentation.

Slowly and carefully, American Majority is raising up a new batch of conservative leaders at the local level. Their goal is not to find the next conservative for congress, but to find the next conservative for the school board, the town council, the county commission, etc. They intend to rebuild the conservative farm team.

And they do fine work. They are a solid group I’m pleased to promote and partner with whenever I can.

[UPDATE:] Cross posted at Redstate.com