The Future and its Enemies

One of Virginia Postrel's books gets a few mentions today. Michael Barone:

The success of the Big Three and the UAW seemed a fit symbol of America's postwar economic dynamism. In fact, this was an economy characterized not by dynamism but by stasis, to use Virginia Postrel's term in "The Future and Its Enemies." New Deal legislation had been designed not for economic growth but for protection from the downward spiral of deflation.

George Will:

Daniels believes that Danielsism, far from being an exercise in small-mindedness, actually serves a large vision. He subscribes to a distinction made by Virginia Postrel in her book ``The Future and Its Enemies'' -- the distinction between advocates of stasis and advocates of dynamism. The former believe in managing the unfolding of the future. The latter believe in minimal management of that unfolding; hence they believe in minimizing government, which has a metabolic urge to manage, and a stake in preserving, the status quo that government's bureaucracies are comfortable serving.

Receiving that much attention is quite a tribute to a book that came out six years ago. I read it a few years back and it's pretty good, basically arguing that the world is cleaved by those who are in favor of change and those who resist it. You can either stand on the tracks or get on board when the train leaves the station.