Michael Shermer enjoys two books that examine economics and politics from a scientific perspective — one explaining the experimental basis for democracy, another placing trade in an evolutionary context.
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Shermer, M. Science, freedom and trade. Nature 465, 294–295 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465294a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/465294a
Daniel N. Haines
Ridley's book isn't science--it's a standard libertarian tract, using a little science, social science, history, and economics. Apparently, his answer to Prof. Diamond's polemics is a counter-polemical tract of his own. As a libertarian tract, it's well-written but one-sided and inconsistent--regulation is bad except the once or twice when it's been good. My guess is Ridley's days as a science writer are over.