Labyrinths of Prosperity: Economic Follies, Democratic Remedies by Reuven Brenner explores the cyclical shifts in economic thought, specifically focusing on the myths of macroeconomics and their impact on policy-making and prosperity. Brenner questions the scientific legitimacy of macroeconomic theories, highlighting their contradictions and the misleading confidence with which they are presented. He critiques the use of national statistics and macroeconomic aggregates—such as the GDP and unemployment rates—as unreliable bases for policy-making due to their frequent revisions and inherent inaccuracies. The book argues that true prosperity emanates from trade and financial practices that allow individuals to take risks and leverage opportunities, rather than from macroeconomic policies that claim to fine-tune economies around aggregated statistics. Brenner suggests that public policy should shift towards fostering environments where entrepreneurial endeavors can thrive, through mechanisms such as referenda and direct political engagement, to prevent policy errors from persisting unchallenged. By advocating for decentralization, Brenner assigns the responsibility of curbing government excess and sustaining prosperity to the ingenuity and innovation of individuals, thus promoting a political climate that encourages adaptation and economic freedom over rigid statutory prescriptions.

A tourist visiting the famous cathedral at Chartres might be surprised to discover an enormous labyrinth embedded in the thirteenth-century floor. Why is it there? In this fascinating book Craig Wright explores the complex symbolism of the labyrinth in architecture, religious thought, music, and dance from the Middle Ages to the present.

The mazes incorporated into church floors and illustrating religious books were symbolic of an epic journey through this sinful world to salvation. A savior figure typically led the way along this harrowing spiritual path. Wright looks at other meanings of the maze as well, from religious dancing on church labyrinths to pagan maze rituals outside the church. He demonstrates that the theme inherent in spiritual mazes is also present in medieval song, in the Armed Man Masses of the Renaissance, and in compositions of the Enlightenment, including the works of J. S. Bach. But the thread that binds the maze to the church, to music, and to dance also ties it to the therapeutic labyrinth that proliferates today. For as this richly interdisciplinary history reveals, the maze of the "new age" spiritualists also traces its lineage to the ancient myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. While the hero of the maze may change from one culture to the next, the symbol endures.