Books

On January 20, 2010, New America welcomed distinguished economist Joseph Stiglitz in presenting his new book, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. Dr. Stiglitz began his talk by stating that the economy prior to the collapse had been sick for quite some time; indeed, according to Dr. Stiglitz, the economic collapse had been highly predictable. The cause of the financial crisis had been the false assumption that markets are self-regulating. However, Dr.

Please join us as Mark Kleiman discusses his new book, When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment.

California's long spending spree on criminal justice is running into budget reality. All over the state, in city halls and at the state Capitol, elected officials are being forced to ask whether the money they spend to fight crime--$35 billion a year, or more than $900 per person--is being used wisely to protect public safety.

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita wants you to buy his book. He wants royalties and he wants fame. He wants the book to promote his consulting business. The text may well be full of self-promotional tall tales and calumny -- unless the author calculated that the costs of dishonesty (potential intellectual disrepute) outweighed the benefits (more fame, royalties and consulting). When he walks into bookstores, he probably moves his book from the back shelves to the front. If he knew I was writing this review, he'd think about crafty ways to manipulate me.

Not too long ago, I predicted that a solid recent history of the 2008 election (Richard Wolffe's "Renegade") was likely to be the final word until President Obama wrote his own version of those storied events. A few months later, it appears that the conveyor belt is just getting started and that we will be reading about 2008 for a while to come. My bad!

I have a confession: I love my huge television. A couple of years ago, thanks to a very large Amazon.com gift certificate and a very poor grasp of measurements, I adopted a 50-inch plasma. It utterly dominated my tiny living room until I finally moved, yet even then I loved it. The vivid colors and enormous crystal-clear picture were a worthy substitute for the cinema. Video games were even better -- and "Blade Runner" on Blu-ray was sublime. It ended up being a very costly purchase, what with shipping and the pricey stand required to hold its weight.

Only two Americans held positions of great influence throughout the Cold War; ironically, they were the chief advocates for the opposing strategies for winning--and surviving--that harrowing conflict. Both men came to power during World War II, reached their professional peaks during the Cold War's most frightening moments, and fought epic political battles that spanned decades. Yet despite their very different views, Paul Nitze and George Kennan dined together, attended the weddings of each other's children, and remained good friends all their lives.

Nicholas Thompson says he was often taken aback by what he learned about his grandfather.

After all, Mr. Thompson is Nitze's grandson, and he had access to all of his grandfather's personal papers and letters, as well as to his family, his closest friends, even to his opponents, the old Soviet warriors who sat opposite him at the negotiating table.

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W. Ralph Eubanks's family memoir tells a double story, one about the past and the other about the author's efforts to uncover it. ...

STEVE COLL: I suggest The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS, by Helen Epstein. My premise is that the new president is a serious reader, is passionate about the big issues of his presidency, and hungers for reliable explication and detail, yet has limited time and therefore needs a single volume that is both easy to read and transformational in its effects. This at least was my experience as an accidental reader of The Invisible Cure.

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How did we manage to have it all in the years after the Second World War--car, house, health care, affordable education, Social Security, rising wages, leisure--and where did it go? If anyone knows, please tell California. Things seemed to be going so well here a half century ago: unemployment rates just above 3 percent, swimming pools in every backyard, baseball teams poached from Brooklyn, matchless public schools and universities, and swift new highways. Good jobs were available to nearly anyone who came, and nearly everyone did.

It all seems awfully remote.