In the News, February 2012
Posted 01.28.12: “Now, as he runs for re-election, President Obama has latched on to a new foreign policy book, which offers a more appealing narrative for a leader facing fresh charges—this time from Mitt Romney and the other Republican candidates—that he is leading the United States into its twilight of global influence. The book, The World America Made, makes the case that the nation's decline is a myth, a reaction to the financial crisis of 2008 rather than to any genuine geopolitical shifts. In a delicious coincidence for the White House, the author is Robert Kagan, a neoconservative historian and commentator who advises Mr. Romney. The president has brandished Mr. Kagan's analysis in arguing that the nation's power has waxed rather than waned.”—The New York Times, Jan. 27th, “Obama Buttresses Case for U.S. Resilience With Book From Unlikely Source”
Posted 01.27.12: “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was priced at $787 billion when enacted; the official estimate is now more than $800 billion. In Money Well Spent? Michael Grabell of the nonprofit news organization ProPublica explains where all those dollars went. Mr. Grabell does such a thorough job of cataloging the program's misdirected funds and misplaced priorities that one wonders how he settled on the inquisitive title. Page after page of Money Well Spent? seems to answer with a resounding ‘No!' But despite the evidence that he has painstakingly compiled, the author seems reluctant to conclude that the stimulus program was not worth doing. He makes a point of saying that the country's unemployment rate would have risen much higher without the government's spending binge. Money Well Spent? would make a compelling book-club selection for politically oriented readers, who could argue over which recipient of taxpayer funds was the least deserving. The failed solar-panel maker Solyndra has attracted a federal investigation, but there are other worthy competitors for the title.”—James Freeman, The Wall Street Journal .... “In this very well researched and accessible-to-the-general reader book, Grabell concludes that the Recovery Act—the stimulus—failed to live up to its promise ‘not because it was too small or because Keynesian economics is obsolete, but because it was poorly designed.'… I recommend Money Well Spent? as a model of investigative journalism.”—David M. Kinchen, Huntington News .... “A deeply reported, well-written account.”—Kirkus Reviews
Posted 01.09.12: “America's tax system is a mess.... An overhaul is long overdue. The case for change is presented in The Benefit and the Burden, a succinct, lucid book by Bruce Bartlett…. This is a provocative book…. It is remarkably successful in interweaving the underlying economics of the US tax system with the political choices that have made it what it is.”—Vanessa Houlder, Financial Times
Posted 12.15.11: The Washington Post named Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner one of the Notable Nonfiction Books of 2011, "The authors make a powerful argument that cozy connections between government and the financial industry were the primary cause of the financial crisis."
Posted 12.06.11: Writing on perfect books for holiday reading in the Los Angeles Times, Nick Owchar points to: "James Romm in his engaging Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire. The Macedonian Empire reached the heights of magnificence in 325 BC, and rapidly declined two years later with Alexander's death. What happened? The years after his death turned into 'one of the most intense and complex contests in history,' and Romm charts all the reversals and alliances with the consummate skill of a great detective. Speaking of detectives, Michael Dirda sheds light not on a lost empire or distant historical figure, but on Arthur Conan Doyle in his graceful meditation On Conan Doyle."