Vox Clamantis

March's Books of the Month

Since last month's choices were a little boring cerebral, I figure we should lighten things up a touch. Since we've got spring training this week, let's have a baseball themed reading list. The first book,  May the Best Team Win, is by Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College. He has a new book out comparing the relative popularity of soccer and baseball but I haven't had a chance to read it - I imagine it's very good.

Zimbalist is a very good writer, and though he's talking economics, the prose is clear and insightful. The book is a very clear look at the market structure of professional baseball, especially its unique antitrust exemption (sports aren't considered a business). It is excellent throughout, despite a few relapses into "econ speak." A Boston NPR affiliate has a review here. Here is a recent talk he gave on sports economics.

My general interest book is much more controversial, and hence much more well known. If you haven't already, you should read Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. The story should be familiar, but if it's not, let's summarize quickly. The book is really the tale of two stories. First, we have a biography of Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics (for full disclosure, I'm a Giants fan; I'd rather be a Giants fan than an Athletics supporter; sorry, bad joke.) Second, but related, is the use of statistics in baseball, known as sabermetrics. The two stories converge when Beane becomes the GM of the A's and hires a bunch of geeky economists and the like to discover new talent. This is a challenge to conventional scouting and hence makes for conflict and drama and all sorts of great things. The conclusion is that Beane was able to take a mediocre team, with a mediocre salary, and turn it into a winning team with a mediocre salary that has now grown into a very large salary. All of this makes for great writing and is an entertaining story.

However, it's set off a lot of alarm bells and has generated a lot of controversy. Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics, is at the center of the controversy. Among others, see this post and the comments that follow. Then search his site for his other postings, like this. Conveniently, Dan Drezner just posted on this topic, so head over there as well. Lewis followed up this book with an article in the NYT about coaching innovation in football (the link is no longer free, but you can search the web and find it.)

If baseball is your thing, try the blog Baseball Musings. For sports more generally, see the Sports Economist. Enjoy your reading.

February's Books of the Month

Since today is Ben Bernanke's first day in office, I'll make this month's reading focus on monetary policy. Yes, I know, it's not as fun as reading about, well, anything else, but it'll do you good.

The first book is Alan Blinder's Central Banking in Theory and Practice. Stop yawning! Blinder wrote the book after serving as the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. The book is adapted from a set of lectures he gave following his departure (the 1996 Lionel Robbins Lectures) from the Fed. As a guide to monetary policy, Blinder offers a four step procedure:

Step 1. Estimate how much you need to tighten or loosen monetary policy to "get it right." Then do less. Step 2. Watch developments.Step 3. If things work about as expected, increase your tightening or loosening toward where you thought it should be in the first place.Step 4. If the economy seems to be evolving differently than what you expected, adjust policy accordingly. [pp. 18-19]

The book presupposes a bit of knowledge, but not much. If you've had a basic macroeconomics course you should be fine. If not, why not take this opportunity to skim Bernanke's introductory textbook? This leads to my second choice...

Here I am torn. I want to suggest a good book by Bernanke, just so you can get a firsthand account of his thinking, but I'm not sure which book to recommend. The two books are Inflation Targeting: Lessons From International Experience and his economic history, Essays on the Great Depression. Everyone should be familiar with inflation targeting, since it's been discussed in every Grep Ip article in the WSJ, but in case you've missed the debate or are looking for more info, Bernanke's book is a great place to start. It discusses the theoretical foundations and then examines several case studies in depth. Still, I think I'll recommend his book on the depression. That is a very clear exposition of what went wrong and how monetary policy can have disastrous consequences if it's administered poorly. Plus, by recommending this book I don't have to suggest Friedman and Schwartz' monumental study (the book weighs more than two and a half pounds!) of the same subject. Enjoy the books!

January's Books of the Month

Yeah, so it's January 11 - working faster was not one of my resolutions this year. You still have twenty days or so to read these books, so don't fret.

Given that it's a new year and all that, I figured I'd focus this month's readings on books to make you a better person. So let's start with your pocketbook, then we'll get to your heart.

I assume most of you made resolutions that had something to do with saving more money, paying off credit card debts, or cutting down on the number of grande lattes with a shot of vanilla from Starbucks that you consume as an excuse to get away from your desk. For those of you searching for ways to become a better financial manager of your lives, I suggest you start with Eric Tyson's excellent, Personal Finance for Dummies. This is the first book in the Dummies series that did not deal with computers. So if you read or watched yoga for dummies, or something similar, you have this book to thank for breaking down those technological barriers. As the title suggests, the book carefully explains how to better manage your vast pools of wealth, or credit card bills, as the case may be. I took a personal finance class with Tyson nearly ten years ago, when the first edition of this book was published, so I've been on the Tyson Train for years longer than you. Yeah, my punk rock status is firmly entrenched. Tyson now has a minor empire with the Dummies series, publishing books on mutual funds, investing, taxes, buying and selling homes and possibly more. He also released a new book on personal finance that I just picked up. It has one of the most gharish covers ever, but I expect it will be good anyway. In the spirit of scrimping and suffering, go get this from your local library. Jane Galt also offers her tips for fiscal heath here (it's a really good list and worth checking out, especially if you're going to skip Tyson's book.) I especially recommend her suggestion to pay off credit cards every time you get paid. Just make a habit of sending Visa a check every time you get a check (you don't have to pay the minimum each time, just a part of it.) It will reduce your interest owed and you'll pay off your bill sooner rather than later. Then you can go back to the Apple store and start all over.

Now for your heart and soul. Rather than joining the masses and starting a new diet and exercise program this month, wait a bit and make slow changes to your lifestyle. Start with soda. First drink less, then quit altogether. It that's too much, try treating yourself to a Coke once a week. For more advice you should consult Dr. Andrew Weil's Healthy Aging. The book is excellent, though it's dense. There are plenty of references to get you started, if you are inspired and wish to learn more. The purpose of the book is to provide a roadmap to aging gracefully, "Aging can bring frailty and suffering, but it can also bring depth and richness of experience, complexity of being, serenity, wisdom, and its own kind of power and grace." Weil argues that we should not fear aging and should adjust our lives to ensure we live long healthy lives while minimizing the time we're sick, so called "compressed morbidity." Enjoy.

[Update: Dr. Weil now has a regular weekly column for Time Magazine. Here is his first essay (on bird flu) and here is a Q&A about that article. His website offers similar features. If you want more information about the avian flu, also check out the blog, Avian Flu.]

December's Books of the Month

Las Vegas turned 100 this year. May 15, 2005 was the 100th anniversary of the land auction that created the original town site bounded by what is now Stewart Avenue, Garces Street, Las Vegas Boulevard and Main Street. So, in honor of the centennial, here are two books about Vegas, baby. Vegas.

The heavy, historical, non-fiction book of the month is The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America, by Sally Denton and Roger Morris. Policy wonks will recognize Morris from his time at the NSC under Johnson and Nixon. Denton, his wife, is an investigative reporter. They make a good team and the writing makes for a fascinating look back at our most famous city of sin. At just under 400 pages, not counting endnotes, this is a heftier tome than I would normally recommend, but it's good so just read it. The book begins with the story of some of its most famous residents, and those associated with the city. We learn about Binion, Siegel and Estes Kefauver among others. It continues as a history of the city. At heart it is a story of corruption, violence and sex, so it's surprising, nay shocking, that we haven't got a mini-series out of it yet. But it goes beyond the tits and glitz [watch your language! - ed. well, if it's okay for PBS?] of Vegas to offer a more thorough, deeper, penetrating examination of the city.

The general interest book is also non-fiction and is equally good, if lighter reading. Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, is as the title suggests, a story about some brilliant MIT students that turned their focus to Blackjack and learned how to turn the tables on the casinos. It is not a get-rich-quick type of book. You will not learn how to bust the bank, though you will learn how these students did. Frankly, most of us lack the dedication, perhaps intelligence, and definitely the nerve to pull off something like this [to be clear, you're talking about yourself, right? - ed. that sound is me shuffling my feet.] At times the writing interferes with the story, and for that reason the book (rightly) received bad reviews when it was released. But don't let the author get in the way, the story really is fascinating and it's hard not to like the main character. I recommend it, despite these caveats.

Books of the Month - A new series

If you find Borders and Barnes and Noble too daunting, and get downright queasy at the thought of roaming the shelves in a store like Powell's or The Strand, but don't want to end up at the magazine rack (yet again!) then tune in each month as I reveal an exclusive bonus to my loyal reader(s): Brian Higginbotham's all new and exotic Books-of-the-Month Club!!! (you'll have to picture the flashing lights and trumpets yourself)

I will select one non-fiction (heavy) book and one lighter, general interest book. The books will usually be on related topics. Since I rarely read books longer than 300 pages (diminishing returns and all that), most of the suggestions will be short and sweet.

[Editor: isn't this exactly what Dan Drezner does every month? Well, yes. So what value do you add? - ed. Er,...well, I'm not a Red Sox fan. Plus, his books are so, like, intellectual. All that IR Theory and stuff. I promise nothing but fun and good times. Good times and fun. So can we get started? - ed. Excellent idea...]

November's Books of the Month

Since this blog takes its inspiration from Edward Abbey, it's only fitting that the first two books in this series should be his. The serious, or non-fiction book is Desert Solitaire, the book that launched Abbey's career. It is a wonderful tale of three seasons spent in the wildernes of Utah. It's not strictly non-fiction, but is one of Abbey's semi-biographical books, so I'll place it in this category. Run to your nearest Border's Superstore in your nearest strip mall to find this book. Do not confuse Abbey with Albee. This is not the same guy that wrote, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The stores usually don't have much of a selection, so just order online or grab whatever Abbey book you find on the shelf. Abbey's Road is another classic.

From the author's introduction:

Do not jump into your automobile next June and rush out to the canyon country hoping to see some of that which I have attempted to evoke in these pages. In the first place you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you'll see something, maybe. Probably not. In the second place most of what I write about in this book is already gone or going under fast. This is not a travel guide but an elegy. A memorial. You're holding a tombstone in your hands. A bloody rock. Don't drop it on your foot--throw it at something big and glassy. What do you have to lose?

The non-fiction, general interest book of the months isn't strictly fiction either -- I've blended the categories a bit this month. Since this site takes its name from Abbey's Vox Clamantis in Deserto (A Voice Crying in the Wilderness) I have little choice but to select it as the general interest book. It is a collection of Abbey's wisdom and wit. Flip through the book, pick a section at random, and then feel free to enjoy the quotes. It is a great collection. The quote on my masthead is from this book. Feel free to comment below if you read either of these.