Murder They Wrote

Summertime is the time for crime novels, one of the genres my mother always called "escapist literature." And couldn't we all use some escape?

The Glass Key
Dashiell Hammett

Hard-boiled, with plenty of political shenanigans. It is more graphically violent than I would have expected from a 1931 novel. A very good read from front to back.

Bluebird Bluebird
Attica Locke

Our favorite Black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is back, and appealing as ever. Locke gets a little bogged down in her east Texas version of Faulknerian southern gothic, but the characters are mostly compelling, and the plot keeps you going. 

Harm Done
Ruth Rendell

I can't say exactly why I have never fallen for Inspector Wexford the way I have Dalgliesh, but nonetheless this is a decent read, despite some meandering plot detours and a bit of amateur sociologizing.

Eddie Palmieri, RIP

A giant. 

Larry Kotlikoff on Trump firing the head of BLS

I suppose you have to be an econ nerd to fully appreciate the work of our federal statistical agencies– notably the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau. Suffice to say, they are not perfect, but they do incredibly valuable work generating data that we can have confidence in. At least until now. I don't agree with Kotlikoff on everything, but he is spot-on here. Krugman and others have noted that by corrupting and politicizing government data, Trump is doing what banana republics have always done. I suppose becoming a banana republic will have its advantages, since we will presumably have to grow our own when the Trump tariffs cut off banana imports.