Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21st Century

Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century is the most important economics book of the year, if not the decade. It's also 696 pages long, translated from French, filled with methodological asides and in-depth looks at unique data, packed with allusions to 19th century novels, and generally a bit of a slog. The good news is that there's no advanced math, and anyone who puts in the time can read the book. (source infra)

The short guide to Capital in the 21st Century - Vox: "Piketty uses an expansive definition of capital so that it is the same as wealth. All the shares of stock and houses and cash assets that people own constitute capital, or wealth. And wealth is much more unequally distributed than income, so while a division of society into those who own things and those who work for a living is overly simplistic it's not totally off-base. In the United States, for example, 5 percent of households own a majority of the wealth while the bottom 40 percent have negative wealth due to debts."

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Book Discussion Syria Dilemma

Book Discussion Syria Dilemma | Video | C-SPAN.org: "Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel, editors of the book The Syria Dilemma, talked about the humanitarian crisis in Syria and discussed what the international community was doing about it and what still needed to be done. During this event hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the co-editors spoke with Chicago Council senior fellow, Nabeel Khoury." (video at link above)

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Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon

Book Discussion Massacred Gold | Video | C-SPAN.org: "R. Gregory Nokes talked about his book, Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon, in which he recounts the events of the massacre from when the bodies were first discovered to the subsequent trial of six men and boys over a year later. During this time, witnesses admitted to have little interest in convicting anyone for crimes against Chinese immigrants and they were found not guilty by a jury. A cover-up followed and the massacre was soon forgotten over the next 100 years until a Wallowa County clerk found the hidden records in an unused safe." (video at link above)

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Book Discussion video, Sketches of a Black Cat

Book Discussion Sketches Black Cat | Video | C-SPAN.org: "Ron Miner talked about his book, Sketches of a Black Cat, a memoir Mr. Miner put together for his father Howard Miner, containing his father’s memories of the war as well as the sketches drawn during his tour of duty. Howard Miner was a member of the U.S. Navy’s “Black Cat” air squadron. The Black Cats flew at night in seaplanes that had been painted entirely black. Their missions ranged from patrols and bombing raids to rescue missions." (video at link above)

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