Here’s a very good book that I’m reading today, and can recommend to those interested in economics. It’s the seminal book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Picketty which examines and compares Western historical economic eras over the last 300 years. There is a very interesting section concerning the US, including amazing graphs and charts for the slightly nerdy among us, which gives undeniable evidence that our current US economic system (and the social culture that it has inevitably spawned) will never return to the 1950s - due to underlying economic factors. If you’re older, you can clearly correlate some of these economic periods, that were reflected in the general attitudes and behaviors of Americans at that time, just by looking at some of these charts. Warning: the book is over 700 pages, and can be a slog at times, but there’s also a film based on it too, if you just want to get the gist of it. At any rate, it’s a helpful book to understand how global economics have changed since 1980, and with it, American culture and social relations. Also note that this book was published in 2014, well before the pandemic exposed economic, social, and class resentments in the US, simmering just below the surface, but it is fairly prescient in its observation that the 2020s in the US will likely be a challenging time for many Americans - if history is any indication, which it oftentimes is. By the way, this is not one of those fuming “anti-capitalist”, “socialist”, “communist” diatribe books that can be so annoying. This particular book will simply give you an idea about where we are in time, as a country, and how it relates, or differs from other historical, economic periods.
And another good book, a fiction story centered on the North Carolina coast, is “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. It’s a beautifully written story from a novelist in Georgia. An easier read that’s for sure, but very rewarding.
