From PUP, the first chapter from The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-Interest in the History of Economic Ideas by Steven Medema; and the first chapter from Sufficient Reason: Volitional Pragmatism and the Meaning of Economic Institutions by Daniel Bromley. A review of Economics for Everyone by Jim Stanford. A review of The Economic Naturalist's Field Guide: Commonsense Principles for Troubled Times by Robert H. Frank. A review of Filthy Lucre: Economics for People Who Hate Capitalism by Joseph Heath. A review of Lawrence Mitchell’s The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed over Industry. A review of False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie (and more). A review of Disenchantment With Market Economics: East Germans and Western Capitalism by Birgit Muller. From FT, Richard Thaler on how markets can be wrong and the price is not always right; and dismal, yes, but economics flies off the shelves. Wild Randomness: Traditional economics has failed to grasp the complexity and dynamism of financial markets. Robert Lucas rebuts criticisms that the financial crisis represents a failure of economics. Here's a readers’ guide to the econ blogosphere, but nobody does a better job of digesting economic commentary than Mark Thoma.

Lee Siegel on how changes in American fiction taste beg the question — are you a Huck, Holden or John Ames? An interview with Thomas Lynch on sex, death, and poetry. Give us poetic justice: The Oxford Professorship may be the most coveted job in poetry, but the rules of election have to be changed to stop it becoming a poisoned chalice. Same-Old, Same-Old: Robert Pinsky on Alexander Pope's "Epistle" and the art of making poetry from normal, banal, petty life. From 3:AM, it’s probably worth separating "official" fiction of the Blair era from the "unofficial". A review of Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead by Paula Byrne. Poverty Studies: While literary scholars have good reason to study race, gender and sexuality, too many ignore the economically struggling. The first chapter from Becoming a Woman of Letters: Myths of Authorship and Facts of the Victorian Market by Linda H. Peterson. An excerpt from Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Elizabeth Skurnick (and more). Why is it that we are willing to grant young writers "potential" but not "insight"? An interview with Paul Collins, author of The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World. Kamila Shamsie on using Google to help with research for novel writing.

From Dissent, a review essay on the US and constitutional dictatorship by Sanford Levinson. Now Facebook really owns you — you just don’t know it yet. An intellectual movement for the masses: 10 years after its founding, positive psychology struggles with its own success. Pop culture in the Age of Obama: Entertainment and art now appeal to cultural tribes ranging in size from tiny to smallish. Dreams From His Mother: What we can learn from the scholarship of anthropologist Ann Dunham Soetoro, President Obama’s late mother. Should Jon Stewart change his name back to Jon Leibowitz? From New York, how former car czar Steve Rattner lost control just as he reached the top of the New York-Washington elite. An interview with Frank Drake: "We are definitely not alone in the universe". Party of One: An article on the unorthodox libertarianism of Nat Hentoff. North Korea’s Dollar Store: Office 39, North Korea’s billion-dollar crime syndicate, pays for Kim Jong Il’s missiles and cognac; why did the Bush White House choose not to shut it down? From Cracked, a look at how to succeed as an Ayn Rand character. Who won the recession?: Now that the recession is most likely over, it's time to start looking at which companies, institutions, and individuals thrived during this grim period.

From the Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Michael Wallace (UConn), Casey Borch (UAB) and Gordon Gauchat (UConn): Military Keynesianism in the Post-Vietnam War Era; and Amy Lutz (Syracuse): Who Joins the Military? The cadets of 1976 graduated from West Point at a low moment for the Army and its storied training ground, but that year produced the generals running the nation’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — what happened? From Stars and Stripes, the first thing submarine school graduates learn is that they are not yet full-fledged submariners but "nubs"; on a submarine, ordinary activities are anything but routine; life in a metal tube — it’s not for everybody; here's a primer on some of the more prominent duties aboard the USS Seawolf; and what’s going on in the U.S.? Sub's crew will find out in six months (and more on submarines). What do submarines do on patrol, watch other ships, or just look intimidating? A look at the top 10 most expensive military planes. The move to cut funding for the F-22 program is more than just a victory for common sense over defense pork (and more). The failure to begin to deal with our bloated military establishment will condemn the US to a devastating trio of consequences. A look at the world's biggest military boondoggles.