Roosevelt’s Reading Recommendations

To close the year out, we’ve put together some reading recommendations from the Roosevelt research and editorial teams ahead of a hopefully restful holiday season. In the case of books, we’ve offered the Bookshop.org listing, which supports local independent bookstores instead of tech billionaires. Fireside Stacks will be back in your inboxes after the holidays. Until then, we hope you can make a dent in your to-read pile, which is our plan.

If you’re looking to brush up on (or venture into) econ 202 . . .

Post Keynesian Price Theory, by Fred Lee

Lee emphasizes the importance of a qualitative research approach built on what firms actually say and do, rather than what two intersecting lines on a graph predict. Lee surveys the work of three economists—Gardiner Means, Philip Andrews, and Michał Kalecki—who all either advanced or laid the groundwork for a “non-marginalist” theory based on these principles. Both as a foundational economics text and in the context of recent debates over inflation and profits, Lee’s work has proved useful. – Oskar

The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism, by Clara E. Mattei

Mattei offers a compelling exploration of austerity’s historical roots, challenging the notion that austerity is merely an apolitical economic strategy and, instead, portraying it as a political tool designed to maintain capitalist order and suppress working-class movements. The book’s historical depth is evident as it delves into the economic landscape of post–World War I Britain and Italy, drawing provocative connections between 1920s austerity policies and the rise of European fascism. Mattei’s characterization of economists as active participants in crafting policies favoring capital over labor is particularly striking. The book offers a poignant reminder to continually examine the political underpinnings of seemingly technical economic decisions. – Ira

If you’re looking to understand the existential problems facing our economy and planet (and maybe how to fix them) . . .

Ted Chiang’s writing on AI

Best known for the movie Arrival, adapted from his short story “Story of Your Life,” Chiang more recently has built a reputation for writing astute essays about technology and AI. His May 2023 New Yorker piece, “Will AI Become the New McKinsey?,” makes an excellent case for worrying about AI not because it might rise up Robopocalypse-style but because it might increase the power of capitalism to justify inhumane decisions. In his fiction writing, he’s the rare sci-fi author who imagines not only the impact technology might have on society but the impact society might have on technology. (In particular, the short stories “Story of Your Life,” “Liking What You See: A Documentary,” and “Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom.”) His thoughts on all new tech, but particularly AI, are usually worth reading. – Noa

A Lucas Plan for the 21st Century: From Asset Manager Arsenal to Green Industrial Strategy, by Khem Rogaly, Common Wealth

Roosevelt experts typically focus their policy imaginations on the United States but often look to other countries for inspiration on industrial policy and participatory clean energy solutions. In this piece, Rogaly combines both to turn the idea of a “just transition” from concept to action plan. Inspired by the Lucas Plan, a 1976 effort by aerospace workers to shift their work from military to civilian production, Rogaly conducted 21 interviews with British defense industry workers about their views on the state of the sector and the possibility of expanding into clean energy development and manufacturing. As one interviewee said, “I mean, it’s not a stretch to think from an aircraft propeller to a wind turbine, is it?” The report proposes a set of policy priorities and goals for the UK that may be just as applicable to the US: fostering a just transition by creating security for workers while diverting their skills, lessening the harmful climate and ecological impacts of military activities, and shifting the country’s national security paradigm from one centering military dominance and aggression to one focused on the resilience of life-affirming industries. – Aastha

California Burning: ​​The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What It Means for America’s Power Grid, by Katherine Blunt

Blunt surveys the energy utility PG&E, following it from its entrance in the race to electrify the American frontier to the pipeline and wildfire disasters of recent years. Her journalistic proximity to the story’s subjects—utility customers, technicians, executives, and regulators—shines through to illuminate the human dramas at play. In their attempts at understanding and control, the various figures find themselves humbled by the sheer scale of infrastructure accumulated by the utility over more than a century of operation. This is not to say that Blunt absolves PG&E’s leadership of blame, particularly when it comes to the company’s yearslong resistance to upgrade its failing infrastructure. Most striking was how after the company’s second bankruptcy proceeding in under two decades, they ultimately acquiesced and took steps to put a significant portion of their power lines underground to reduce the risk of wildfires. Given ongoing conversations around energy infrastructure, it is an important reminder that the question of what is possible is distinct from what existing entities are willing to pay. – Oskar

If you’re looking for something to help make sense of the election . . .

Harris Ran from the Biden Policies That Were Actually Popular with Voters, by Daniela Gabor, The Guardian

This piece takes an honest look at the economic policies of the last four years, assessing where they were truly transformative and where they failed to meet the moment—and how that impacted the November election. While Kamala Harris claimed on the campaign trail that she would do nothing differently from Joe Biden, Gabor argues that she did stray from his platform where it mattered: “She dumped his Rooseveltian transformative ambitions to bring back big government.” No longer afraid of neoliberalism’s great enemy—a proactive government—the administration had crafted industrial policy, pursued aggressive antitrust enforcement, and energized unions. But the Harris campaign, advised by corporate influences such as Uber’s top lawyer and a Shark Tank billionaire, allowed its at-first-promising “opportunity economy” agenda to become “a sad list of bullet points on a crammed slide headed ‘Smallish Government’: boost child tax credits, increase deductions for new small businesses, help for first-time homebuyers, incentives for new developments.” Gabor writes. She also emphasizes that despite its “transformative ambitions,” the administration’s biggest policies ultimately relied primarily on tax incentives for corporations, and less on a wide array of other industrial policy tools that could prove even more effective. As the Democratic Party moves forward, it’s up to the Left to prevent this backslide out of post-neoliberal possibilities and reclaim the original vision of a government that serves working people. – Aastha

What Was Bidenomics?, by Andrew Elrod, Phenomenal World

Elrod provides a comprehensive analysis of the Biden administration’s economic strategy and its evolution over his term. The piece meticulously traces the transformation of the initial, highly ambitious “Build Back Better” plan into “Bidenomics,” highlighting the interplay among corporate interests, progressive Democrats, and centrist politicians like Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Elrod’s understanding of inflation and its role in reshaping policy priorities is particularly insightful: He argues that inflation prompted a shift from broad social spending toward more targeted initiatives, such as semiconductor manufacturing. Elrod acknowledges both the constraints of Biden’s “middle out, bottom up” approach and its departure from the economic approaches of previous administrations. – Ira

For something on a more global scale . . .

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, by Nathan Thrall

Thrall has lived in Jerusalem for over 20 years, first as a researcher at the International Crisis Group think tank and now as a journalist. A true story, the book follows the title character, a Palestinian living in the West Bank, as he attempts to locate his son after a terrible accident. It reads like a novel, but also serves as a comprehensive introduction to the occupation of Palestine. One of Thrall’s greatest achievements, though, is in how he exposes the reverberations of seemingly banal administrative choices (hospital jurisdictions, road maintenance, ID conferrals, etc.) in the lives of his characters. The “Jerusalem tragedy” in question doesn’t have an overtly “political” cause—a bus full of children crashes during a rainstorm. But Thrall exposes the impossibility of an apolitical accident in an environment in which even ambulances have to wait at military checkpoints. As we consider questions of administrative rulemaking, it’s useful to remember that systems of oppression are made up of small choices. – Noa

The Selected Works of Edward Said, 1966–2006, edited by Moustafa Bayoumi and Andrew Rubin

Said’s vast works span contemporary politics, literary criticism, music, and culture, but all center on the cultural aspects of colonization and its effects both at home and abroad. Some arguments, like those on philology may feel more esoteric, while others on Islamophobia and culture resonate deeply in today’s geopolitical context. Overall, the inspiring works provide answers to questions on how narratives in the West got to where they are now and will push readers to broaden their perspective. As James Baldwin once said, “You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important.” Bayoumi and Rubin’s curated collection is one of those rare pieces. – Sunny

The Starmer Project: A Journey to the Right, by Oliver Eagleton

Even after Labour’s victory this summer, many are still trying to figure out what kind of prime minister Keir Starmer will be. Eagleton’s profile of Starmer, who he argues pales in ambition to former Labour PM Tony Blair, doesn’t quite answer what Starmer will do when faced with the task of actually governing—though to be fair, Starmer hasn’t answered that question yet either after months in office. However, Eagleton dives deep into Starmer’s early life, revealing a much more working-class, progressive background than the PM champions today. The book offers a critique of both Starmer and Labour, but the wisdom of its indictments, hopefully, can inspire Labour to reverse course and deliver for Britain during their governing reign for the next four years. – Liz

If you’re tired of nonfiction . . .

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

Told from the perspective of Achilles’s close companion (and history called them “friends”), Patroclus, this modern retelling of the Iliad transports you to ancient Greece. The story follows Patroclus’s life as he navigates exile, divine intervention, and the outbreak of the Trojan War. The magic of Miller’s descriptions and dialogue plucks the figures from an amphora and turns them into people, putting you beside Agamemnon and Odysseus sailing across the Aegean Sea. At the same time, she explores philosophical questions like, what does it mean to be great? And how does it differ from being good? Granted, the world looks just a little different than Homer’s, but the human questions of belonging, purpose, love, and duty in times of conflict are evergreen. – Sunny

Fourteen Days, A Collaborative Novel

A collaborative novel edited by Margaret Atwood and Dan Preston about the pandemic, Fourteen Days takes place over the first two, terrifying weeks of lockdown in a Lower East Side apartment building, where tenants have started gathering on the roof for socially distanced drinks and storytelling in the evenings. The authors include not only capital L literary luminaries like Atwood, Tommy Orange, Meg Wolitzer, and Emma Donoghue, but beloved figures across literary, genre, and children’s fiction, like John Grisham, Diana Gabaldon, and R.L. Stine. It’s much more of a hodgepodge than you might assume, with authors taking smaller parts of chapters and not credited until the end. The book is a fascinating project in the craft of storytelling and a reflection on the value of storytelling itself. – Suzanne

If you ask Eleanor

“If you are interested in my husband’s labor record, Miss Frances Perkins’ book, The Roosevelt I Knew, is excellent.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt, If you ask me (January 1951)