My Amazon Review of Colson Whitehead's "The Nickel Boys"

Path Dependence

As I write this there are 1607 reviews on Amazon for Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys.” As a result I will not have much to add, but I would still add my voice to recommending it. The book is based on the sordid history of Florida’s Dozier School for Boys where for over 100 years torture, beatings and rape were commonplace and it was only uncovered accidentally by archaeology students in 2014. As one reviewer called it, it was truly a “house of horrors.”

Whitehead’s protagonist is Elwood Curtis, a bright, idealistic and somewhat naïve Florida teenager who in 1959 Florida worshiped Martin Luther King. His life is upended when he ends up hitch hiking in a stolen car where the driver is caught and Elwood ends getting sentenced to The Nickel Academy, the fictional version of Dozier. There with one random event his life is permanently upended for the worse.

At Nickel he witnesses and is victim of the day to day brutality of the place that is symbolic of the Jim Crow South and has the strength to persevere. He also witnesses the ongoing corruption of the place where supplies are sold or given to nearby businesses and inmates perform work on the houses of the nearby town’s well-to-do. Whitehead tells story by looking back from 2014 and the late 20^th century to life in the “school” and in doing so he keeps the story moving. Although there are many redemptive qualities I must warn the reader that good does not necessarily triumph.

Although Whitehead’s story is that of the Jim Crow south it has resonance for today. Instead of naked brutality all too many African-American teenagers suffer from poor schools and inadequate opportunity thus setting themselves up for path dependent events that have negative consequences. Thus in a sense it was far easier to close a Nickel Academy than fix the urban schools of America. 

The full Amazon URL appears at: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3B2M3ZY6NX8TS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Why has Trump Been so Out of Control Lately?

Many commentators have noticed how out of control President Trump has been at his recent news conferences. Most of the explanations have to do with COVID-19's impact on the economy that is cratering his chances for re-election. That is true, but the real reason is that his business interests are hemorrhaging cash. His hotels and golf courses are empty and the royalty streams associated with the Trump name are evaporating. Thus the next chapter in the history of the Trump Organization will be 11 and with that his personal fortune will be gone.

My Amazon Review of Peter Fritzche's "Hitler's First Hundred Days"

Into the Heart of Darkness

This dry and academic, yet captivating book by University of Illinois history professor Peter Fritzche takes us on a 100 day trip into the very heart of darkness that would become Nazi Germany. In late morning of January 30, 1933 German president Paul von Hindenburg would meet with former chancellor Joseph von Papen, National People’s Party leader Alfred Hugenberg and National Socialist Party leader Adolf Hitler to name the 43 year old Hitler as chancellor of Germany. Within 100 days Hitler would have absolute power over all of Germany.

Fritzche tells the story through diaries and press accounts of how educated everyday Germans succumbed to Hitler’s siren call. Through persuasion, rhetoric, parades, pageantry, bonfires and the jackbooted thugs of the S.A., democratic Germany yielded to a one party dictatorship. Hitler evoked the unity of August 1914 when Germany, at least on the surface, was united for war and the shame of defeat of November 1918 where the new social democratic government surrendered to the Allied Powers.

Simply put the Nazi message of nationalism trumped the class message of both the socialists and the communists.  And it was that nationalist message that fueled the hatred for the Jews by labeling them outside the German nation. It was during this time that the Dachau concentration camp was established and by April 1^st the government proclaimed a nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses under the slogan “Jews Drop Dead.” It would be a few more short steps toward the holocaust that was to come.

It is not that the Nazi’s were initially super-popular. The Nazi alliance only received 52% of the popular vote in the March election. Nevertheless with full power Hitler intimidated his opponents and those who were not enamored of his regime initially acquiesced and later moved to full support as the economy improved and as they got caught up in the growing nationalist fervor.

Fritzche’s book drives home historian Ian Kershaw’s belief that the Bolshevik Revolution was the defining moment of the 20^th Century because it hardened the Right and divided the Left. The reason that Germany’s reactionary elements backed Hitler was their fear of communism and under Stalin’s orders the German Communist Party refused to align with the socialists. In fact it was a Nazi-Communist alliance that brought down the Center government of Heinrich Bruning in May 1932 setting the stage for Hitler.  Fritzche notes that when Moscow reversed itself and supported popular front alliance the socialists beat back the French Right in both 1934 and again in 1936. If only Stalin had adopted his popular front position in 1932.

Although many readers might find this book rough going, there are many lessons to be learned. Above all we should not take our freedom and liberties for granted. Hitler demonstrated to all who can see that liberal democracy can be a very fragile thing. Cherish it.

As an aside I couldn’t help but noting that Weimar came into being on November 9, 1918, Kristallnacht took place on November 9, 1938 and the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. Quite a coincidence.

For the full amazon URL see: https://www.amazon.com/review/R1BUEMXXPALITD/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Real Estate, the Macroeconomy and COVID-19

A webinar prepared by the UCLA Anderson Forecast and the Ziman Center for Real Estate featuring myself, Stuart Gabriel, Jerry Nickelsburg and Stan Izeman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCHoVwXFRtk&feature=youtu.be