Book Reviews

Summary: Anthropological look at the history of debt, currency and economics.

I have read a fair amount of economics. I find it interesting, both because its importance, but also because of its explanatory process. However, as has been increasingly shown empirically, people are not perfectly rational, and economic models that require perfectly rational people have limited value.

Similarly, economics has been critiqued by some (The Economics of Good and Evil is an example) for its over reliance on its limited predictive power and a lack of focus on its the ethical underpinnings.

David Graeber’s book is not quite either of these. Graeber teaches anthropology at the London School of Economics, but is also a vocal crusader against the World Bank, the IMF and some parts of globalized trade agreements. Where the book really shines is its focus on anthropology. Where it is weaker is when his critique of modern economic theory becomes too repetitive or when he occasionally moves beyond the evidence.

Social Science, for the most, part is about taking the evidence and then weaving a narrative to connect the evidence in a plausible method. Graeber’s story is compelling. His central critique of the rise of currency not as an advance over barter societies, but as a regression from ‘human economies’ that were focused on mutual debt is strong. The regression is not so much about levels of economics, but of a regression of trust. Currency was more prevalent when war and distance trade made longer term debt relationships more problematic.

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Takeaway: Meals are an important part of being human, being Christian, being missional and being with Jesus.

There is much to commend about A Meal with Jesus. If you are interested in being more missional in your Christianity the chapter of meals as mission is great. It talks practically about how important actually getting people in your house and sharing food builds relationship in ways that virtually no other activity can do.

There were also extended discussions using Luke as the primary text about the role of the meal in the life of Jesus. In most of the gospel of Luke, food or a meal is the setting for Jesus’ teaching and Jesus is almost always coming from or going to somewhere to eat. Luke also is very concerned with the poor. In most of his parables in Luke there is a coupling of one parable about a rich or prestigious person with either another parable about a poor person or another character in the parable being poor. Chester connects the meal and Jesus desire to eat with the people. Jesus ate with both the poor and despised and the rich and powerful. Jesus was always gracious to the poor and usually quite confrontational with those that are rich.

Unintentionally this book became another in my six month study of Luke. I am in my last Luke commentary now, but this book helped to reaffirm that scripture is not just about learning or about doing, it is about the way that we become Christians.

There is also a great thought by Chester in the context of one of his discussions of Jesus talking with some Pharisees over a meal. Chester says, “These verses also speak to a professionalized church ministry””a life seen as the epitome of godliness, but all but impossible for those not in full-time ministry.” Jesus was bringing the Pharisees down to size, not as much for what they were doing (observing the law, keeping ritually pure, etc.) but they way they were doing it. The Pharisees, like many of us, were doing life in a way that was unattainable to those around then and then holding themselves up as an example against the other, instead of empowering the other to do what they can.

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Takeaway: The globalization of the world in economics, travel and relationships require the US courts to grapple with international law.

I am fascinated with the court system. Several years ago I read extensively about the Supreme Court and its history and current makeup. After hearing a couple interviews with Breyer about this book I was interested, in part because I know that Breyer has made it part of his mission to work toward the international training of judges.

This is a technical legal book. Breyer is making a case and (as I understand it) legal cases are largely made through understanding of precedent and understanding the legal language of the relevant law. I listened to the audiobook, which is well narrated by Breyer and feels like a constitutional law class (in a good way.)

In a 12 chapter book, Breyer spends the first 9 chapters charting how the US court system has reached our current place. The first four chapters are historical view of how the courts have understood their role during war.

The next two chapters are about how American law has stood outside the US through international commerce regulation and US laws on international Torts and Human Rights.

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Takeaway: A strong monarchy does not prevent political complaints about taxes and the economy.

As the saying goes, “so many books, so little time.” Very Short Introduction books can be helpful as a quick guide to a subject. My English history is not that great, so I picked this up on sale to help fill in some gaps.

The Very Short Introduction series is a mixed bag, some have been excellent and some have been horrible. The most common problem is that some of the guides skip the content and spend all of their time talking about the scholarship. That is not a problem here. This is straight narrative history. Starting immediately before the rise of Henry the VII, going to Henry VIII, Mary and eventually Elizabeth.

I was actually better informed about this era than I thought because of my readings in reformation history. But this was a decent overview. There were two short chapters at the end that talked about the influence of the arts (primarily architecture and music) in the era.

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