Blunt Instrument

A failed professor solves a murder on campus in this new whodunit from bestselling author Amy Bloom. The case of the bludgeoned lecturer has all of Cromwell University reeling, even though the elderly Professor Bullfinch wasn't particularly well-liked. His ornery nature and Old World approach to campus politics ruffled more than a few feathers over the years, and present tensions within his department mean there are more suspects than mourners in the wake of his death. And the murder weapon--a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne--does seem to indicate that the attack may have been academically motivated... Enter Dell Chandler, the failed English professor turned self-taught private detective whom Dr. Cutty calls in to investigate the crime. She has the background to tease out the motives among the staff and just enough experience to conduct a thorough inquiry. If she solves the case before the cops do, the university could keep the whole thing quiet, avoiding sensational media about the dark side of campus life. But to do so, she'll have to dodge her own demons from her past life as a disgraced academic. Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom's novels and memoirs, Blunt Instrument is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.

A failed professor solves a murder on campus in this new whodunit from bestselling author Amy Bloom. The case of the bludgeoned lecturer has all of Cromwell University reeling, even though the elderly Professor Bullfinch wasn't particularly well-liked. His ornery nature and Old World approach to campus politics ruffled more than a few feathers over the years, and present tensions within his department mean there are more suspects than mourners in the wake of his death. And the murder weapon--a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne--does seem to indicate that the attack may have been academically motivated... Enter Dell Chandler, the failed English professor turned self-taught private detective whom Dr. Cutty calls in to investigate the crime. She has the background to tease out the motives among the staff and just enough experience to conduct a thorough inquiry. If she solves the case before the cops do, the university could keep the whole thing quiet, avoiding sensational media about the dark side of campus life. But to do so, she'll have to dodge her own demons from her past life as a disgraced academic. Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom's novels and memoirs, Blunt Instrument is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.

Why economic theory—with no track-record of predictive success—is still an indispensable tool for protecting civilized life. Economic theory has never gotten any better at prediction. Its explanations are always after the fact. The mathematical models economists have devoted themselves to for more than a century can’t be improved to enhance their empirical relevance. But from this research program that never paid off, a very useful tool has emerged—game theory. It’s just what civilized society needs to protect itself from the rapaciousness that condemns all markets to fail. In Blunt Instrument , Alex Rosenberg helps explain to outsiders exactly what they need to make sense of economic theory, and why despite its failures, it’s still indispensable. Economic theory is something we all should understand because the economy affects us all, and it is economic theorists who shape that economy for good or ill. No less an economist than John Maynard Keynes expressed the point in a memorable quotation: “Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” This book draws back the curtain from the math and the graphs that deliver microeconomic and macroeconomic models. It demystifies the formidable-looking equations, explaining the reasoning behind the math so that outsiders can decide on the theory’s importance to their own thinking about the economy. Finally, it shows how game theory—the study of strategic choice—emerged from the outlandish idealizations of economic theory. Most importantly, it illuminates how game theory both mitigates the failures of real-world economies and improves the design of important human institutions.

Why economic theory—with no track-record of predictive success—is still an indispensable tool for protecting civilized life. Economic theory has never gotten any better at prediction. Its explanations are always after the fact. The mathematical models economists have devoted themselves to for more than a century can’t be improved to enhance their empirical relevance. But from this research program that never paid off, a very useful tool has emerged—game theory. It’s just what civilized society needs to protect itself from the rapaciousness that condemns all markets to fail. In Blunt Instrument , Alex Rosenberg helps explain to outsiders exactly what they need to make sense of economic theory, and why despite its failures, it’s still indispensable. Economic theory is something we all should understand because the economy affects us all, and it is economic theorists who shape that economy for good or ill. No less an economist than John Maynard Keynes expressed the point in a memorable quotation: “Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” This book draws back the curtain from the math and the graphs that deliver microeconomic and macroeconomic models. It demystifies the formidable-looking equations, explaining the reasoning behind the math so that outsiders can decide on the theory’s importance to their own thinking about the economy. Finally, it shows how game theory—the study of strategic choice—emerged from the outlandish idealizations of economic theory. Most importantly, it illuminates how game theory both mitigates the failures of real-world economies and improves the design of important human institutions.