Letter From America

Bahnsen's Ten Best Books of 2009

Top 10 Books of 2009 and a Few Names for the Year Ahead

By DLB on December 30, 2009

(10) Greenspan’s Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve – William Fleckenstein – Perhaps it was overkill, but if you read this short little book from one of my favorite hedge fund managers and do not come away keenly aware of the role Greenspan played in this economic mess, well, then you ought to start blaming executive compensation or something.

(9) The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution – Steven Hayward – He is the best Reagan historian to date. This volume can hardly be called a glowing love-fest for Reagan, as if it were, say, Newsweek writing about BHO. Hayward is critical of Reagan’s political calculus in several issues and even some areas ideologically. But he does the greatest President of the 20th century justice and enables readers to see the truism that “ideas have consequences” played out. The consequences of Reagan’s ideas were victory in the cold war and an extended period of tremendous economic growth. As for the next leg of the revolution, well, fortunately I am a man of prayer.

(8) House of Cards – William D. Cohan – I read over 20 books this year about the financial crisis of 2008. Some of them were written less ideologically and more narratively. This was one of those, and it was not easy to put down. Written like a mystery novel, I never felt more inside Bear Stearns than in reading Cohan’s play-by-play of the minutes, hours, days, and weeks that preceded her demise. America lost a legendary firm when Bear died in March of 2008, but in Cohan we have gained one of the premier writers of a generation.

(7) Who we Are: The Challenges to America’s National Identity – Samuel Huntington – What can I say? Harvard has produced very few impressive intellectuals in the last generation, but when one of them creeps through the barriers of political correctness and left-wing extremism, you have to take it in. We lost Huntington on Christmas Eve of 2008, yet in 2009 I was reminded why he is one of the most important authors of my generation. Few intellects understand the devastation that multi-culturalism is wreaking upon our country more than Huntington. He is fair-minded, completely non-racialist, and most importantly, thorough to a fault in documenting his thesis.

(6) The Housing Boom and Bust – Thomas Sowell – The great economic guru of Hoover has done it again, and by “it”, I mean he has made the progressive intellectuals look foolish in comparison to his stellar and simple analysis of a problem. The government’s attempt to synthesize social policy with economic policy created the mess we just had. Everything else is an appendix.

(5) American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile – Father Richard John Neuhaus – One of the first truly historic events of 2009 was the passing of Father Neuhaus, an event that received far too little attention in the mass media, and even in the church (perhaps because both institutions were preparing for the great suck-up event of a lifetime in their big, fat, wet kiss they were extending the soon-to-be-inaugurated President at the time Neuhaus passed away). Neuhaus’ topic is the great passion of my life: the integration of Christian social thought into culture, particularly the Babylonic culture we live in now. The book is filled with the hope that someone of my eschatology (not his) would generally have, and it is filled with the great Kuyperian message that God is still in the universe business. Culture trumps politics. Father Neuhaus understood it all too well.

(4) Too Big to Fail – Andrew Ross Sorkin – Speaking of narrative books about the collapse of 2008, I have to keep reminding myself that Secretary Paulson is not someone I have known for two decades ever since reading Sorkin’s great financial thriller. You can pick who the good guys and bad guys are (or I can tell you), but this is a book that I am extremely grateful to have. We all should be. Now, what did John Mack tell his assistant to tell Tim Geithner again????

(3) Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem – Jay Richards – As I said when I reviewed this little gem in the middle of the year: My only complaint about this book is that I wanted to be the one to write it. Richards demonstrates a capable command of economic issues and comprehensive theological skill in assembling the case that free-market capitalism is the only cogent economic outlook of virtue and faith.

(2) The Road to Serfdom – F.A. Hayek – I am cheating a little, because I first read this in the mid-1990’s. But even my third re-read warranted a near #1 finish. In all seriousness, I do not believe anyone is serious about the ideology of free-market conservatism if they have not read this book.

(1) The Israel Test – George Gilder – Gilder is one of the most important intellectuals of the last thirty years, and I could not possibly mean that less hyperbolically. Whether it be virtuous capitalism, the destructive nature of feminism, or intelligent design, every single topic Gilder has devoted himself to has carried these two attributes: (1) His opponents vomit themselves into a hysteria-filled rage, and (2) He wipes the floor with them.

So having admired this man from a far for most of my life (even prior to my adult life), I have been utterly shocked at the complete lack of controversy surrounding his latest masterpiece, The Israel Test. He breeds controversy wherever he goes, and yet some how, some way, besides the most vile of anti-semites, this book did not seem to shake the normal cast of characters the way in which you would expect. I think I can tell you why: It is irrefutable, and no temper tantrum from those offended by its thesis is going to help. Now obviously that is not the reason, because it really has never stopped them before, but this is as good a book as I have ever read. Of course, Israel is hated for her capitalistic successes. The politics of envy have existed for as long as the Jewish people. Today, it just leads to more bloodshed than ever. As I said when I reviewed the book:

“This book is about so much more than Israel. Jew hatred has been with us since the beginning of history, and it will always be with us. But for those of us who passionately believe in the cause of freedom – of prosperity – of technological advancement – of transcendent values – there is only one way to take the Israel test. The values of America are threatened more than just indirectly by the enemies of Israel; they are placed squarely in the laser sights of our Nazi jihadist enemies who loathe all that is good and pure. Rank envy and covetousness goes beyond a simple matter of class warfare; it is dire sin, capable of genocidal horror. Gilder’s work is a wake-up call to all of us who recognize that our values – our very civilization – depend on us passing the Israel test.”

So into 2010 we go. Michael Lewis’s The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine will be out in March. Rumor has it that Walter Russell Mead has a new book coming this year as well. I expect to complete my series on the economic crisis of 2008 before the summer. I am reading Econoclasts: The Rebels who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution now. Codevilla’s The Character of Nations is next behind that. But my goal once again will be 52 books, as I think a book per week is a very obtainable goal and frankly, a prerequisite for being conversant in the present age. Happy New Year!