The Post-Ricci Capstone

Fellow capstoners,

I'd recommend people take a look at the "national decline" narrative that has arisen as a contentious issue in American -- and international -- politics in the past couple years.  It's an issue that will -- and already has -- entered the campaign discourse.  Romney and Gingrich both have criticized Obama as accelerating American decline.  It's a topic that transcends partisanship.  The recent book by Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire, takes a look at this from the left; the Charles Murray volume, Coming Apart, looks at it from the right.  Both of these volumes are new, and you can find summaries and reviews on Amazon.

Cheers,
DT