Our former PM's reflections on how well he handled the crisis will be out in November, according to publisher Simon and Schuster (here's the Reuters report).  I've chatted to a few Treasury and Bank of England officials about those events, and the full insider's tale of the period will be fascinating. But will Gordon Brown's book be the one? I doubt it.

The Enlightened Economist is due to go on holiday tomorrow morning for a couple of weeks. Here's the pile of books I've assembled to see me through the first part, but with a long flight to San Francisco and a lot of lounging around planned, I'd welcome recommendations for book stores either in San Francisco or Carmel. This is a classic holiday mix – light non-fiction plus detective novels/thrillers. Regular readers will know my theory about economists and detective fiction.