Henry Spearman's Murder At The Margin

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Murder at the Margin is a book written by two economists, Kenneth G. Elzinga and William Breit, jointly known by the pen name of Marshall Jevons. The main character of the book is Henry Spearman, an economics professor at Harvard University. He and his wife, Pidge take a much needed vacation to the Island of Cinnamon Bay in the Caribbean, but not long after their arrival they come upon a highly unexpected turn of events: the death of General Hudson T. Decker. Decker is not very well-liked by many, for he is very demanding and high-strung. Authorities suspect that he was intentionally poisoned, but for Henry Spearman this conclusion alone is not complete enough. He sets to his own investigation of the mysterious and sudden death of General Decker. …show more content…

I find that a rather important one also came in the beginning of the book, where Professor Spearman makes a “lightning calculation”, which is about the probable satisfaction that purchasing a glass of iced tea while on the boat to the Virgin Islands could provide him with. What made him draw the conclusion that spending the dollar was worth it, was that a wedge of lime was placed on the rim of the glass. As Spearman attempts to apply economic theory in solving the murder mystery of Mr. Forte, he easily is able to exclude Mrs. Forte from the list of suspects for his death. This is because, as Spearman believes in his economic way of thinking, a woman would find herself to be more financially stable or on a better monetary route not to kill her husband, but to divorce him. It also appears to the reader that Professor Spearman is rather fond of economic liberty (free-market), as he often discredits or puts to shame the socialist way of thinking. He occasionally defends inequality of income as well, and makes reference to rights of private property. Henry Spearman seemingly finds a way to tie literally every aspect of everyday life to economics. On page 61, he states that, “Love, hate, benevolence, malevolence or any emotion which involves others can be subject to economic

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