The Fatal Equilibrium

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The Fatal Equilibrium is a crime novel written by the pseudonymous author Marshall Jevons. The hero, Professor Henry Spearman, applies economic theory to determine who committed a murder. Spearman uses economic theory as a lens to scrutinize all human behavior, and his character is based on Milton Friedman, who won a Nobel Prize in economics.

The Fatal Equilibrium is a "British traditional" within the mystery genre. It has no explicit sex or violence. British traditionals are written as cerebral works of the mind, rather than adrenaline (e.g., Emma Lathen, Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers, G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie).

The book is famous amongst the undergraduates of the London School of Economics (LSE) because of its use as a core text in Alwyn Young's 1st year Economics course, EC102.

'Summary The Fatal Equilibrium, by Marshall Jevons, focuses on the stories of several Harvard Professors as they deliberate whether tenure should be imparted on assistant professor Dennis Gossen. Gossen is an up-and-coming economics figure, who is hopeful that the Promotion and Tenure Committee will find him of adequate qualification to receiver tenure at Harvard University--a very prestigious accomplishment. The P and T Committee is headed by celebrated anthropologist and Harvard Dean, Denton Clegg, and consists of distinguished sociologist Oliver Wu, chemist Sophia Ustinov, English professor Calvin Weber, psychology professor Valerie Danzig, mathematics professor Morrison Bell, Classicist Foster Barrett and dominant economics professor Henry Spearman.

Dennis somehow shows up at the door of Henry Spearman, who is not home, and let in by Henry’s wife, Pidge. Because Dennis appears so distraught, Pidge calls her husband and tells him to come home early, which he does. However, Spearman refuses to discuss anything with Dennis on the basis that he is not allowed to converse with tenure candidates.

P and T Committee meetings proceed to take place, and Dennis Gossen is turned down for tenure with a 3-3 vote. Oliver Wu, Sophia Ustinov and Calvin Weber all vote in favor of promotion, while Valerie Danzig, Morrison Bell and Foster Barrett all vote that Dennis Gossen is not cut out for Harvard. Dean Clegg is naturally placed in the role of tie breaker, and votes against advancement, as is his policy with ties. Because of his failure, Dennis Gossen seemingly commits suicide. Within the next week, Morrison Bell and Foster Barrett, two of the people who voted against Gossen’s promotion were murdered, and Dennis’s fiancé, Melissa Shannon, is arrested for the crime. The prosecution charged that she murdered them because she felt that they were responsible for her fiancé’s suicide, and the Melissa’s defense argued that the evidence was merely circumstantial; Shannon is eventually convicted by the jury and sentenced to a life in prison. Economist Henry Spearman is skeptical, however. Applying economic analysis, he could not fathom how the benefits of suicide could have outweighed the emotional cost that Gossen--a very rational person--was paying for his failure. He also did not think it rational that Melissa Shannon was so upset that she would kill two Harvard professors.

With Melissa Shannon in jail, the Harvard Alumni are all aboard a cruise to Europe. This is where Spearman finally uses economic reasoning to deduce who really murdered Dennis, Morrison, and Foster: Dean Clegg. His theory is proven when Clegg, knowing that Spearman is on to him, leaves behind a note explaining everything; Clegg coveted academic distinction, and went to an island to write a book he hoped would be revolutionary in his field of anthropology. However, he had been absent from his field as Dean for a couple of years and was having trouble. That was when he conceived the idea to forge data for his book. It turned out that Dennis Gossen read his book and found economic inconsistencies in the data Clegg had made up and realized that Clegg was a fraud. Gossen blackmailed Clegg to vote in favor of his promotion, which Clegg happily agreed to. However, Clegg wanted to secure his secret, and so he killed Gossen and made it look like suicide. He then killed two of his colleagues who he thought might find out his dirty secret and framed Melissa Shannon.