Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: Perspectives of a Mad Economist.

Julianne Malveaux is an "angry and proud" African-American woman. She has a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has this new anthology of essays, and she is articulate on a full range of progressive social and economic issues. Her column is syndicated by King Features, she writes for USA Today, Ms., Essence, Emerge, and other newspapers and journals, and she is soon to be a regular commentator for the Pacifica radio network.

Sometimes breathless, always unrelenting, and never without the cold, hard data to back herself up, Malveaux can be as unstoppable in her logic and delivery as a bullet train. From the savings-and-loan bailout and welfare reform to the G-7 international trade accords and African-Americans in sports, Malveaux is also armed with a take-no-prisoners rhetorical style. On one hand, Malveaux will call to task members of the Nation of Islam for their "street harassment." On the other, she'll label President Bill Clinton a "quisling" and a "wuss" over the matter of Lani Guinier.

Woe unto those who get their exercise leaping to conclusions about where Malveaux will come down on an issue, including those who assert that her voice is more "African-American" than "feminist." She might view the National Organization for Women as a "white middle-class" outfit, but she is equally stern in her rebuke of middle-class blacks for the quality of their support of African-American political candidates. ("If had a nickel," she writes, "for every sequin a sister wore to a fund-raiser, I could probably finance the campaign of the next President.")

All of this is fueled by Malveaux's disdain for "drive-by analysis" by conservatives and "hand-wringing liberals" who "don't understand that the real issue is economics.... Too many analysts are caught in the sex, lies, and stereotypes of the media to make public policy." She is also willing to tackle and opponent who ventures forth without supporting data--whether it's Rush Limbaugh or Shelby Steele. No one gets off lightly. In a category of one, she relegates the Ellen Goodmans and Anna Quindlens of this world to the parlor-liberal powder-puff league.