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Tshepo Chris Nokeri
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1. Introduction to Econometrics
Tshepo Chris Nokeri1
(1) Pretoria, South Africa
This chapter explains data science techniques applied to the field of econometrics.
To begin, it covers the relationship between economics and quantitative methods,
which paves the way for the econometrics field. It also covers the relevance of
econometrics in devising and revising the economic policies of a nation. It then
summarizes machine learning, deep learning, and structural equation modeling.
To conclude, it reveals ways to extract macroeconomic data using a standard
Python library.
Econometrics
Econometrics is a social science subclass that investigates broad business
activities at the macro level, i.e., at the country, region, or continent level. It is an
established social science field that employs statistical models to investigate
theoretical claims about macroeconomic phenomena. Figure 1-1 is a
simplification of econometrics. Organizations like the statistical bureau capture
economic activities across time, which they make available to the public.
Practitioners, such as economists, research analysts, and statisticians alike,
extract the data and model it using algorithms grounded on theoretical
frameworks in order to make future predictions.
Figure 1-1 Econometrics
Before you proceed with the contents of this book, be sure that you
understand the basic concepts that relate to economics and statistics.
Economic Design
Economic design is grounded on the notion that if we can accurately estimate
macroeconomic phenomenon, we can devise mechanisms that help manage it. As
mentioned, there are several well-established organizations from which one can
extract factual macroeconomic data. Note that we cannot estimate the whole
population, but we can use a sample (a representative of the population) because
there are errors in statistical estimations. Because there is a pool of reliable
macroeconomic data sources, we can apply the data and investigate consistent
patterns by applying quantitative models to make sense of an economy. When we
are confident that a model estimates what we intend it to estimate and does so
exceptionally, we can apply such a model to predict economic events. Remember
that the primary purpose of a scientific enterprise is to predict events and control
underlying mechanisms by applying quantitative models.
Econometrics uses statistical principles to estimate the parameters of a
population, but the ultimate litmus test is always economic ideology. Only
economic theory can validate/invalidate the results, which can be further used to
determine causation/correlation, etc. It should be apparent that politics occupies
a paramount role in modern life. At most, the political sentiments typically
accompany a firm belief about the economy and how it ought to be. Such beliefs
might not reflect economic reality. When the considered belief about the economy
is absurd, there is no way of combating pressing societal problems with devised
solutions. To satisfactorily solve an economic problem, you must have a logical
view; otherwise, feelings, standard assumptions, and authoritarian knowledge
dilute your analysis of an economy.
In summary, policymakers apply econometrics to devise and revise economic
policies so that they can correctly solve economic problems. This entails that they
investigate historical economic events, develop complex quantitative models, and
apply findings of those models (provided they are reliable) to drive economic
policies. Econometrics is an approach for finding answers to questions that relate
to the economy. Policymakers who are evidence-oriented drive policymaking
initiatives by applying factual data rather than depending on political and
economic ideologies.
Understanding Statistics
Statistics is the field concerned with discovering consistent patterns in raw data
to derive a logical conclusion regarding a recognized phenomenon. It involves
investigating the central tendency (the mean value) and dispersion of data (the
standard deviation) and then studying theoretical claims about the phenomenon
by applying quantitative models. In addition, business institutions apply it in ad
hoc reporting, research, and business process controls. Researchers, in addition,
apply statistics in fields like natural sciences, physical sciences, chemistry,
engineering, and social sciences, among other fields. It is the backbone of
quantitative research.
import wbdata
country = ["USA"]
indicator = {"FI.RES.TOTL.CD":"gdp_growth"}
df = wbdata.get_dataframe(indicator, country=country,
convert_date=True)
Listing 1-1 Loading Data from the World Bank Library
wbdata extracts the data and loads it into a pandas dataframe. Figure 1-5
demonstrates the wbdata workflow.
Extracting data from the wbdata library requires that you specify the country
ID. Given that the World Bank includes several countries, it is burdensome to
know the IDs of all of them. The most convenient way to find a country’s ID is to
search for it by name (see Listing 1-2). For this example, we entered China, and
it returned Chinese countries, including their IDs.
wbdata.search_countries("China")
id name
---- --------------------
CHN China
HKG Hong Kong SAR, China
MAC Macao SAR, China
TWN Taiwan, China
Listing 1-2 Searching for a Country ID
Extracting data from the wbdata library requires that you specify the
economic indicator’s ID as well. Given that the World Bank includes several
macroeconomic indicators, it is burdensome to know the IDs of all the indicators.
The most convenient way to find an indicator’s ID is to search for it by name (see
Listing 1-3). For this example, we entered inflation and it returned all
indicators that contain the word “inflation,” including their IDs.
wbdata.search_indicators("inflation")
id name
-------------------- ------------------------------------
-------------
FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG Inflation, consumer prices (annual
%)
FP.FPI.TOTL.ZG Inflation, food prices (annual %)
FP.WPI.TOTL.ZG Inflation, wholesale prices (annual
%)
NY.GDP.DEFL.87.ZG Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG.AD Inflation, GDP deflator: linked
series (annual %)
Listing 1-3 Searching for Macroeconomic Data
The wbdata library includes several data sources, like World Development
Indicators, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Subnational Malnutrition Database,
International Debt Statistics, and International Debt Statistics: DSSI, among
others. This book focuses predominantly on sources that provide economic data.
It also covers social indicators. Listing 1-4 demonstrates how to retrieve indicator
sources using wbdata.get_source() (see Table 1-1).
sources = wbdata.get_source()
sources
Listing 1-4 Retrieving the World Bank Sources
wbdata.get_topic()
Listing 1-5 Retrieve Topic
Practical Implications
This book expands on the present body of knowledge on econometrics. It covers
ways through which you can apply data science techniques to discover patterns in
macroeconomic data and draw meaningful insights. It intends on accelerating
evidence-based economic design—devising and revising economic policies based
on evidence that we derive from quantitative-driven models. This book is for
professionals who seek to approach some of the world’s most pressing problems
by applying data science and machine learning techniques. In summary, it will
enable you to detect why specific social and economic activities occur, and help
you predict the likelihood of future activities occurring. The book assumes that
you have some basic understanding of key concepts of statistics and economics.
Footnotes
1 Indicators | Data (worldbank.org)
3 IMF Data
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022
T. C. Nokeri, Econometrics and Data Science
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7434-7_2
This chapter introduces the standard univariate (or simple) linear regression model,
called the ordinary least-squares model, which estimates the intercept and slope while
diminishing the residuals (see Equation 2-1). It applies the model to determine the
relationship between the interest rates that U.S. banks charge for lending and the
market value of goods and services that U.S. households consume annually. It includes
ways of conducting covariance analysis, correlation analysis, model development,
cross-validation, hyperparameter optimization, and model performance analysis.
The ordinary least-squares model is one of the most common parametric methods.
It establishes powerful claims regarding the data—it expects normality (values of a
variable saturating the mean value) and linearity (an association between an
independent variable and a dependent variable). This chapter uses the most common
parametric method, called the ordinary least-squares model, to investigate the
association between the predictor variable (the independent variable) and the
response variable (the dependent variable). It’s based on a straight-line equation (see
Figure 2-1).
Figure 2-1 Line of best fit
Figure 2-1 shows a straight line in red and the independent data points in green—
the line cuts through the data points. Equation 2-1 shows the ordinary least-squares
equation.
(Equation 2-1)
Where is the predicted response variable (the expected the U.S. final
consumption expenditure in this example), represents the intercept—representing
the mean value of the response variable (the U.S. final consumption expenditure in U.S.
dollars for this example), represents the predictor variable (the U.S. lending
interest rate in this example), and 1 is the slope—representing the direction of the
relationship between X (the U.S. lending interest rate) and the final consumption
expenditure (in current U.S. dollars). Look at the straight red line in Figure 2-1—the
slope is positive). Finally, represents the error in terms (refer to Equation 2-2).
(Equation 2-2)
Where εi is the error in term (also called the residual term )—representing the
difference between yi (the actual U.S. final consumption expenditure) and i (the
predicted U.S. final consumption expenditure).
There is a difference between variables with a hat/caret (which are sample
regression functions) and without one (population regression functions). We estimate
those containing a hat/caret from a sample of the population, rather than from the
entire population.
Code Title
FR.INR.LEND Lending interest rate (as a percentage)
NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG Final consumption expenditure (in current U.S. dollars)
Theoretical Framework
Figure 2-2 shows the relationship that this chapter explores. It establishes the
research hypothesis.
HYPOTHESES
H0: There is no significant difference between the U.S. lending interest rate (%) and
the final consumption expenditure (in current U.S. dollars).
HA: There is a significant difference between U.S. social contributions and the
final consumption expenditure (in current U.S. dollars).
The research hypothesis seeks to determine whether a change in the U.S. lending
interest rate influences the final consumption expenditure (in current U.S. dollars).
import wbdata
from matplotlib.pyplot import
%matplotlib inline
country = ["USA"]
indicator = {"FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG":"lending_rate"}
inflation_cpi = wbdata.get_dataframe(indicator,
country=country, convert_date=True)
inflation_cpi.plot(kind="line",color="green",lw=4)
plt.title("The U.S. lending interest rate (%)")
plt.ylabel("Lending interest rate (%)")
plt.xlabel("Date")
plt.legend(loc="best")
plt.show()
Listing 2-1 The U.S. Lending Interest Rate
Figure 2-3 The U.S. lending interest rate
Figure 2-3 demonstrates that from 1960 to 1980, the rate that U.S.-based banks
charged as interest for private short-term and mid-term financing grew from 1.45% to
13.55% (the highest peak). Following that, in the early 1980s, the rate sharply
declined, then it remained stagnant. It also shows that the lending interest rate
reached its lowest point in 2008. In summary, acquiring debt from U.S.-based banks
was more expensive in the late 1970s, and relatively cheap in 2008.
country = ["USA"]
indicator = {"NE.CON.TOTL.CD":"final_consumption"}
final_consumption = wbdata.get_dataframe(indicator,
country=country, convert_date=True)
final_consumption.plot(kind="line",color="orange",lw=4)
plt.title("The U.S. FCE")
plt.ylabel("FCE")
plt.xlabel("Date")
plt.legend(loc="best")
plt.show()
Listing 2-2 The U.S. Final Consumption Expenditure (Current U.S. Dollars)
Figure 2-4 The U.S. final consumption expenditure
Figure 2-4 shows that there has been an uninterruptible upswing in the market
value of general goods and services that U.S. households purchased since 1970.
Normality Detection
Normality detection involves investigating the central tendency of data points. If the
U.S. lending interest rate and the final consumption expenditure data saturates the
mean data point, you can summarize the data using the central data points. An
additional implicit assumption is that the errors follow the normality assumption,
which makes them easier to deal with. To detect normality, you must estimate the
mean data point (see Equation 2-3).
(Equation 2-3)
Where is the mean value, x1 is the first data point, x2 is the second data point,
and so forth, and n represents the total number of data points. You divide the count of
data points by degrees of freedom. Alternatively, you can find the median data point
(the central data point). To determine the dispersion, estimate the standard deviation
(see Equation 2-4).
(Equation 2-4)
After estimating the standard deviation, you square it to find the variance (see
Equation 2-5).
(Equation 2-5)
Listing 2-3 retrieves data relating to the U.S. lending interest and the final
consumption expenditure data from the World Bank. See Table 2-2.
country = ["USA"]
indicators = {"FR.INR.LEND":"lending_rate",
"NE.CON.TOTL.CD":"final_consumption"}
df = wbdata.get_dataframe(indicators, country=country,
freq="M", convert_date=False)
df.head()
Listing 2-3 Load the U.S. Lending Interest Rate and Final Consumption Expenditure Data
Table 2-2 The U.S. Lending Interest Rate and Final Consumption Expenditure Data
Table 2-2 shows that data points are missing from the data. Listing 2-4 substitutes
the missing data points with the mean value.
df["lending_rate"] =
df["lending_rate"].fillna(df["lending_rate"].mean())
df["final_consumption"] =
df["final_consumption"].fillna(df["final_consumption"].mean())
Listing 2-4 Replacing Missing Data Points with the Mean Value
Descriptive Statistics
There are several ways to visualize and summarize the distribution of data. The
simplest way involves the use of a box plot. Box plots can also help detect normality.
This plot confirms the location of the median data point. It also informs you about the
length of the distribution tail, thus adequately supporting you in diagnosing outliers in
the data. Figure 2-5 shows a box plot of the U.S. lending interest rate created by the
code in Listing 2-5.
df["lending_rate"].plot(kind="box",color="green")
plt.title("The U.S. lending interest rate (%)")
plt.ylabel("Values")
plt.show()
Listing 2-5 The U.S. Lending Interest Rate Distribution
import numpy as np
df['lending_rate'] = np.where((df["lending_rate"] >
14.5),df["lending_rate"].mean(),df["lending_rate"])
df["lending_rate"].plot(kind="box",color="green")
plt.title("The U.S. lending interest rate (%)")
plt.ylabel("Values")
plt.show()
plt.show()
Listing 2-6 The U.S. Lending Interest Rate Distribution
Listing 2-7 returns Figure 2-7, which shows the distribution and outliers in the U.S.
final consumption expenditure data.
df["final_consumption"].plot(kind="box",color="orange")
plt.title("US FCE")
plt.ylabel("Values")
plt.show()
Listing 2-7 The U.S. Final Consumption Expenditure Distribution
df.describe()
Listing 2-8 Descriptive Summary
lending_rate final_consumption
Count 61.000000 6.100000e+01
Mean 6.639908 7.173358e+12
Std 2.436502 4.580756e+12
Min 3.250000 8.395100e+11
lending_rate final_consumption
Covariance Analysis
Covariance analysis involves estimating the extent to which variables vary with respect
to each other. Equation 2-6 shows the covariance formula.
(Equation 2-6)
Where xi represents independent data points of the lending interest rate (%) and
represents the mean value of the predictor variable. yi represents the independent
data points of the U.S. final consumption expenditure, and represents the mean
value of the U.S. final consumption expenditure. Listing 2-9 estimates the joint
variability between the U.S. lending interest rate and the final consumption
expenditure (see Table 2-4).
dfcov = df.cov()
dfcov
Listing 2-9 Covariance Matrix
lending_rate final_consumption
lending_rate 5.936544e+00 -7.092189e+12
final_consumption -7.092189e+12 2.098332e+25
Table 2-4 shows that the U.S. lending interest rate variance is 5.936544e+00 and
that the final consumption expenditure varies by 2.098332e+25. It shows you that the
joint variability between the lending interest rate and the U.S. final consumption
expenditure is -7.092189e+12. The next section provides an overview of correlation
methods and explains which correlation method is used for this problem.
Correlation Analysis
Unlike covariance analysis, which shows how variables vary with respect to each other,
correlation analysis estimates the dependency among variables. There are three
principal correlation methods—the Pearson correlation method, which can estimate
dependency among continuous variables, the Kendall method, which can estimate
dependency among categorical variables, and the Spearman method, which also can
estimate an association among categorical variables. Macroeconomic data is often
continuous, so this chapter uses the Pearson correlation method. Most of the chapters
in this book use this method, except for Chapter 5, which uses the Kendall method.
Equation 2-7 estimates the covariance, then divides the estimate by the dispersion in
the predictor variable and the response variable to retrieve a Pearson correlation
coefficient.
(Equation 2-7)
Where rxy is the Pearson correlation coefficient. You can estimate that coefficient
by dividing the covariance between the U.S. lending interest rate and the U.S. final
consumption expenditure by the square root of the sum of the deviations. Listing 2-10
retrieves the Pearson correlation matrix (see Table 2-5).
dfcorr = df.corr(method="pearson")
dfcorr
Listing 2-10 Pearson Correlation Matrix
lending_rate final_consumption
lending_rate 1.000000 -0.635443
final_consumption -0.635443 1.000000
Table 2-6 interprets the Pearson correlation coefficients outlined in Table 2-5.
import statsmodels.api as sm
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler
x = np.array(df["lending_rate"])
y = np.array(df["final_consumption"])
x = x.reshape(-1,1)
y = y.reshape(-1,1)
x_train, x_test, y_train, y_test =
train_test_split(x,y,test_size=0.2,shuffle=False)
scaler = StandardScaler()
x_train = scaler.fit_transform(x_train)
x_test = scaler.transform(x_test)
x_constant = sm.add_constant(x_train)
x_test = sm.add_constant(x_test)
model = sm.OLS(y_train,x_constant).fit()
model.summary()
Listing 2-12 Ordinary Least-Squares Regression Model Development Applying Statsmodels
x = np.array(df["lending_rate"])
y = np.array(df["final_consumption"])
x = x.reshape(-1,1)
y = y.reshape(-1,1)
x_train, x_test, y_train, y_test =
train_test_split(x,y,test_size=0.2, random_state=0)
scaler = StandardScaler()
x_train = scaler.fit_transform(x_train)
x_test = scaler.transform(x_test)
from sklearn.linear_model import LinearRegression
lm = LinearRegression()
lm.fit(x_train,y_train)
Listing 2-13 Ordinary Least-Squares Regression Model Development Applying Scikit-Learn
Cross-Validation
Listing 2-14 applies the cross_val_score() method to validate the performance
of the default ordinary least-squares regression model over different subsets of the
same data. It applies R2 to find a score, since sklearn does not calculate the adjusted
R2. It then estimates the mean and standard deviation of the validation score.
Saturday was my day off and Mae and I drove into New York. We
had tickets to a matinee. I switched on the car radio.
"Get some music," Mae said.
"I want to see what's on the news."
"Can't you ever relax?"
"I'm relaxed. I don't have to do anything except listen."
"Promise me you won't go into the office," Mae said. "I want to see
that play."
"I have no intention of going to the office," I said. "Not unless there's
an earthshaker."
"That's what I mean. Let somebody else handle it for a change.
You're not the only man who can do the job."
"Listen," I said. "Here's something."
A commentator on one of the independent stations was saying the
Monolithians apparently had made a number of secret agreements
with the United States and the United Nations. The American public
was being kept in the dark about many things they had a right to
know. It was obvious from the alien's press conference yesterday
that they were being more frank with the public than the people's
own government officials. The defense-weapon demonstration to the
nation on television was only one example.
I recognized the voice, which continued on a note of agitation:
"Here is a bulletin just handed to me. A Monolithian spokesman
disclosed today that the first two-dozen aliens who landed on Earth
have been joined by at least two hundred—I repeat, at least two
hundred—more.
"This disclosure was made in answer to a question, reinforcing this
commentator's belief that our own government is keeping us in the
dark about matters of which we have every right to know the true
facts."
"As opposed to the false facts?" I muttered, my copy-reader's
instincts affronted.
"Shh," Mae said. "Listen!"
"The Monolithians, on the other hand, appear to be willing to answer
almost any nonscientific question put to them, giving at least the
appearance of candor which our own officials so sadly lack," the
commentator went on.
"The question then arises whether it would be truer to say that our
government is allied with the aliens, as our officials claim, or whether
it is collaborating with them, having capitulated to their unknown
military strength in a sort of interplanetary Munich."
Mae gasped.
"Clearly it is the aliens who are acting with confidence, publicizing
their movements, while the U.S. government shows a curious
unwillingness to keep its own people—you and me—informed. Can it
be that the government itself is in the dark about these vitally
important matters? Can it be that our own government is acting as
the tool of the aliens, having secretly surrendered to a power the like
of which this Earth has never known?"
Mae had been listening in mounting alarm. "Do you think he's right?"
she asked me. "Is it possible?"
"That's old Clyde Fitchburn, the noted viewer with alarm," I told her.
"Don't take him too seriously."
"He can't be making it all up," she said. "Can he?"
"Only about 99 percent of it," I said. "He still hasn't got back to his
one little true fact—that two hundred more aliens have landed."
I switched to another station.
"... playing host today to nearly ten times as many aliens as originally
landed on Earth," an announcer on one of the network stations was
saying.
"Now listen," I said to Mae. "This is news, not an editorial."
"A Monolithian spokesman said the new arrivals—two hundred of
them, all male—had landed in a second scout ship, at about
midnight, in Central Park, at the northern end of the reservoir.
"The spokesman said in a statement, quote, 'The second contingent
arrived in response to the invitation implicit in the law signed
yesterday giving the Monolithians U.S. citizenship.' Unquote.
"At nine o'clock this morning, when the stores opened, the
Monolithians arrived in a fleet of taxicabs in the midtown area, where
they went in separate groups to the different men's clothing stores—
Bond, Howard, Ripley, Rogers Peet and Brooks Brothers—and to
the men's departments of such department stores as Stern's,
Gimbels and Macy's. Here they outfitted themselves in Earth-style
clothing, which they charged to the Monolithian Embassy, and left by
foot, mingling with the crowds on the sidewalk.
"Dressed like typical New Yorkers, most of them virtually
disappeared—that is, they lost their identity as aliens and became
indistinguishable from the average male New Yorker.
"The Monolithian spokesman said in answer to a question that their
purpose was that of any visitor to New York—to see the sights of the
city and become acquainted with its customs."
"There," I said to Mae. "That doesn't sound quite as bad as Fire-
Eater Fitchburn's account, does it?"
My wife seemed relieved, but she wouldn't admit it. "They're
probably playing it down," she said.
The newscaster said, "Reporters were late on the scene, but if eye
witness accounts of passersby are to be believed, the aliens split up
into groups of two or three and visited such places as Woolworth's,
book stores, movie houses, the Empire State Building, the
Planetarium, and took rides on buses and subways."
Mae said, "I'm not sure I'd like it if one of them sat next to us at the
play."
"How would you tell?" I asked her.
"I'd know," she said. "Somehow. I'm sure I would."
"Well," I said, "you let me know and we'll interview him at
intermission."
We crossed the George Washington Bridge, went down the West
Side Highway and found a place to park on Sixth Avenue in the
upper thirties. We had half an hour before curtain time and I asked
Mae if she would like a drink.
"I think I would," she said. "I seem to have a slight case of the jitters."
We found a quiet place about a block from the theater and sat at the
bar in the air-conditioned dimness. I had a Scotch and soda and Mae
had a gin and tonic.
"Had any aliens for customers?" I asked the bartender as I paid for
the drinks.
"Not so's I noticed," he said. "At least nobody tried to charge it to the
Monolithian Embassy. We got a strictly cash trade here."
He went to serve another customer and a well-dressed young man
came in and sat down on the vacant stool next to Mae.
"Sam," she whispered, nudging me.
"What?"
"Here's one."
"Where?"
"Right next to me," she whispered. "Look at his clothes. They're
brand new."
The bartender went to the new arrival and said, "What'll it be?"
"What do you have?" Mae's neighbor asked.
"Anything you want," the bartender said. "Whiskey, bourbon, Scotch,
gin, vodka. Soda, ginger ale, Seven-up. The combinations are
limitless."
"I'll have a Scotch and Seven-Up," the stranger said.
The bartender didn't blink an eye. "Yes, sir," he said, and proceeded
to blend the two strange ingredients.
"Scotch and Seven-Up!" Mae said to me. "He must be one of them.
Who ever heard of such a thing?"
"That's pretty circumstantial evidence," I said.
"Change seats with me, Sam," she said. "I'm getting nervous again."
"Okay," I said. "Want another drink?"
"Definitely." She swallowed the rest of her first one as she slid onto
my stool.
"Two more of the same," I told the bartender.
"Coming up," he said. "Right after this Scotch and Seven-Up." He
gave me a shrug.
"Say something to him," Mae whispered, meaning my new neighbor
at the bar.
"Like what? Shall I ask him what he thinks of American women?"
"You're the newsman," she said. "You ought to know what to ask
him."
"This is my day off," I reminded her.
"Go on. Ask him."
"Okay."
I waited till his concoction had been served to him, then said:
"Pretty good drink, Scotch and Seven-Up."
He looked at me in what seemed to be embarrassment. "I don't
know, really," he said. "First time I ever had it."
"Stranger in town?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Got in only last night."
"Where from?"
"You wouldn't have heard of the place," he said.
("See! I told you!" Mae whispered.)
"I don't know," I said. "I've heard of lots of places: Medicine Hat,
Ephrata, Chestnut Bend, Gallipolis, Moses Lake, Lackawack...."
"None of those," he said, as if he were playing a quiz game. "It's a
little place in Missouri called Joplin."
"That's easy. I got my Signal Corps training near there during the
war."
"You don't say!"
("Ask him where he got the new suit," Mae persisted.)
"Where'd you get the new suit?" I asked him.
"Bond's," he said. "You know, under the waterfall in Times Square? It
looked so cool. They have an artificial waterfall on top of the building.
It used to be Pepsi-Cola's."
("Ask him what time," Mae said.)
"What time?"
"About nine o'clock," he said. "When it opened. Why?"
("Why?" I asked Mae.)
("Ask him if he saw the aliens in there then.")
"Did you see the aliens in there then?"
"I saw a bunch of men come in in bearskins or something like," he
said. "I thought it was an advertising stunt."
("He thought it was an advertising stunt," I told Mae.)
("Doesn't he listen to the radio?" she asked.)
"Don't you listen to the radio?" I asked him.
"The radio?"
"The aliens from Monolithia were getting outfitted in Bond's at nine
A.M., according to the radio," I told him without benefit of Mae.
"Is that who they were? Well, well."
He drank his Scotch and Seven-Up at one gulp, making a face over
it, and said, "I've got to get going. I have a ticket for a show at 2:30."
("What show?" Mae asked.)
"What show?" I asked him.
He mentioned the new Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. "I'm
meeting my wife there. Would you like to see a picture of her and the
kids?" He took out his wallet to show me. In addition to the snapshot
I saw his Missouri driver's license and an old draft card.
"Nice-looking family," I said.
"Thanks. Got to run now. My wife has the other ticket and I'm
meeting her at the seats. Can't get lost that way, I figure. Pleasure
talking to you. You, too, ma'am."
He left and I said to Mae: "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Are you satisfied he's not an alien?"
"I don't know. How come he's wearing his new suit the same day he
bought it? You always have to wait a week or ten days for
alterations."
"Maybe he didn't need any alterations and they cuffed the pants
while he waited. At least he won't be sitting next to you in the
theater."
"How did he get tickets to that? Are you sure you couldn't do any
better than the revival of Where's Charley?"
"Not on short notice. He probably paid scalper's prices on the
expense account. We'd better start."
We left the bar.
"I guess he won't be," Mae said, backing up the conversation in the
way she has. "But for my nerves' sake there'd better not be another
man in a new suit sitting next to me, even if he has got a good
explanation."
"The odds are against it," I said as we stood at the corner of 44th
Street and Broadway and waited at the Don't Walk sign. "Just divide
two hundred into several million."
The Walk sign flashed on. We were in a group of about fifteen law-
abiding pedestrians who started across the street. We had almost
reached the other side when somebody yelled, "Look out!"
A big long convertible with a grinning idiot behind the wheel was not
only failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians but was making an
illegal right turn onto Broadway from the cross street.
I grabbed Mae and hauled her ahead to the curb.
"Damn fool!" I hollered at the driver, who kept on going, blowing his
horn.
Everybody scrambled to safety except one young man who hadn't
seen or heard, or else had supreme faith in his rights as a
pedestrian. The convertible was heading straight at him.
"He'll get hit!" somebody yelled. A traffic cop blew his whistle. A
woman screamed. Mae, unable to look, buried her face in my
shoulder. The pedestrian never broke his casual stride.
The massive chromed bumper was only inches from him when it
began to disintegrate.
First the bumper, then the grille and the oversized fender, then the
right front tire dissolved in a shimmering film.
As the tire disappeared, the momentum of the car sent it ahead into
what was obviously the protective shield surrounding one of the
aliens.
More of the car vanished and it came to a grinding stop, its
underside providing the brake as it plowed into the asphalt.
The front of the car, almost clear back to the windshield, simply
wasn't there any more. The driver's idiot grin had changed to a look
of unbelieving dismay as he stared at the nothingness where his
hood used to be.
The young man, who I now saw was wearing a new suit, stepped
onto the curb near Mae and me. He paused, looked back for just a
moment at the remains of the convertible, and said, as if quoting, "A
driver must yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing with a
Walk signal," then lost himself in the crowd.
6 (JULY 27, SUN.)
ALIEN, n. An American sovereign in his probationary state.
—Ambrose Bierce
It's pretty complicated to explain why a person who lives in New York
State, as I do, has to go through New Jersey to get home from his
office in New York City. It has to do with (1) the way New York's
border slopes northwest from the city and (2) a straight line being the
shortest distance between two points. People who half-grasp these
phenomena remain convinced that my village, High Tor, N.Y., is a
short drive from any old place in New Jersey.
John Hyatt, demon respecter of facts though he ordinarily is, was
one of those so deluded when he called me on the telephone on
Sunday morning and asked me if I'd mind taking a run over to Middle
Valley, N.J.
"I'm aware it's your day off, Sam," John said, "but this is practically
on your doorstep and I know you'd feel hurt if we didn't ask you to
cover it personally."
This, of course, was the well-known malarky, but I told him, "I'm the
original busman, John, but maybe you'd better fill me in. Just what is
going on in Middle Valley, of all places?"
"It's these damn aliens, Sam. Incidentally, I want to thank you for
phoning in that eyewitnesser yesterday on the jaywalker. I hear you
missed the first act of the play on account of it, but it was a damn
fine story and we appreciate it."
It had been a jaydriver, not a jaywalker, but I didn't correct him.
"Think nothing of it, John. It'll all show up on my overtime slip."
He laughed. Not without pain, it seemed to me. World Wide is in a
perennial economy drive and the word overtime is not one you use
lightly in the business office. "We never boggle where a good story is
concerned," John said. "You know that. And this Middle Valley thing
—well, you're aware, I'm sure, that they've got this local blue law
banning Sunday employment...."
Middle Valley, N.J., is a good hour's drive from High Tor, N.Y. It's less
than twenty minutes via the Lincoln Tunnel from New York City, but I
knew John would think I was being uncooperative if I mentioned it. I
didn't argue with him. I told Mae I was on overtime, got in the
Volkswagen and went.
New Jersey passed a law some years ago aimed at forcing Sunday
closing on a group of merchants who sold used cars and major
appliances in a string of roadside stores along well-traveled Route
17, which runs between New York City and the Catskill Mountain
resorts. The idea was to protect the community merchant from this
competition so he could have a day off. But the legislation was too
broad and bogged down in courts. Its opponents charged, among
other things, that it was discriminatory. What about the Jewish
merchant, they asked, who religiously closed his place of business
on Saturday, his Sabbath? Was he to be penalized by having to
close on two days a week, while the Christian merchant closed only
on one?
While the state law was being appealed, its opponents obtained an
injunction and Sunday business continued. Some communities who
had liked the state law during the brief time it was being enforced
then passed local ordinances. Middle Valley was one such
community with its own Sunday closing law.
Middle Valley is a residential, fairly well-to-do, predominantly
Christian village of about 3,000 people. It has few stores, most of its
residents doing their shopping in nearby towns. It does, however,
have a drug store, a delicatessen, a gas station, a newsstand and a
local milkman. The village fathers decreed that the strict law meant
all these must close on Sunday.
No one objected except the druggist, the delicatessen owner (who
had closed on Saturday for years), the newsdealer and the milkman.
The citizens of Middle Valley found it not too inconvenient to order
extra milk on Saturday to tide them over the week end, and they
rather enjoyed driving a couple of miles to pick up the Sunday
papers. It was a mark of distinction to live in the village that permitted
no paid Sunday employment.
"Middle Valley's shut up tighter'n a drum today," the well-to-do, car-
owning, Christian citizen could remark with pride as he paid for his
paper across the village line.
The few who didn't own cars had to walk as far as two miles to catch
the buses whose drivers were not allowed to stop in Middle Valley.
No one asked them if they enjoyed their walks, especially on rainy
Sundays.
Some of this I knew and some John Hyatt filled me in on. I learned a
lot more after I got there, first having checked my gas to be sure I
wouldn't be marooned there till Monday.
I parked near the center of town, in front of the delicatessen. Down
the block were the newsdealer's, the drug store and a couple of real
estate-and-insurance offices. All were closed.
I introduced myself to the man standing in front of the delicatessen.
He told me his name:
"Simon Dorfman. This is my store. I closed it Friday at sundown.
Religious reasons. I can't open today. Monkey business reasons. I'm
thinking of opening today regardless. I'm considering it this minute.
But I'm also considering ninety days in jail and $200 fine."
"Who would arrest you if you opened?" I asked him.
"Who? The cops. Who else?"
"Middle Valley police?"
"Joe Lyman and Fred Moffat. I've known them since they were boys.
But they'd arrest me. They said so. It's not their fault."
"Then who would arrest them?" I asked Dorfman.
"What do you mean arrest them?"
"Aren't they paid employees? If you can't work on Sunday, how can
they?"
He thought that over. "What's sauce for the goose, eh?"
"Why not?"
"But you're a reporter. You don't care if I get arrested as long as you
get a story. Maybe I'll talk it over with my friend Hirsch the druggist."
"Let me know what you decide, Mr. Dorfman," I said. "I'll be around."
"Good. But listen. You want a real story? Go down two blocks that
way and one to your left."
"What's there?"
"The Middle Valley Congregational Church. I don't want you to think
I'm laughing at somebody else's religion, because I don't do that, but
go down and see for yourself. Those men are there—from the
spaceship. An interesting situation."
So that's where they were. I left him saying to himself, "Sauce for the
gander. Why not?"
John Hyatt had said some Monolithians were in Middle Valley but he
didn't know why. He imagined they were sight-seeing and he
obviously hoped for something better. I was beginning to have the
same hunch he must have had.
There was a crowd of about a hundred outside the Congregational
Church. Most of the people appeared to be parishioners—well-
dressed, upper-middle-class men and women. Their late-model cars
were parked along the tree-shaded street. I squeezed my
Volkswagen in among them.
A separate group of well-dressed people—all young men—stood
outside the main entrance of the ivy-covered stone church. The
minister was with them, talking heatedly. I made my way through
gaps in the crowd of parishioners, who seemed anxious for some
settlement to be reached but unwilling to become involved.
"... blasphemy," the minister was saying. His name, according to the
outside bulletin board, was the Rev. James Lonsway Marchell.
"Not at all, Mr. Marchell," one of the young men said. "It's merely a
question of law."
"God's law has called my flock to worship. Man's law shall not keep
them from their devotions."
"Certainly not," the young man said. He was speaking fluent,
unaccented English. "We have no quarrel with their wish to honor
their deity in whatever way they choose. But you, Mr. Marchell, as a
paid employee of this church, may not, under law, work on Sunday."
"Work!" the minister exclaimed. "It is the Lord's work I do!"
"But for a salary paid by men. You have admitted that to be a fact."
"By what right—" the minister said—"by what abrogation of authority
do you come from millions of miles away to interfere in the affairs of
this quiet, respectable, law-abiding village?"
"The very fact, sir, that you have chosen not to abide by the law has
brought us here," the leader of the Monolithian group said. "We have
solemnly sworn to uphold the laws of this country, and therefore the
laws of each of its parts. We should be shirking our obligations to our
adopted nation if we did less."
"You pervert the law—you mock it. You are heretics. Worse, you are
the devil's henchmen. I have tried long enough to reason with you.
Now stand aside. Again I tell you—I mean to enter my church!"
The minister started for the door but one of the Monolithians was
there ahead of him. I was half afraid I was going to see Marchell start
to disappear, but obviously the aliens had a variation on their
protective weapon. The minister wanted to enter his church, not to
harm anyone, and the shield took the form of a pliant, invisible wall
that prevented Marchell from even hurting himself as he walked into
it, apparently for the second time at least.