Via Jane Austen’s World, we found a link to a “morning coffee” video in which Brad DeLong, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an explanation of what Mr. Darcy’s fortune would be worth today. He also resurrected an archived blog post on the subject, which we read a few years ago (and referenced in a certain book).

He’s very rich: certainly in the Forbes 400 of Napoleonic Britain. Figure that his £10,000 a year give him the rough equivalent of the purchasing power of $300,000 a year today, and the rough equivalent of the relative social status of $6,000,000 a year today–and he doesn’t have to work for it. Figure him as a thirty-year-old retired dot-com millionaire with wealth of $150 million or so…

Dr. DeLong also posted a link to a rather long paper on Jane Austen’s Economics, which we swear we will print out and read. It looks fascinating, but not for reading at midnight when one is exhausted!

The Associated Press has an article about Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence and its influence on the upcoming film Becoming Jane.

Audiences remain entranced by Austen’s tales of love and loss, desire and disappointment, despite their seemingly outdated focus on the intricate courtship rituals of early 19th century Britain.

But was Austen’s ability to tap into these universal themes a product of her rich imagination or was she inspired by her own unfulfilled longing?

Who says Jane was unfulfilled? We are of the opinion that her writing gave her great satisfaction, and that she was fully aware that her writing career would most likely not have been possible had she married and had a family.

In another letter, Austen writes with giddy anticipation about an impending ball thrown by Lefroy’s aunt.

“I look forward with great impatience” to the party, she wrote, “as I rather expect to receive an offer from my friend in the course of the evening.”

A marriage proposal? The prospect is never confirmed in the letters, but Spence believes Austen was anticipating it.

That’s a very literal reading of that letter, which is full of giddy girlishness and contradictory statements. We believe that Jane was making a joke.

But Spence is not alone in believing that Austen’s brief romance with Lefroy informed her creative spirit.

Jonathan Halperin, author of the 1995 biography “The Life of Jane Austen,” believes the Lefroy connection colored much of Austen’s writing, in both feeling and form.

Oh. HIM. (wrote the Editrix in tones of utter loathing. If one could be said to write in tones, that is.)

“The foolishness of happiness delayed in case something better should come along is the central focus of ‘Persuasion,’ written as Jane Austen was dying.”

But she didn’t know she was dying when she wrote it.

But the coda makes up for all:

JANE AUSTEN, 200 YEARS LATER

A new crop of books and movies based on her life and books:

“The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World,” by Margaret C. Sullivan ($16.95, Quirk Books): Advice on life, love and home improvement, according to Austen’s characters. Also has a handy guide to the Austen world in books, movies and on the Web.