The Worldly Philosophers : The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers
Author: Robert L. Heilbroner
List Price: $16.00
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ISBN: 068486214X
Publisher: Touchstone Books (10 August, 1999)
Sales Rank: 5,949
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 3 out of 5
Readable Overview of Major Economic Theorists
This is the latest edition of this popular book. Potential readers need to be clear what this book is and just as important, is not. This is not a systematic history of economic thought or an introduction to economics. This is a basic overview of the ideas of a number of important economic theorists and the backgrounds against which their ideas emerged. Heilbroner is a good writer with an eye for telling anecdotes. He has considerable mastery of source material and is even handed in discussing his subjects. A recurrent theme is the way in which each important thinkers' ideas reflected the experience of capitalism in his time. Some chapters are better than others. I liked particularly the chapter on Marx which does a nice job of discussing the strengths and weaknesses of Marx's analysis. I would personally prefer a more demanding and systematic book but as a very readable and entertaining introduction, this book can't be beat. An excellent volume for an intellectually curious high school student or undergraduate.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Economics - interesting? Whodathunkit....
I'll say it... I'm a politics major who hates math, but needs to know economics. This book won't get you out of Macro 101, but it provides a refreshing, intelligent, well-written synopsis of major economic thinkers from Adam Smith to Joseph Schumpeter. It is excellent at placing these theories in their historical context. Heilbroner acknowledges what a dry subject economics can be, and seeks to engage the reader by providing ample information about the economists' personal lives (very entertaining, all). This book should be passed out, along with a copy of the Constitution, to every American citizen when they turn 18. It is by no means a comprehensive volume, but it doesn't try to be, and it provides a laundry list for more extensive reading. It's best used as a base reference and a guide to which economic thinkers you should be familiar with.
Heilbroner manages to make economics seem impressive and important... no small feat. The initial chapter on the history of economics and the chapters on Marx and Veblen are the best.
Highly recommended... very informative and an enjoyable read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Classic
This lucid and lively book tells the history of economic thought through the lives and times of great economists such as Smith, Marx, and Keynes. The writing will grab most readers, making the book an ideal introduction to economics for intelligent high schoolers or college students who might be put off by the dryness of the subject. There's no wonder that it's been in print for decades and has gone through numerous editions. That said, the reader show know that Heilbroner's history stops with Keyenes and Schumpeter, thus ignoring the the revival of market-oriented schools of thought and the collapse of communism. This will strike some readers as a huge omission, perhaps reflective of Heilbroner's advanced age or his aversion to the mathematical emphasis of contemporary economics. Heilbroner would probably argue that no truly fundamental and original contributions have been made to the discipline in the last 50 years. He may be right.
Some Amazon reviewers, apprently of conservative bent, don't understand that The Worldly Philosophers is as much a book of history and biography as it is of economics. To criticize Heilbroner for giving too much space to Marx and none to Friedman or the Austrians is to confuse historical impact and originality with correctness. Marx had a gigantic impact on social thought and world history. The Austrians were (and remain) a smallish cult, whatever their other merits.
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