An Outline of the History of Economic Thought

Rating:
Summary: An OK intro. to the history of ecoomic thought
Review: This book does a passable job in covering a wide range of differing economic theories and approaches.The main drawback is the poor treatment of Keynes's theory of effective demand.However,this objection is ubiquitous and applies universally to practically all books written on the history of economic thought by economists specializing in economic thought and history because of the very poor mathematical skills exhibited in this field of economics.History of economic thought attracts individuals to it because the papers and books written in this field are essentially interpretations of interpretations.What a reader gets ,in general,is a series of"What did Adam Smith (really)mean?",What did Karl Marx(really) mean",and,of course,"What did John Maynard Keynes really,really mean".The authors contribute to this kind of approach by their false claim that Keynes really didn't understand the need for microeconomic foundations in the General Theory(1936)while his younger colleagues(implicitly meaning Joan Robinson and Richard Kahn}did.

Rating:
Summary: A useful text book for the course
Review: I've used the book for the Hist of Econ Thought course I teach, and it has proved very useful. The authors explore the historical context as well as the theories of the economists in a clear and easily accessibly manner. The only critique I have is their apparent sympathy to a school of thought I disagree with, but that does not detract from the overview they provide.

Rating:
Summary: A useful text book for the course
Review: I've used the book for the Hist of Econ Thought course I teach, and it has proved very useful. The authors explore the historical context as well as the theories of the economists in a clear and easily accessibly manner. The only critique I have is their apparent sympathy to a school of thought I disagree with, but that does not detract from the overview they provide.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: The text covers quite a bit of material - probably more than its rivals. There is a definite sense that the authors are attempting to at least mention as many actors and scenes as possible. (Interestingly (or perhaps not), there are more Italian economists in their history than in others'.) It is fairly readable, although one would hardly say that the phrasing 'sparkled'. Perhaps this is because of the translation, or perhaps it is because of the 'cramming in' of detail. In sum, this text is a very useful reference (for both HET students and curious 1st/2nd year econ. students), rather than a pleasurable read.