Rating: 
Summary: Worldly Philosophers is a must read for all.
Review: Heilbroner's witty account of the lives of the economists is both entertaining and insightful. Dr. Heilbroner displays the rare ability to shed light on the importance of economic history, all the while making it easily understood by even the most obtuse lay person. This book is a requirement for anyone who has any remote interest in today's economy and how we got here
Rating: 
Summary: Useful book for the layperson
Review: A good book, a bit dated, but nice on the personalities and schools of economics (albeit leaves out a lot). For an even better book, with much more detail and original thought, check out Jurg Niehans, _A History Of Economic Theory, Classic Contributions, 1720-1980_ John Hopkins Univ. press.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction
Review: A nice summary and analysis of the great Economic thinkers from Adam Smith, Marx, Ricardo, Mill, Keynes, Schumpeter and others. A very general book written more for those seeking an introduction; not a scholarly analysis by any means. But there is a helpful bibliography at the end and overall the book will help any interested reader in getting started in understanding the ideas of these centrally important thinkers and ideas that we are still grappling with today.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Introduction to Economy
Review: ADam Smith, Marx, Ricardo, Mill, Vieblen, Keynes: they're all in this book, which focus on their ideas and the time in which they lived, as being the main factor in their opinions. The author states, corrrectly, that the time for "philosophers" economists is gone.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worldly Philosophers
Review: Although the book is well written and does a good job with the Philosopher's Economic theories, there are many ommission and inaccuracies, most of them historical in nature. In many ways this book is manipulative as to making the reader feel toward the philosopher as Heibroner does. In doing my own research, I discovered a discourse written by a student of Adam Smith's that shed more light on the man, and the formation of his ideas, than does this book. I also found ommissions of pertinent information in regard to Lord John Maynard Keynes. Most distasteful is the character assasination of Thorstein Veblen. I can not figure out how "Clothes were homemade, woolens unknown, and overcoats fashioned from calfskin" could possibly have caused a personality disorder in Veblen in light of the fact that he was born in 1857, before the industrial revolution, and lived in Minnesota, where the very things Heilbroner called to our attention, were the norm for the times. I also found it difficult to understand why, for Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes it was okay to be avid readers, but for Veblen, it made him "lazy" and an usual personality. There are more historical mistakes, but I have said enough to get my point across and to give understanding to the 2 star rating.
Rating: 
Summary: good but......
Review: An excellent overview but far too brief. I would have paid more for a book with twice the pages if more detail of each economist's theories had been included. I found myself having to fill in too many blanks when only generalized descriptions and abstract ideas are offered - specific examples bring economics to life - whether historical economics gone by or present day. Also, the book comes up a bit short by not including Milton Friedman.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining & Enlightening Book
Review: Being an economics major, I think that "Worldly Philosophers" provided a very entertaining yet enlightening approach to the subject of economic history. The book gave helpful insights to the lives and times of the "founding fathers" of economics and has in itself provided a firm foundation in shaping the mind of the reader into approaching the subject from a historical point-of-view. More than anything else, "Worldly Philosophers" is a history book of economics that is a must have to both students and professionals alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Technically Accurate But on Whole Totally WRONG
Review: For 321 pages, Robert Heilbroner eloquently relays "the lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers" in The Worldly Philosophers. While his prose is poetic and his narrative is comfortable and engaging, each page..each story...nearly each sentence is colored with the author's strong dislike for free markets. Reminiscent of another excellent yet incorrigible author named Joseph Stiglitz, Heilbroner delivers a well-written and charismatic apology in support of socialism and tyranny.
Heilbroner reports the facts. There can be no denying this. I wouldn't call him a liar in the least. He presents the people and their ideas unmolested, however, the context and the opinion that he attaches to them skews the readers impression.
Heilbroner begins somewhat reluctantly, giving Adam Smith his due. He paints him as an interesting thinker and begrudgingly gives him the role as father of modern economics, and rightly so. But it is with great haste and relief that he seems to move on to Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo. Two economists he finds more interesting for their social stances and their wary eye to unconstrained capitalism. Heilbroner was surely drooling lustily as he wrote the chapter on "The Dreams of the Utopian Socialists". A novice economic historian would think that people like Saint-Simon held a higher place than Smith in the field of economics. Heilbroner also has the gall to include John Stuart Mill in this chapter. I will certainly grant that Mill had his social fetishes, but it is a great disrespect to this brilliant man to group him with such low-brow knuckle-draggers.
Heilbroner giddily details the life and thinking of Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen. He praises more passionately than a preacher on Sunday when discussing Marx's accuracy in his erroneous "Laws of Capitalist Motion" and Veblen's near lunatical assault on "conspicuous consumption". I can just imagine him in a big colorful tent, in a field in the Midwest, shaking a tambourine and screaming in a hoarse, booming voice that economic and social redemption are near "if only you'll put a few dollars in the collection basket". He discusses the eminent Alfred Marshall for a few quick pages and then launches into a nearly 45 page ode to the nefarious John Maynard Keynes. Surprisingly, Heilbroner wraps up the book with a somewhat favorable discussion of Joseph Schumpeter.
Here are a few quotes to highlight the nature of his suggestive writing:
"One might quibble with Keyne's theories, with his diagnosis, and with his cure - although, in justice, it must be said that no more thoughtful theory, no profounder diagnosis, and no more convincing cure was propounded by those who insisted that Keynes was only a mischievous meddler with a system that worked well."
Discussing Keyne's economics, he notes "It seemed the essence of common sense; in fact it was the essence of common sense."
"That the financial titan of the halcyon days of American capitalism was a robber baron there is no doubt, and Veblen's portrait of him, savage though it is, is uncomfortably close to the truth."
Ugh! Heilbroner does, surprisingly, do justice to Frederic Bastiat. His inclusion at all was a shock to me. Heilbroner discusses the "eccentric Frenchman" who "brought to bear on economics that most devastating of all weapons: ridicule". In seemingly genuine appreciation, the author applauds the insightful criticisms that Bastiat made in his day. Criticisms that still need applying today, even to much of Heilbroner's own work!
Lest I be misunderstood, allow me to reiterated that this book is extremely well-written and that the facts presented are surely accurate. In fact, I found this book difficult to put down. My complaints are rather about the personal political shading that Heilbroner provides. Reading this book would be anathema to the introductory student of economics. I would suggest rather Todd Buchholz's New Ideas From Dead Economists. It is lucid and evenly written. An astute student of economics will be able to cut through the propaganda that Heilbroner injects into every chapter and will benefit from reading it. Other than that, skip it.
Rating:
Summary: A sweeping view of the history of economics
Review: For all its flaws, "The Worldly Philosophers" is a magnificent story of economists, their ideas, and how those ideas were contested. If you expect this treatment of economists to be dull, you will find that you are mistaken. With his romantic use of language and biographical anecdotes, Robert Heilbroner paints a picture that lures the reader into a field that is so often mystified and abused. I chose Economics as a major because of this book and it is still an enjoyable read. Some chapters are better than others, and those on Smith, Marx, and Keynes are probably the most interesting as well as relevant to our day. His lofty words often border on exaggeration or spectacle when it comes to the discussion of people, but there are also analyses of thoughts and theories that are not at all complicated for the lay reader. That said, it is not a book on economics, but rather a story about economists. Do not expect to understand economics by reading this book. If you don't know economics, you will learn only a general feel for what economists attempt to explain and how those explanations have changed throughout the years. But even that, I think, is valuable. The author is a socialist and it shows, but I don't feel that it is too problematic. Until the last chapter, there are no blatant endorsements of particular views. The analyses and criticisms are good, and if his praise of people like Marx or Keynes seems overboard, I feel that he is praising their boldness and inventiveness more than anything. The point is that these thinkers were amazing, and their ideas changed how we perceive the world. And as we shifted our understandings, our institutions and actions changed. There were other thinkers involved too, and they may have been unfairly dismissed by Heilbroner. But what comes through in the end is the passion for learning about the world. For that, this book is invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Unsurpassed for a history of economic thought.
Review: For many years I used this book in my senior high school economics course. Clearly and entertainingly written with many well turned sentences, the book developed the relationship between economics and the history of modern society. As a result, students found the book to be as instructive in history as economics.
|
