Rating: 
Summary: A different way of teaching economics
Review: Frederic Bastiat, a nineteenth century French economist, once wrote a open letter calling on parliament to intervene and prevent unfair competition from ruining the industries related to lighting; his argument was plain: "We are suffering from the intolerable competition of a foreign rival placed, it would seem, in a condition so far superior to our own for the production of light, that he absolutely mandates our national market with it at a price fabulously reduced ... This rival ... is no other than the sun."Sarcasm, Robert Heilbroner tells us, is just one of many ways in which economists have tried to express their ideas and make them intelligible to a skeptical public. If Bastiat comes off as an eccentric, that is because he was. But wait till you meet others such as absent-minded Adam Smith or aspiring revolutionary Karl Marx. Only then will the world of economics become alive. In this succinct volume, Mr. Heilbroner aims to make economics appealing to non-economists. There are no graphs, few numbers, and all ideas are conveyed in a superb way, paving the way for future inquiries (a rich bibliographical survey serves the same purpose). The book will also excite those with an economics background, as it offers anecdotes into people whom students usually know only academically. Still, the greatest contribution will be the introduction of the economics world to those who seem aloof to it, either because they find it boring or difficult. After reading this book, they should change their minds.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavy on Biography, Light on Substance
Review: Heilbroner is a gifted writer with a flare for illuminating the lives and times of the great economic thinkers who are the subject of the book. Therein lies both the major strength and the major weakness of The Worldly Philosophers. The major strength is that the book is an engaging read, especially considering its subject matter. In particular, Heilbroner paints a compelling picture of the lives of John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx. His chapter on Marx may be the book's highlight, since an understanding of Marx's embittered worldview may provide a clue to the oppressive atmosphere engendered by Marxism, both within societies that subscribed to Marxist doctrine and within the movement itself. Especially illuminating is French Socialist Pierre Proudhon's response to Marx's offer to join forces: "Let us together seek, if you wish, the laws of society, the manner in which these laws are reached, the process by which we shall succeed in discovering them; but, for God's sake, after having demolished all the a priori dogmatisms, do not let us in our turn dream of indoctrinating the people. . . . I applaud with all my heart your thought of inviting all shades of opinion; let us carry on a good and loyal polemic, let us give the world the example of an informed and farsighted tolerance, but let us not--simply because we are at the head of a movement--make ourselves into the leaders of a new intolerance, let us not pose as the apostles of a new religion, even if it be the religion of logic, the religion of reason. Let us gather together and encourage all dissent, let us outlaw all exclusiveness, all mysticism, let us never regard a question as exhausted, and when we have used one last argument, let us if necessary begin again--with eloquence and irony. On these conditions, I will gladly enter into your association. Otherwise, no!" In response to this plea for a movement free of dogmatism, Heilbroner explains, "Marx's answer was this: Proudhon had written a book called The Philosophy of Poverty; Marx now annihilated it with a rejoinder entitled The Poverty of Philosophy." Thus, at times, spotlighting the lives of these economic thinkers can facilitate an effective critique of their ideas. Yet this book is at its worst when it focuses almost exclusively on the lives of the great economic thinkers and the context in which they wrote, while paying too little heed to their theories. After all, the reason the reader will be interested in these thinkers is not necessarily because they lived compelling lives (many did not), but because they had compelling ideas. Yet too often the book will provide an engaging snapshot of the lives that these men lived, while providing only the briefest glimpse of their theories. Furthermore, criticism of their theories is often relegated to the last 3 to 4 pages of a 30-page chapter, and thus lacks the depth it deserves. For example, in the chapter on Marx, Heilbroner notes that Marx made a mathematical error. He then spends an entire paragraph discussing how the mistake is not irreperable, "and by going through an even worse tangle of mathematics one can make the Marxist equations come out 'right.'" He goes on to discuss how the critics seized on the mistake too quickly and did not pay attention when the mistake was rectified. However, in this instance, the reader cannot determine whether the mistake was indeed significant, or if it were rectified, without knowing what it was--information that Heilbroner does not deem sufficiently important to provide. This book is recommended for somebody who is either interested in brief biographical sketches of the great economic thinkers or somebody who is interested in snapshots of their theories. But a reader with a basic familiarity with the economic thinkers who is looking for more discussion of theory, or more substance in general, should be encouraged to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Errors of Omission and Inclusion
Review: Heilbroner writes well, but fails in terms of content. The errors of omission of this book are immense. Heilbroner ignores several great thinkers of the twentieth century. Karl Popper's books on 'The Open Society' and his work on falsification deserved careful attention. Heilbroner also should have gone deeply into 'The Great Transformation' by Polanyi. Perhaps the biggest omission was Ludwig von Mises. Mises wrote important books on socialism, trade cycles, government and politics, ideology, and a 900 paper treatise (Human Action). This treatise demanded attention in The Wordly Philosophers, but got ignored. Heilbroner disagreed with Mises' point of view, but the fact still remains that Mises created one of the most impressive intellectual constructs ever. Heilbroner should have written a chapter on Mises and Friedrich von Hayek. By the time Heilbroner wrote his book Hayek had already published several books on trade cycles (building upon Mises), the Road to Serfdom (a classic on politics), and was the leading figure in the debate over socialism during the 1930's. Hayek developed (also based on earlier work by Mises) a subtle critique of socialism based on the dispersed nature of practical knowledge. He published the papers from this debate in 1948- long before the 1st edition of the Wordly Philosophers. Hayek was also Keynes' primary opponent in the 1930's debate over trade cycles. Heilbroner's chapter on Keynes should examined the Hayek/Keyes debate, but did not. Instead of including these giants, Heilbroner includes minor figures like Henry George. He also included some whose focus was quite narrow compared to other 'wordly philosophers', like Alfred Marshal. Heilbroner does a poor job in explaining the ideas of many legitimate wordly philosophers. Heilbroner does a poor job of explaining important concepts from Smith's Wealth of Nations. He does too little to explain the Smith's thinking on coordination and evolution in society. Then there is Smith's other great work- 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments'. Smith's other book deserved careful attention, but did got very little. Heilbroner should have written a detailed discussion of David Hume's contributions. He should have discussed Montesqiue and Ferguson as well. A natural rights chapter on Rousseau, Locke, and Hobbes would have been interesting. Smith was not the first writer to think about 'the big picture', though Heilbroner seems to think so. Heilbroner also takes Marx far too seriously. He devotes a chapter to Marx, whose theory was refuted by marginal value theory shortly after his finished writing it. Of course, Marx had influence. He did inspire the worst totalitarian movement in the history of mankind. However, the blood on Marx's hands does not qualify him as a great thinker. In contrast, the content of Marx's writings shows him to be a mediocrity. To those who lack prior knowledge of social theory, this book probably seems informative. But, the fact of the matter is that The Wordly Philosophers is a highly misleading portrayal of great social theorists.
Rating:
Summary: A prerequistite for any economist
Review: Heilbroner's saucy style and deep understanding of the subject
come alive in the pages of this book. Many have dared to have
attempted such a feat, but have come across either as naive
to the subject or just boring.
Anyone who is not an economist - will still enjoy hearing of
the lives and times and ideas of these 'philosophers'.
Rating: 
Summary: Love the book, hate the propaganda
Review: Hey, face it that Rober Heilbronner and his best friend Paul Samuelson (Nobel Laureate) are Leftists -- you don't get to be a professor at New York's New School and MIT (respectively) unless you're at least Left of center. So stop whining about the propagandistic aspects of this book. Just accept that Heilbronner is, if not an actual socialist, thinks Socialism is a good start.
Now, you gotta admit he's got a handle on the language. Colorful, erudite, entertaining... a great read. And his historical facts about various economic theories are correct. I enjoyed it as a high school kid, and it didn't rot my mind too much to keep me from growing up to be a well informed, independent thinker. Gotta know all perspectives to make up your own mind, y'know.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: I approached this book with the thought that "Ok, ok, I know I've got to get around to reading more about these guys sooner or later" attitude. What a fortunate find, and great way to begin! The author takes a subject (economics) that is often beyond dry and makes it both entertaining and educational, with lots of surprises thrown in. Every time I thought I had caught the author in a mistake or an oversight (Ah ha! Now I've got you!) he'd cover my questions or thoughts within the next couple of pages or so. The author earned my confidence again and again. I found him to be a reliable guide through treacherous waters. There's a lot of good history in this book. He tackles each major economic philosopher (and others), makes the man come alive in the context of his times, and relates his thinking to our own time by putting their ideas to the test of subsequent history. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Smith and Keynes. The author, like any good educator, doesn't give you everything. He gives you lots of food for thought. I also found the author to be thoughtful and unpretentious. I plan to read more books by him. My copy also contained a very nice description of suggested readings.
Rating:
Summary: Profligately superfluous vocabulary necessitating a lexicon
Review: I believe the author has decided that big/abstract words mean big brains--not so! Does he really think that the more vocabulary he uses, the more we will enjoy the book and the greater we will praise him? I have been reading voraciously for some time now, and have never come across a book that seems as though it was largely composed out of a thesaurus. Proof of this is that the author seems to forget to inflate his dubious "vocabulary" for a few pages, and then all of a sudden you receive a sentence/paragraph riddled with odd words that are utterly and completely unnecessary for this sort of book. So, I guess if you need to pick up a couple new words, The Worldly Philosophers is your book. But, what of its economic merit? Well I must warn that if you do not already have a slight background in economics this book will be of little use. The author consistently skims over important concepts as if the reader already understands them, and then dwells for pages on the most obvious of ideas. Therefore, I see the major folly of this book as the fact that it tries to rush over important principles of economics, thus giving the beginning economics student (who this book is written for) the harmful idea that he or she already understands the concepts. If, however, you happen to have taken a few economics courses, the book will be a good source of review and shed some light on the lives of those that helped to make the study of economics what it is today. This being said, I feel that The Worldly Philosophers is helpful to those that already understand the concepts discussed, but would like to see how they fit into history.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, vibrant reading
Review: I came to this book a novice in economic history. The Worldly Philosophers opened my eyes and gave in-depth detail of some of the major thinkers and key players in economics: such as Karl Marx, John Hobson, Marshall, Keynes, the Utopian socialists, Adam Smith, etc. This is a wonderful book for an introduction to economics. I've generated many ideas and economic theories as a result of reading this book--the author constantly points out their ideas, the flaws, the strengths, the fallacies.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Review: I feel as if I expanded my knowledge of the world by 1000% after reading this book. Knowing almost nothing about the subject before I feel like I have the basis of understanding on economic issues. Easy to read and inciteful. I can't wait to continue my research into the topic. Economic theories broken down in a biographic fashion. Fans of biography will certainly enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: The Worldly Philosophers
Review: I first found this book while browsing in an up-scale book store in Madras, India. I devoured it, idea by idea, while riding the rails of the Indian train system. As a graduate student from a U.S. University, doing research in India, the book provided me with a concise refresher regarding modern economic thought. Furthermore, I found that the book made sense of the economic transformations that I was witnessing - not only in my research in Indian history, but also in my observation of India's dramatic, modern economic growth. Now that I am a professor of history, I always recommend this particular work to students who want to get a grasp of the foundations of modern economic thought in one place, and in clear, intelligible language. I assign this book in undergraduate courses where it is appropriate, and if I had graduate students, I would make it a required part of their reading list. If my house were burning down, and I could save only twenty books from my library, this would be one of them.
|
