Rating: 
Summary: No title--please read!
Review: Dear Amazon,
Please correct the reviews of my book! You have the same review repeated twice at the beginning of the reviews of my book by Gene Jewett.....Please drop one of them.
Thanks, Mark Skousen....and one more thing: could you please stop using "Mark's Store" when I open up my amazon.com website....It's very irritating, since you obviously don't know me, but act like you did. Please, let's have some standard business courtesy, and use last names only.
Sincerely,
Prof. M. Skousen
Rating: 
Summary: A Shallow Polemic
Review: Economics has been a story in the making for eons! Mark puts you in the ninth inning with the bases loaded. All the major players come to bat stripped to their naked contribution in economics.The story comes alive! Ideas are efficiently and beautifully explained and contrasted. And when the book is over, you'll remember what's important and what matters. The principles become evident in life and their applications leap out from the nightly news. He's a gifted instructor and writer with a talent for conveying clear and correct reasoning. This book saved me from sure misinstruction by many college professors. Its excellence is in its ease of reading, its multiple layers for whatever your education in economics, and its preservation of detail within its panoramic scope.
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Summary: Skousen's Exceptional History
Review: Economist Mark Skousen has written an exceptional history of economic theory. He traces the development of economic thought from Adam Smith to the present from a free market perspective. One of the features of his book I liked the most are the ample biographical anecdotes and pictures of economists. One gains a greater understanding of the economists and their thought through these pedagogical devices. There is much here of value to students at all levels of the history of economic thought. I thoroughly enjoyed The Making of Modern Economics and am confident this will be the response of other readers.
Rating: 
Summary: A very readable, non-technical History of Economic thought
Review: I found this history of economic thought remarkably refreshing, lively, and informative. It is very readable, Skousen leaving out the technical minutae that turns many people off to economics. In fact, my one criticism is that, being technically-minded I wanted more than he presented (although I understand a technical presentation was not his aim). Skousen does a good job of bringing out the personal side of the characters in the history. He devotes nearly as much space to items of interest in their lives and personalities as he does to their contributions to economic thought. Unlike more liberal writers, Skousen does not hide his "personal biases" and presents the history from his perceived "correct perspective". He makes no appologies for this and presents his reasons for writing the book in the introduction. He is a big believer in free markets, small government, and natural liberty (as championed by Adam Smith). He presents all major economic schools of thought and refutes those he believes to be in error. Liberals will call this a polemic. It is hardly that. Skousen presents the side of the argument that has been historically suppressed in academia, but which is making a resurgence in the 21st century. I found of particular interest the role economic thought played in the rise of socialism, Marxism, and the modern welfare state. It's simply facinating. If you took ECON from Keynesians like I did, you need to read this book. At the very least, you need to hear the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: A very readable, non-technical History of Economic thought
Review: I found this history of economic thought remarkably refreshing, lively, and informative. It is very readable, Skousen leaving out the technical minutae that turns many people off to economics. In fact, my one criticism is that, being technically-minded I wanted more than he presented (although I understand a technical presentation was not his aim). Skousen does a good job of bringing out the personal side of the characters in the history. He devotes nearly as much space to items of interest in their lives and personalities as he does to their contributions to economic thought. Unlike more liberal writers, Skousen does not hide his "personal biases" and presents the history from his perceived "correct perspective". He makes no appologies for this and presents his reasons for writing the book in the introduction. He is a big believer in free markets, small government, and natural liberty (as championed by Adam Smith). He presents all major economic schools of thought and refutes those he believes to be in error. Liberals will call this a polemic. It is hardly that. Skousen presents the side of the argument that has been historically suppressed in academia, but which is making a resurgence in the 21st century. I found of particular interest the role economic thought played in the rise of socialism, Marxism, and the modern welfare state. It's simply facinating. If you took ECON from Keynesians like I did, you need to read this book. At the very least, you need to hear the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Home Run with Bases Loaded
Review: I strongly second the prior five star comments. If you are taking an economics course this book will help you to understand the primary ideas in economics and help correct for the prevailing Keynesian bias. I have also read New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought by Buchholz. Skousen while keeping his presentation interesting goes much deeper and broader into the historical development of economic ideas. Buchholz largely ignores the Austrian contributions. This oversight might be forgiven except that the Austrian model, given recent events, is looking better the more I read.
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Summary: Terrific Book!
Review: Mark Skousen has done a great service not only in putting the development of economic theory in perspective but doing so in such an entertaining way. The author contrasts Adam Smith's system of natural liberty and free markets with that of Marxist detractors along with everyone in between. Better than any work I know of, Skousen brings the Austrian contributions to economic theory to light. It seems the Austrian, marginalist, subjective view saves the day again and again. Integrated throughout the narrative are the personal curiosities of the major economists. One murdered, another interested in palm reading, the economist with the most investing success, an enthusiast of astrology, one involved in a sibling rivalry, the economist with a fascination for handwriting analysis, etc., etc. Not only has Skousen made an interesting read of the history of economic theory he has presented a new paridigm of the circular flow model as well. And his "What Could Have Been" section near the end is very thought provoking. Skousen's book was such a pleasure to read that I'm tempted to immediately return to page one and do it again!
Rating:
Summary: Understanding the History of Economic Theory
Review: Mark Skousen: The Making of Modern Economics A book on economics of such extraordinary interest comes along only once in a blue moon. This is a book that ought to be read and read widely. It is lively, intelligent, thoroughly engaging, and even humorous. It tells a story that should be much better known, written from the perspective of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" doctrine of free markets. It puts each of the major economists into their own historical setting, giving not only the answers they provided but also the context to explain why they were interested in the problems they tried to solve. The book also provides an introduction to the controversies each of their theories then stirred up, including Keynesianism, Marxism and other criticisms of Smithian economics. It also tells a good deal about the personal lives of many of the great economic names of the past so that in this book there is an astonishing mix of the personal and the professional. If you always wanted to understand economics but didn't know where to start, read this book. If you have studied economic theory but were curious how it ended up just this way and not different from what it is, then now you can find out. Economics will never be easy, but who would ever have thought that it could be made entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Skousen says his book is meant to be an alternative to the history of economic thought presented by Robert Heilbroner in 'The Worldly Philosophers'. In that it largely succeeds, and Skousen's history is the more honest of the two because, unlike Heilbroner, he makes his ideological biases and point of view explicit to the reader. A pretty good overview of the main tendencies in economic thought can be had by reading both books. Skousen's book is well worth reading, so it's too bad that it was so sloppily edited and carelessly proofread. Nassau Senior is called Senior Nassau (twice), Malthus is said to have died in 1934 (twice), words are misspelled, bibliography entries are not correctly alphabetized, sentences that should not have survived a first draft are left as written, etc. Corrections should have been made before the paperback edition was released.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Skousen says his book is meant to be an alternative to the history of economic thought presented by Robert Heilbroner in 'The Worldly Philosophers'. In that it largely succeeds, and Skousen's history is the more honest of the two because, unlike Heilbroner, he makes his ideological biases and point of view explicit to the reader. A pretty good overview of the main tendencies in economic thought can be had by reading both books. Skousen's book is well worth reading, so it's too bad that it was so sloppily edited and carelessly proofread. Nassau Senior is called Senior Nassau (twice), Malthus is said to have died in 1934 (twice), words are misspelled, bibliography entries are not correctly alphabetized, sentences that should not have survived a first draft are left as written, etc. Corrections should have been made before the paperback edition was released.
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