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There are definitely no detailed descriptions of theories or in-depth personal analyses of the men themselves- it is a beginners book that makes the topic entertaining and gives you just enough information to understand what people are talking about when economics comes up, and maybe even contribute your own opinions. The author is clearly biased, but how could you not be clearly biased against Marx. It covers all the great economists, a brief summary of their life, and an explanation of what they added to economic theory. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with the same goal as me- a quick catch-up on what's been going on in economics in the past few hundred years, to understand the topic a little better and have intelligent conversations about it. I bought this book because I like to consider myself a well-informed person, and enjoy finance/economics/business, but never knew what people were talking about when they referred to "Keynesian economics" or "Adam Smith's invisible hand". This book is exactly what it claims to be- a solid introduction to modern economic thought. His writing makes a somewhat tedious topic entertaining- I literally laughed out loud a number of times.
It begins with Smith, devotes chapters to Malthus, Ricardo, Marx, Veblen, Marshall, Mill, Keynes, Friedman, Public Choice, Rational Expectations, etc. A great companion book to Naked Economics, Basic Economics (Sowell), or Economics in One Lesson.For a far more accurate (and far more in-depth and less beginner-friendly) treatment of Marx, see Sowell's book on Marxism, the chapter here repeats a few well-worn misconceptions about Marxian economics. Other texts are more technical and exhaustive, but this book is written for the layperson and is *almost* a primer for economics itself, seen through the passage of history. The descriptions of how prices coordinate activity and of comparative and absolute advantage is about as good as any, and clear enough for anybody to understand.This is a great book to use as a jumping off point for studying more of the economists, schools of thoughts, and concepts mentioned.
They have heard (at best) of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, J.M Keynes. I am constantly amazed how little economists know about the history of their profession. This survey will add to the reader's store of knowledge of an additional ten seminal thinkers.
I counted in these people before reading this elucidating book but can at least talk conversationally about it.4. I have a feeling that it is something to which I'll return time and time again. A lot of people know those words, but don't know the profound differences in the ideas that anchor these concepts ("fiscal stimulus"/"Monetary stimulus"). Most books this length I could take in about 2 afternoons of reading.
Because this book deals with the basic schools of thought in different parts of Economics, it can give you specific places to start looking in the search for deeper information. But this one is of such a depth that I could read (and absorb) no more than one chapter per day.6. So.Keynes (the aesthete) seemed to be some sort of reaction against the Victorian background from which he had come.2. There were also a few problems with the author's attempts at drollery. There was also wonderful discussion of what they did explain and what they did not.3. There was a bit too much detail about the subjects' private lives-- however this information was somewhat useful in getting an idea of the context from which the ideas came.
The Public Choice policy discussion was, by far, the best part of the book. Monetary and Fiscal policy were also great. It can also clarify the most fundamental differences between differing schools of thought.5. He could have left them out and the book would not have been diminished in any way.Other than that, this is a great book and well worth the (new) purchase price. 1. The thoughts that were expressed in this chapter are ideas that I have encountered in many other contexts-- but these were a wonderful, concise exposition to the ideas and their founding fathers (Mancur Olson).
On the down side, the book is not all that light to read.
I'm not interested in the their lives, their childhood, their education, their friends, their abilities, etc.For example, "Marshall also realized that facts teach nothing by themselves". I'm expecting ideas from the famous economists and how to apply their ideas in the 21st century. I'm already bored to death before the author put some economic ideas at the end of each chapter. The book is so boring that I have to leave my first review on Amazon.com. I don't know economics. I'm not interested in how he teaches, I'm interested in what he teaches.
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