Discuss Political Economy of Dictatorship in a Modern Economics
The Making of Modern Economics
Muravchik, Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism
These books should both be available at the Campus Bookstore . There will also be some handouts distributed to the class.
(II) OTHER REFERENCES
There are several other good and/or standard reference sources for the History of Economic Thought at varying levels of difficulty which students can consult if they wish. These include the following:
Breit and Ransom, The Academic Scribblers
Colander and Landreth, History of Economic Thought
Ekelund and Hebert, A History of Economic Theory and Method.
Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers
Rothbard, A History of Economic Thought (2 Volumes)
Schumpeter, A History of Economic Analysis.
There is also the Great Economic Thinkers audio CD series, from Knowledge Products, Inc. These are high quality hour and a half long presentations on each thinker, including many but not all of the economists we will discuss in class (The series includes Adam Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Marx, Keynes, Schumpeter, Veblen, Marshall, Mill, Friedman, Galbraith, Walras, and Joan Robinson). These CDs can be purchased over the internet. (Also, I have several of them, and they can be borrowed from me).
There is also, on the internet, an extensive History of Economic Thought document archive where texts of many economic classics can be downloaded. You may even be able to find a Book Review book here that you can’t find at the library. (Say’s Treatise on Political Economy can be found there, for example). This archive is at McMaster University in Canada. Go to http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3 (Note: those are “els”, not “ones” at the end of the address).
(III) BOOK REVIEWS
Each student should do three 7-12 page (double-spaced) book reviews; 2 of which should be of books chosen from the list starting on page 8. Due dates for the book reviews are listed in the schedule below. The five books which are listed in all capital letters on the book list count as two. If you do one of these you don’t have to turn the first review in until the due date for the second review. The instructor will discuss how to write a book review in class, as the time for writing the first one approaches.
Each student should also do, as a third book review, a 7-12 page review of the book Heaven on Earth , a history of the Socialist movement by Joshua Muravchik. Your three book reviews can be done in any order.
For each book review, besides the due date there is a penalty due date, noted on the schedule below, up to which the review will be accepted and graded, but with a penalty of one full letter grade. Book Reviews turned in later than the penalty due date will not be accepted.
If you can’t find the book in the library (or someone else has it checked out) you may well have to choose a second choice, but you can first try the instructor. I have several of these books (though not most) in my personal library and will lend them out to students. (The books I have are marked on the book list with an asterisk). Also, you can buy most of them over the Amazon.com. web site.
(IV) GRADING
Grading is based on:
First Exam (about February 23) ………………………………………………… 100 points
Second Exam (about April 18) …………………………………………………. 100 points
First Book Review (Due March 2) …………………………………… 100 points
Second Book Review (Due April 6) ………………………………………… 100 points
Third Book Review (Due May 9) …………………………………………… 100 points
25-point Readings Quizzes (5 of them, lowest one dropped)………………… 100 points
Final Exam (May 8 ) …………………………………………………………… 100 points
Total 700 points
No set numerical grading scale is used. On exams and quizzes, the scale will vary some depending on the difficulty of the exam or quiz and on how well the class performs. As each exam or quiz is handed back, the grading scale used for it will be posted on the board, though, so that students can calculate their grade in progress as they go through the course. Likewise, book review papers are graded on student performance relative to other students and to past classes. Book reviews are usually scaled around a higher average grade than are exams– with a B median grade, rather than a C+ median grade as on exams and quizzes. Thus, book reviews present most students with a good opportunity to raise their grade average in the course.
(V) OTHER COURSE POLICIES
Makeup Exams: If a student has an acceptable excused absence (medical reason evidenced by a doctor’s note, official University event requiring travel away from campus, death of a close relative, etc.) a makeup exam will be given. If at all possible, the instructor expects the student to notify him of the need for a makeup exam prior to the occurrence of the excused absence. Failure to give prior notification in cases where prior notification would have been possible will result in a substantial point penalty (usually 20 points out of 100) being attached to the makeup exam score. If a student misses an exam without an excused absence, he should still take a makeup exam. It will be assessed a substantial point penalty (usually 20 points out of 100) but that’s still much better than getting a zero on an exam.
Academic Dishonesty: Cheating in any form on an exam, quiz, or paper is a serious matter and will ordinarily result in the student getting an “F” in the course.
Lateness at an Exam: A student who arrives late for an Exam will be given extra time to complete the exam at period’s end. The student will be given extra time equal to ½ of the amount of time he was late by– e.g., a student 30 minutes late to the exam will be given 15 extra minutes. Less than 10 minutes worth of lateness is not enough to make this policy “kick in” and hence will not result in extra time.
Student Evaluations of Instructor: At the end of the course I will ask each student to write a page-long evaluation of the course– its good points, bad points, etc. Suggestions for improvement are welcome and the tone can vary from fulsome praise to embittered condemnation or (as is more likely) anything in between those two. The evaluations will be handed to the Econ office in McClain Hall for safekeeping with the instructor not allowed to look at them until after the grades are turned in.
Finally: Students are encouraged to come to the instructor for help with questions on points made in lecture, read in assigned readings, or in book review books that the student may not understand. Feel free to come frequently with questions if you need or want to. It’s very rare that any student comes “too much”. I promise not to laugh at any of your questions, no matter how stupid or idiotic they may be. I am an occasional asker of idiotic questions myself (very rarely, of course).
(VI) TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
Note: it’s unlikely that this schedule will be adhered to exactly throughout the semester, as there is a high likelihood that I will fall somewhat behind the schedule. Nevertheless, dates for quizzes, exams, and book reviews below should be accurate (if any changes are made in these dates you will get ample warning time), and the topics will be taken in the order shown below.
Wednesday, January 17– Course Mechanics and Introduction
Friday, January 19– Review of Syllabus
“ Economics” in the Ancient World: Plato
Monday, January 22— Ancient Economics: Aristotle
The Impact of Christianity
Wednesday, January 24— Medieval Economics
Friday, January 26– The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Mercantilism, Petty, Mandeville,
Hume
Reading #1: Skousen, Appendix to Chapter 1—“The Pre-Adamites
Monday, January 29— The Eighteenth Century: The Physiocrats, Cantillon, and Turgot
Reading #2: Skousen, C. 1, “It All Started with Adam”
Wednesday, January 31– Adam Smith I
Reading #3– Skousen , C. 3, “The Irreverent Malthus Challenges the New Model of
Prosperity”
Friday, February 2– Adam Smith II
Reading #4– Skousen, C. 4, “Tricky Ricardo Takes Economics Down a Dangerous
Road”
Monday, February 5– Adam Smith III
Reading #5– Skousesn, C. 2, “The French Connection: Laissez Faire Avance”
Wednesday, February 7– Early 19th Century British Economics: Thomas Malthus
Friday, February 9- Early 19th Century British Economics: David Ricardo
Monday, February 12– Early 19th Century French Economics: Jean-Baptiste Say and Frederic Bastiat
Reading #6– Skousen, C. 5: “Milling Around: John Stuart Mill and the Socialists
Search for Utopia”
Wednesday, February 14– Readings Quiz #1 (Will cover Readings 1-4)
John Stuart Mill
Reading #7– Handout: W. H. Hutt, “The Factory System of the Early Nineteenth
Century”, from Capitalism and the Historians
Friday, February 16— The Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, and Pre-Marxian Socialism
Monday, February 19– Karl Marx I: Marx’s Life, Personality, and Political Activity
Reading #8– Skousen, C. 6: “Marx Madness Plunges Economics into a New Dark
Age”
Wednesday, February 21– Karl Marx II: Marx’s Philosophy and Theory of History
Reading #9– Handout: Paul Johnson, “Howling Gigantic Curses”, from
Intellectuals
Friday, February 23– FIRST EXAM (Will cover Lecture material from the beginning of the course
through “The Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, and Pre-Marxian
Socialism”)
Monday, February 26– Karl Marx III: Marx’s Economics
Reading #10– Handout: Robert Heilbroner, “The Inexorable System of Karl
Marx,” from The Worldly Philosophers
Wednesday, February 28— Readings Quiz #2 (Will cover readings #5-9)
Return of First Exam
Friday, March 2– Socialism after Karl Marx: Totalitarian Socialism/Communism– Its Economic System
Reading #11– Handout: David Horowitz, “The Road to Nowhere”, from The
Politics of Bad Faith
First Book Review Due (by Midnight)
Monday, March 5– Socialism after Karl Marx: Totalitarian Socialism/Communism– Its History
Film Excerpt: “The Soviet Story”
Reading #12– Handout: Review of Jasper Becker’s Hungry Ghosts
Reading #13– Handout: Paul Kengor, “Anti-Anti-Communism and the Academy”
Wednesday, March 7— Film: “Mao’s Great Famine”
Friday, March 9– Socialism after Karl Marx: Democratic Socialism/Social Democracy– Its History
and Economics
Reading #14– Handout: Mona Charen, “Mysterious Khmer”
Reading #15– Handout: Dennis Praeger, “California College Student: Terror is the
New Communism”
Penalty Due Date for First Book Review (by Midnight)
Monday, March 12– No Class; Mid-Term Break
Wednesday, March 14– No Class; Mid-Term Break
Friday, March 16– No Class; Mid-Term Break
Monday, March 19– The Marginalist Revolution I: The “Premature Marginalists”, and Karl Menger
Reading #16– Skousen, C. 7: “Out of the Blue Danube: Menger and the Austrians
Reverse the Tide”
Wednesday, March 21– The Marginalist Revolution II: William Stanley Jevons and Leon Walras
Reading #17– Skousen, C. 8: “Marshalling the Troops: Scientific Economics Comes
of Age”
Friday, March 23– Readings Quiz #3 (Will Cover Readings #s 10-16)
Marginalist Capital Theory: Eugen von Bohm Bawerk and Irving Fisher I
Reading #18– Skousen, C. 9: “Go West, Young Man: Americans Solve the
Distribution Problem in Economics”
Monday, March 26– Marginalist Capital Theory: Eugen von Bohm Bawerk and Irving Fisher II
Reading #19– Skousen, C. 11: “The Fisher King Tries to Catch the Missing Link
in Macroeconomics”
Wednesday, March 28– Alfred Marshall
Friday, March 30– Critics of Neoclassical Economics I: The German Historical School,
Institutionalism, John R. Commons, and Thorstein Veblen
Reading #20– Skousen, C. 10: “The Conspicuous Veblen Versus the Protesting
Weber: Two Critics Debate the Meaning of Capitalism”
Monday, April 2– No Class; Spring Break
Wednesday, April 4– Critics of Neoclassical Economics II: Max Weber, Facism/National Socialism
Friday, April 6– — Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School
Reading #21– Skousen, C. 12: “The Missing Mises: Mises (and Wicksell) Make a
Major Breakthrough”
Second Book Review Due (by Midnight)
Monday, April 9– John Maynard Keynes and the Keynesian Revolution in Macroeconomics
Reading #22– Skousen, C. 13: “The Keynes Mutiny: Capitalism Faces Its Greatest
Challenge”
Wednesday, April 11– The Triumph of the Keynesian Revolution (1945-1975), and the Counter-
Revolution to It (1975-1995 or so)
Reading #23– Skousen, C. 14: “Paul Raises the Keynesian Cross: Samuelson and
Modern Economics”
Friday, April 13– Readings Quiz #4 (Will cover Readings 17-21)
John Kenneth Galbraith
Penalty Due Date for Second Book Review
Monday, April 16— Joseph Schumpeter
Reading #24– Skousen, C. 16: “The Creative Destruction of Socialism: The Dark
Vision of Joseph Schumpeter”
Wednesday, April 18– SECOND EXAM (Will cover lecture notes from “Karl Marx I” through
“Alfred Marshall”)
Friday, April 20– No Class (Professor will be attending a Conference in Chicago, forced to eat at
good restaurants and stay in a luxury hotel at taxpayer expense)
Monday, April 23– Friedrich Hayek
Reading #25– Handout, Hayek: “The Role of Knowledge in Society”
Wednesday, April 25– Milton Friedman
Reading #26– Skousen, C. 15: “Milton’s Paradise: Friedman Leads a Monetary
Counterrevolution”
Friday , April 27— Econometrics and the Mathematicization of Economics
Monday, April 30– Developments in Other Fields: Development Economics and Economic History
Reading #27: Skousen, C. 17: “Dr, Smith Goes to Washington: The Triumph of
Market Economics”
Wednesday, May 2– Developments in Other Fields: Public Choice Theory
Readings Quiz #5 (Will Cover Readings 22-26)
Friday, May 4– You Tube Day: Clips of Mises, Keynes, Galbraith, Samuelson, Hayek, and Friedman
Tuesday, May 8– Final Exam, at 9:30 (Will not be comprehensive, but will cover lecture material from Critics of Neoclassical Economics through the end of the class, as well as questions on Reading #27)
Wednesday, May 9– Third Book Review Due, by Midnight
Monday, May 14– Penalty Due Date for Third Book Review, by Midnight
(VIII) ANNOTATED BOOK LIST
The books are listed in (roughly) chronological order. Note: You must consult with me before choosing your second book. The books marked with an asterisk are books that the instructor has or has access to a copy of (available for lending) other than what might be in the library. The books in all capital letters count as two books (there are only five of them, though: #s 52, 53, 85, 93, and 98 below). It’s possible to select and read a book that is not on the list below. However, you must get it pre-approved from the instructor, and there is a high probability that the book will not be approved (the list below is quite a long one, after all); you’re welcome to try, however– I have approved books not on the list before. There may be a very short addendum of additional books distributed to the class in January or February.
(I) PRE-ADAMITE
(1) Noonan, John T., Jr., The Scholastic Analysis of Usury
Noonan is actually a law school prof who has written books on many topics, including economic topics. They are very good but not super-easy. This book is about the evolution of thinking on the topic of Usury in the Middle Ages by the University Professors of that era (known as “scholastics”).
(2) Gordon, Barry, Economic Analysis Before Adam Smith.
A survey history of economic thought before Adam Smith began to put it in its currently-recognizable form.
(3) Higgs, Henry, The Physiocrats
The Physiocrats were the 18th century French school of thinkers who attempted some of the first systematic thought directed at understanding the economic system as a connected network and as a whole. They influenced Adam Smith heavily (although he advanced greatly beyond them). This is a standard book about them.
(4) Murphy, Antoine E., Richard Cantillon: Entrepreneur and Economist.
This is a biography and analysis of the 18th century British banker who lived most of his adult life in France and, although he didn’t write very much, was probably one of the two best economic thinkers before Adam Smith (the other being Turgot).
(5) Wood, Diana, *Medieval Economics.
Recently historians of economic thought have devoted more research effort to understanding what the economic thought of the Middle Ages was like. They are doing this in large part because more recent periods have been “worked over” by generations of scholars, so there’s more possibility of making an original contribution by going back to the Medieval era. Some of what they have found is pretty interesting, though, and this new book by British economist Diana Wood looks like a good work in this genre.
(II) ADAM SMITH
(6) Muller, Jerry Z., *Adam Smith In His Time and Ours
This is a very good book that I recommend highly and which would make a good choice for students wanting to know more about why Adam Smith is considered such a great economist. It’s fairly short and not terribly hard, but still has a lot of substance in it. It’s not a biography of Adam Smith, but an analysis of his thought. It also does a good job of showing the contemporary relevance of much of Smith’s thought.
(7) Otteson, James, Adam Smith
This recent book is not a biography of Smith but a thorough, short basic summary and evaluation of Smith’s economics. A good intro to Smith.
(8) Roberts, Russell, How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness
This book achieves a rare combination in my opinion: its scholarly and has a very serious message but it also somewhat lighthearted and rather fun to read. Shows that Adam Smith developed a social and even personal philosophy that can be very helpful even in today’s world. His economics wasn’t bad, either.
(9) Smith, Adam, *The Wealth of Nations.
You can actually read The Book itself if you wish– Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. It’s actually in part very readable even today, with lots of colorful language and sarcastic humor. Admittedly some of the language is old fashioned and thus makes for slower reading, and some of the rambling content gets dull at times. The Wealth of Nations is about 900 pages long (!), but I don’t expect you to read all of it to fulfill the requirement (even very few economists have actually read all of the Wealth of Nations). If you choose this book– bring it to me in a complete edition (beware: there are a lot of shortened , “cut” editions around) and I will pick out about three hundred pages of it for you to read to count as one book.
(III) CLASSICAL ECONOMICS
(10) Bastiat, Frederic,*Essays in Political Economy.
Bastiat was an early 19th century French economist and journalist who we will discuss briefly in class. He was a very pro-free market economist and is considered by many to be one of the “funnest” (pardon the grammar) of all economists to read. This is because he tries to make most of his arguments by using elaborate humor and satire. Because he used humor, in fact, he has traditionally been considered as not one of the major economists– a popularizer of economics, rather than an original thinker himself. Recent writers are now tending to upgrade his rating as an economic thinker, though. This book is a collection of his essays.
(11) Bastiat, Frederic, *Economic Harmonies
This is Bastiat’s major book offering his positive economic theory. It’s less satirical than most of Bastiat and written at a high literary level but in somewhat quaint 19th century language. Bastiat is always fun to read. If you read this one, we could shorten it and omit some of it for your book review (come see me about it).
(12) Bowley, Marian, Nassau Senior and Classical Economics
This is an analysis of the thought and career of Nassau Senior, an English classical economist who will be discussed for 10 minutes or so in class. Senior for the most part agreed with the leading classical economists such as Ricardo and Mill but he had some points of difference with them, and had he been more influential than them economics might have developed in a different, perhaps better direction later. This book is not terribly long or difficult and has some biography in it as well.
(13) Canaan, Edwin, A History of the Theories of Production and Distribution in English Political Economy From 1776 to 1848
This is a standard history of the development of economics in the period known as the “Classical” period, with more detail given than is possible in class lecture.
(14) Milgate, Murray; and Stimson, Shannon C., Ricardian Politics
David Ricardo was the most important British economist in the “mid-Classical” period (1820’s and ‘30’s). Many people, at the time and later, claimed that a wide variety of political conclusions flowed from Ricardo’s economics. This book deals with the political stances that Ricardo himself and his followers actually took and how they were related to his economic thought.
(15) Robbins, Lionel, The Theory of Economic Policy in English Classical Political Economy
Most books about the Classical Economists discuss their theories, not their ideas on economic policy. Some economists even believe that they had no policy ideas because they were completely laissez-faire and thus recommended no role for government at all. This isn’t so and in this book Robbins, a famous early 20th century English economist, outlines what the policy ideas of the classical economists were.
(16) Roche, George, Frederic Bastiat
A fairly short, readable biography of Frederic Bastiat. For a description of Bastiat see #10 above.
(17) Say, Jean-Baptiste, * A Treatise on Political Economy
Say was the most important French economist in the first half of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson thought that he was the world’s greatest economist. This book is Say’s main work. It’s actually fairly easy to read and not terribly long. By reading and comparing it to contemporary books on economics that you’ve read, you could get a firsthand idea of how economics in the last 175 years has both stayed the same and also greatly changed.
(18) Senior, Nassau, Outline of the Science of Political Economy
Like #17 above, this is the main book of an important 19th century economist, the British slightly-unorthodox classicist Nassau Senior. It’s fairly readable (though maybe not quite as easy as is Say, #17 above) and of reasonable length. (Also see #12 above)
(19) St. Clair, Oswald, A Key to Ricardo
The convoluted economic system of David Ricardo (which I’ll discuss in class) is very difficult for many to figure out but economists have always felt they needed to try to figure it out because Ricardo was such an influential writer. Ricardo is hard to figure out in part because he wasn’t a completely clear thinker (some of his ideas were contradictory) but also because he was a terrible writer. This book is an attempt to explain in a straightforward way, what Ricardo was actually saying. It’s short but not super-easy.
(20) Sowell, Thomas,* On Classical Economics.
A fairly brief, up-to-date and high quality analytical summary of what classic economics was about, written by a contemporary American economist and political writer. He refutes a lot of the fallacies and strawmen about classical economics and he views the period as a positive, but flawed, part of the history of economics. This book is a recent update and revision of a book on classical economics which I used a few years ago as a “common book review” book (since replaced with the Muravchik book in that slot).
(IV) JOHN STUART MILL
(21) Capaldi, Nicholas, John Stuart Mill: A Biography
Unlike the Mill biography below– #23– this one is written by an Academic. It got good reviews, but might not be quite as well written as #23. However, if you are interested in a Mill biography I would suggest you go to the Amazon sites for #21 and #23 and compare the two– what the reviews say, and also look at the table of contents in the books. One plus (or minus, depending on your tastes) in Capaldi is that apparently he plays fairly close attention to the Mill-Harriet Taylor romance and the extent of Taylor’s influence on her husband.
(22) Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy.
This is Mill’s main work on economics, and in fact this book was the main textbook used in Economics classes at the University level all over the world from about 1860 to about 1900. It’s pretty well written and fairly interesting to read– much more so than many modern texts, though some of the language is outdated. It would be unreasonably long to read it in its entirety (about 800 pages); so if you want to read it, bring it to me and I will select about 400 pages of it for you to read.
(23) Reeves, Richard, John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand
A highly praised recent biography of John Stuart Mill by a journalist. This means it’s probably written in a very readable, engaging way (compared to a book written by an Academic); probably also means, though, that the level of understanding on substantive economics might not be the deepest that could be desired. Nevertheless, if you’re interested in Mill’s life this would probably be an interesting choice.
(V) KARL MARX AND SOCIALISM
(24) Bohm-Bawerk, Eugen, and Hilferding, Rudolf, *Karl Marx and the Close of His System
Eugen Von Bohm-Bawerk, writing about twenty years after Marx put his ideas forth in Das Kapital, wrote this book which pretty much destroyed Marx’ labor theory of value in the eyes of mainstream economists. This book is not terribly long, but is fairly hard– not super-hard, but a better pick for someone confident of your command of basic economics. It is a historic book that few (and darn few Marxists) have read, and is very interesting, though Bohm-Bawerk was not the world’s most elegant writer to say the least. In this edition there is also included an early attempt at an answer to Bohm-Bawerk by a leading Marxist of the late 19th century, Rudolf Hilferding, in which Hilferding defends Marx and denies that Bohm-Bawerk has refuted his labor theory of value
(25) Conway, David, *A Farewell to Marx: An Outline and Appraisal of His Theories
This book is a good, thorough straightforward analysis of the ideas of Karl Marx– his politics, his theory of history, and also his economics proper. A short book but with lots of substance, neither terribly hard nor light reading. It’s one of the better basic-level analyses of Marxism as a system of ideas.
(26) Engels, Friedrich, *On the Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State
If you want to get the flavor of Marxist thought first hand in an original source this book by Marx’ sidekick Friedrich Engels will give it to you. You could also read Marx himself– anyone who wants could read Marx’ main book, Capital for a book review, but Marx, except when he was writing short pieces as a journalist where his writing was fairly good, was a terribly turgid and dry writer (and, by the way, according to Joshua Muravchik, the journalism of Marx was probably ghost-written by Engels). Engels’ historical role was often to make Marx’ thought accessible and understandable to intellectuals who couldn’t bring themselves to grapple with the more formidable writing of the Master himself. Engels wrote more clearly and concisely than Marx but the ideas and flavor are the same.
(27)Horowitz, David, *Radical Son.
This book is not on the history of economic thought at all, but I’m including it because it’s a personal memoir which gives excellent insight into the Marxist/leftist intellectual (a significant figure in the Socialism section of this course). Horowitz is an American who was born into a family of American Communist Party activists, became a New Left writer in the ‘60’s, then was appalled at what happened in the aftermath of the Viet Nam war. This sent him into a prolonged period of personal depression from which he finally emerged as one of America’s most outspoken and active anti-Leftists. I use an article by Horowitz as a class handout in the Socialism part of this course, and this book is an interesting read which helps a student to know more about what the Professor is talking about (but doesn’t have time to fully develop in class). Radical Son, in my opinion, is one of the best autobiographical political memoirs of the last thirty years.
(28) Maltsev, Yuri, ed.,* Requiem for Marx
This book would be a good choice for someone who wants to know more about Marxism but doesn’t necessarily want to wade into Marxist theory itself. It’s a collection of chapters written by 6 different writers on different aspects of Marxism and Marxism’s legacy for the world. The perspective taken by these writers on Marx is a very critical one (appropriately so, I’d say).
(29) McClellan, David, Karl Marx
This book is currently probably the standard academic biography of Karl Marx. I think this is unfortunate because the author is a British “progressive” (i.e., socialist) intellectual who is very sympathetic to Marx though not completely uncritical. The story that he tells about Marx is the standard version of Marx subscribed to by most “liberal” intellectuals today, so the book has some value to read just to see what the “standard” view is. But it’s also a very readable book in itself and like most biographies it does give you a lot of information about Marx. (Make sure you get the actual biography of Marx written by McClellan; he has written several books on Marx and the one I want you to read if you choose to is the full-length biography).
(30) Payne, Robert, Karl Marx
This is another biography of Karl Marx. This book is a better one, I think, than David McClellan’s (see #29 above) but is looked down on by some academics. This is because Payne was not himself an academic but a free-lance scholar and writer of history books (in the eyes of some academics, that means he’s not a “professional historian.”) This book is better because he writes with a greater sense of drama and also is not a Marxophile, as McClellan is. The book is full of substance but aimed at the audience of general, educated readers, whereas McClellan’s has more of an academic audience orientation.
(31) Sowell, Thomas, Marxism
Thomas Sowell, a leading American “conservative” (i.e. free market) economist has always been interested in Marxism because until he was about 30 years old he actually regarded himself as a Marxist. This book is one of the better summaries and analyses of Marx’ thinking , not too long and easy to understand for the most part. (I think he’s a much too soft on The Bearded One myself, but it’s still a good book).
(32)Stiglitz, Joseph, Whither Socialism?
This book is not so much about Marxism proper, but is about the controversy over the possibility of economic planning. Stiglitz is a prominent modern fairly moderate “liberal” (i.e., social democrat/Democratic party) economist at MIT. He doesn’t approach the subject in the way an anti-Marxist would and doesn’t seem to be too familiar with the contributions of the Austrians to this issue. However, what the book shows ( I think, from the reviews I’ve read), is a modern Social Democrat’s concessionary conclusion that a major market component is essential to a complex modern society, and that government intervention, while it can exist on a considerable scale, has to be kept within definite boundaries. I haven’t read it, but the reviews seemed to indicate that there’s a lot of fairly technical but still interesting history about the development of twentieth century economics in general in this book, also.
(VI) MARGINALISM AND MODERN MICRO
(33) Clark, John Bates, Distribution of Wealth
Clark was the first American economist of world-class rank. This is his most important book, written at the turn of the 19th/20th century. The books sets out the new Marginal Productivity theory which was developing to explain the pricing of labor and other resources. (The book will be discussed some in class, too). It has very substantial economic content but isn’t hyper-technical or hyper-difficult.
(34) Friedman, Milton, Capitalism and Freedom.
This book is included because it was Milton Friedman’s first major “popular” work (i.e., work aimed at a general readership). It develops his argument for the superiority of free markets by using lots of policy examples. The book has a somewhat dated feel in places– a couple of the issues he focuses on were big in the 1950’s but not today. But for many people over the last few decades it was an intriguing introduction to a pro-market way of thinking (this book was written in the years when Friedman was regarded as an eccentric oddball by many other economists who now honor him as one of the great economists). It’s been reprinted many times and is a relatively easy read.
(35) Groenewegen, Peter, A Soaring Eagle Alfred Marshall, 1842-1924
This is a standard biography of Alfred Marshall, the world’s most important economist from about 1890 to about 1920 (and also pretty much the inventor of Supply and Demand curves). I haven’t read it but it gets good reviews and Marshall was an interesting and somewhat eccentric character who, besides his own writing was influential because he taught John Maynard Keynes and umpty-google other important economists at Cambridge University in England. (The only odd thing about this book is the title: How can any economist be “A Soaring Eagle”? It’s not the imagery that economists usually evoke).
(36) Hebert, Robert, and Link, Albert N., The Entrepreneur: Mainstream Views and Radical Critiques
In the twentieth century mainstream microeconomics has had a “gap” in it in the sense that it often leaves out or doesn’t know how to fit in the vital role of the entrepreneur– i.e., the businessman who builds up and uses a knowledge base of available market opportunities. The entrepreneur is absolutely key to the smooth functioning of a modern economy but he doesn’t fit at all well into mathematical models; he represents a creative, unpredictable element in the market process. This book is a straightforward, fairly easy history of the treatment of the entrepreneur’s role by various economists through history.
(37) Marshall, Alfred, *Principles of Economics
Alfred Marshall was the world’s leading economist circa 1890-1920 and this is his chief book. It’s actually a fairly short book; not real easy but not too hard, either. It was the first major book to introduce may contemporary concepts such as elasticity of demand.
(38)Menger, Carl, *Principles of Economics
This is the main book of Karl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of economics and one of the 3 economists usually credited with effecting the Marginal Revolution in the late 19th century. This is a very short and non-technically written book (surprisingly so) which nevertheless explains the basic marginal principle and its importance in a vivid, easily understood way.
(39) Robinson, Joan, The Economics of Imperfect Competition
Joan Robinson is probably the most famous of all women economists; she was an early 20th century British economist. This book is one of the two books which began exploring the “intermediate ground” of microeconomics; i.e., the analysis of market types which were neither monopolistic nor purely competitive but in-between. The book has high economic content but is not beyond the level of intermediate micro (in fact a good principles-level student could understand it, too).
(40)Stigler, George, Essays in the History of Economics
Stigler (who died about 10 years ago) was one of the leading Chicago School economists and was a Nobel Prize Winner. This is one of his two main books dealing with famous economists and economic ideas of the past (the other is #41 below). It has a little broader focus than #41 below. He writes on Adam Smith, the Marginal Revolution, and other topics.
(41)Stigler, George, Production and Distribution Theories
For Stigler see the description in #39 above. This book is a bit more narrowly focused than #39 above, dealing specifically with the development of production and distribution theories. It gives the reader a thorough understanding of a rather “technical” area of microeconomics; it’s not easy but he writes in a clear, understandable manner.
(VII) THE AUSTRIAN SCHOOL
(42)Butler, Eamonn, Hayek: His Contribution to the Economic and Political Thought of Our Time
A short, straightforward introduction to the life and work of Nobel Prize Winner Friedrich Hayek, probably the best known of the twentieth century “Austrian School” economists. Hayek was not just a narrow economist but a profound social thinker in general, and it should be of interest to many students to have a clear idea of the basics of what he was about. This is a great little book in my opinion.
(43)Caldwell, Bruce, Hayek’s Challenge: An Intellecutal Biography of Friedrich Hayek.
A new book on Friedrich Hayek. It discusses the development of his ideas, where they came from, and his importance in twentieth century social thought. Would be a very good choice if you’re interested in Hayek.
(44)Ebenstein, Alan, Hayek: A Biography.
A brand new biography of Hayek. It has received very good reviews and is written by a non-economist; it’s not light reading but is well-written and doesn’t have a “technical” focus as an economist might give such a biography.
(45)Gamble, Andrew, *Hayek: The Iron Cage of Liberty
This book on Hayek and his thought is also very good. It’s more difficult than #43 above and also more critical of Hayek. Author Gamble admires Hayek but disagrees with him more than he agrees with him. His disagreement is from a somewhat soft socialist, liberal/”progressive” perspective but he tries to be very fair to Hayek and his own analysis of Hayek is at a high enough level that pro-Hayekians can learn a lot from thinking through Gamble’s criticisms of Hayek.
(46)Gray, John, *Hayek on Liberty
This book may be the best overall non-specialist book on Hayek. It’s fairly short and easy to read but has lots of substance and gives a broad view of Hayek’s thought and importance. The author is a pro-Hayekian (unlike Gamble in #45 above), but also has some major criticisms of Hayek (unlike Butler in #41 above). This book combines depth with accessibility.
(47)Hayek, Friedrich, *The Road to Serfdom
This is the Hayek book best known to the general public because it was serialized in Reader’s Digest a couple of times. It’s non-technical, easy to read, but a little bit “dated” in feel (it was written during and right after World War II). Nevertheless, it’s still in many ways the presentation of the classic “slippery slope” argument against heavy government involvement in the economy, Hayek arguing that such a path, even if not intended, inevitably leads to a socialist economy. It is one of the most influential works of popularized social thought in the 20th century.
(48)Hayek, Friedrich, *Individualism and Economic Order
A collection of Hayek’s essays, written at a more difficult level than The Road to Serfdom (#46 above) but still not terribly hard. A couple of them are on the classic “Knowledge Problem” of a planned economy, which is central to Hayek’s thinking.
(49) Hayek, Friedrich, * The Fatal Conceit.
This is a collection of essays by Hayek centering on his critique of a planned/socialist economy. The essays are clear and not highly technical. Would be a good choice if the controversy over a planned economy interests you.
(50)Menger, Carl, *Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences
This is Karl Menger’s “other book” (other than his Principles, #38 above); the one which even most economists don’t read, which is a shame. It’s actually very similar to Hayek’s Counter-Revolution of Science but probably a little more accessible than that book because it doesn’t require any historical background to read it. He surveys some basic conceptual, philosophical errors– errors in method—that he feels most social scientists make. It’s not too long and easy to read but, like Menger’s Principles, deceptively deep.
(51)Mises, Ludwig Von, *Liberalism
This is the easiest and most accessible of the major books of the great Austrian economist Ludwig Von Mises. Unfortunately it’s by far not his best book, but his best books are real tomes (i.e., they’re huge) and require a higher economics background to read. In Liberalism, Mises sets out his idea of what an economy should be like and what economic policy should be; he basically sets out the case for his free market ideas. Again, it’s not the best of Mises, but even Mises off his game is still a great thinker, and this is the Mises book that the general student can easily read and understand.
(52)MISES, LUDWIG VON, *SOCIALISM
This is one of the five double-counter books. In my opinion this is one of the greatest books of the Twentieth Century (Don’t look for it on too many New York Times “greatest books” lists, though). It’s large and fairly difficult, though there’s no math and not a graph in it. What it is is an encyclopedic analysis and critique of the Socialist idea, which Mises saw as the driving idea of the Twentieth Century. After Mises’ offensive nothing is left standing. My opinion on why Mises has been neglected or hated by the intellectual left is that in this book he definitively destroys Socialist ideology at the intellectual level, i.e., he said basically all that needs to be said about it. No one can thoroughly read and understand Mises’ Socialism and still remain a Soci., ( barring a case of intellectual and/or moral depravity).
(53)SCHUMPETER, JOSEPH, CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM, AND DEOMCRACY*
One of the five double-counters. This is Joseph Schumpeter’s most famous book in which he laid out his theory that Capitalism would destroy itself by being too successful (I’ll explain it in class). It’s a challenging book, in fact it’s rather hard, but it has almost no technical economics in it so no advanced econ background is needed to read it.
(54) Skousen, Mark, Vienna and Chicago: Friends or Foes? A Tale of Two Schools of Free Market
Economics
This is a recent book by the author of your textbook. In it he discusses the Austrian School and the Chicago School, two free market schools discussed in class. There are broad areas of agreement between the two school, but also a few areas of sharp disagreement. This has lead, for example, some Austrian economists to regard the Chicago school economists as friends and allies, whereas other Austrian economists view the Chicago school as rivals and foes. Skousen’s book is in part a plea for each school taking a friendly, allied view toward the other. Along the way you learn a lot about exactly what these two schools of thought believe and teach.
(55)Vaughn, Karen, Austrian Economics in America
This is a simple and easy discussion of the Austrian school in America by an economist who is not actually a full-fledged Austrian economist herself but is nevertheless sympathetic to the School. It’s not the best book in my opinion but none better on the topic is available and it does give you a better idea of what the Austrians are about and why they’re different from other economists.
(VIII) KEYNES AND THE KEYNESIAN REVOLUTION
(56) Roger E. Backhouse and Bradley W. Bateman, Capitalist Revolutionary: John Maynard Keynes.
A recent biography of the most influential twentieth century economist. Probably a very good way to get introduced to Keynes’ thought.
(57) Tony Crescenzi, Beyond the Keynesian Endpoint: Crushed by Credit and Deceived by Debt– How
to Revive the Global Economy.
This book is by a fairly prominent financial and investment analyst– so it could be a little narrow in its economic learning. I included it on my list because there is a very plausible argument that some economists make that the Keynesian approach to economics is good in the short run but has the fatal flaw of inevitably leading to piling up unsustainable levels of indebtedness over time. This book seems to be an attempt to flesh out that argument and show it s possible implications for our current economic situation. In other words: this is a “Keynes’ chickens are coming home to roost” book.
(58) Hoover, K.D., The New Classical Macroeconomics: A Skeptical Inquiry
In the last 25 years Macroeconomics has fragmented, after the end of the era of Universal Keynesianism. One of the things that has happened is that there has been a small revival of Pre-Keynesian, Classical Macroeconomics, reviving a type of Macro thought that previously had been thought to have been definitively killed off by the Keynesian critique of it. The author of this book surveys in fairly straightforward terms this revival and concludes that it has serious shortcomings.
(59) Hutt, W. H., The Keynesian Episode
This book combines substance with accessibility. Any very technical discussion of Keynesian economics is beyond the econ background of most students in this course, and this book avoids that.
Hutt’s perspective is basically (though not totally) critical of Keynes, in contrast to Leijonhufvud (#60 below) who is basically but not completely pro-Keynesian.
(60) Keynes, The General Theory*
You can read Keynes’ famous book itself. In fact if you’re an Econ major , I would say that all economists should at some time or another read this book (and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations) so that they can see what Keynes actually said (as opposed to what people later say he said). The book isn’t terribly long; isn’t too hard either; parts of it are quite interesting and well-written; other parts are deadly dull and poorly written. In any case it was a book with an amazingly huge impact.
(61) Leijonhufvud, Axel, On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes
This is a standard analysis and interpretation of the impact of Keynes on macroeconomics from a basically (though not uncritically) pro-Keynesian writer. It’s a little outdated (written before much of the developments which lead to the decline of the numbers of Keynesian economists and the rise of non-Keynesian schools) but still interesting. It’s fairly accessible; not highly technical, but does make use of fairly basic graphs and mathematics.
(62) Shaw, G. K., Rational Expectaions: An Elementary Exposition
This is a very good short, readable, non-technical explanation of a highly technical topic: the Rational Expectations Revolution, which was one of the leading factors in undermining Keynesian economics in the last 20 years. Don’t read this if Macroeconomics isn’t your “bag”, but if it is, then it’s an excellent choice to read.
(63) Skidelsky, Robert, *John Maynard Keynes
This is the now standard biography of John Maynard Keynes. It’s very good, very readable, and non-technical, with a lot of stuff that helps understand the history of twentieth century economics in it. It will give you some feel for the Crisis that was the Great Depression of the ‘30’s, too, and for why Keynesian economics caught on. Note: This is actually a 3-volume biography. Each volume is rather long. You only have to read one of the volumes. I recommend you don’t read the first volume , which takes him up to 1920 (although if that’s the one you want to read for some reason, I’d accept it). Read either Volume II (1920-37) or III (1937-1947) which deal with the years of his career as an economist.
(64) Snowdon, H. Vane, and Wynarczyk, P., A Modern Guide to Macroeconomics
I haven’t seen this one but it’s reviewed as a good non-technical guide and summary to the modern schools of thought in Macro and the issues that Modern Macroeconomists focus on. When I say “non-technical”, I mean “as Modern Macro goes.” I imagine it probably does contain some math and some graphs, but at a basic level. It focuses on giving basic explanations of the competing contemporary schools of macroeconomic thought– at a fairly advance level, I believe.
(65) Wappelhorst, Nicholas, Keynes/Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics
A very recent, non-technical look at the history of the Keynesian vision versus the Hayekian vision of macroeconomics, beginning with their controversies in the 1930’s and tracing it through in the work of their followers since. The book is full of interesting historical details. Your Prof has bought this book but hasn’t read it yet– it seems to attempt to treat both Keynes and Hayek sympathetically and finds value in both of their competing sets of ideas. In the end he tends to favor a modified, moderated Keynesian approach, it seems.
(IX) OTHER TWENTIETH CENTURY ECONOMISTS (AND ECONOMICS)
(66) Becker, Gary, The Economic Approach to Human Behavior
Gary Becker is a Nobel Prize winner, now retired from the University of Chicago, who is famous for attempting to extend economic analysis into the analysis of other types of human behavior. In this book he analyzes religion, the family, marriage and divorce, crime, politics, and even love and romance all using the toolkit of economic theory. The book has some highly technical parts (advanced math, e.g.) but you could skip those parts. Becker’s work strikes some people as highly creative, others as egregious “economic imperialism”. I’m in between: I think it’s interesting but sometimes taken too far.
(67)Breit, William and Spencer, Roger, Lives of the Laureates.
This book might be interesting to Econ majors, though it’s not a technical work. The authors contacted all of the living American Nobel Prize winners in Economics– 13 of them altogether and interviewed each about their careers and their ideas. Each prize winner gets one chapter of the book. Altogether, the book uses a pleasant format to give the reader a look at trends in contemporary economics; the economists presented have conflicting viewpoints on some issues, and include several economists I will talk about in class, but also several I won’t have time for, so reading it can expand your knowledge of contemporary economist superstars.
(68) Buchanan, James M., and Tullock, Gordon, The Calculus of Consent
This was probably the most important book in the launching of Public Choice Theory onto the economics scene. Public Choice theory is the attempt to analyze the actions of government and politicians using basic concepts of economic theory. Buchanan has since won a Nobel Prize for it. Like the Becker book (#65 above) it contains some advanced math (not too much) which you can skip if you read it.
(69) Coase, Ronald, The Firm, the Market, and the Law.
Ronald Coase was an extremely important late twentieth century economist. He wrote just a few books and articles, but in them he re-examined fundamental concepts of microeconomic theory in ways that lead to hundreds (perhaps thousands) of other economists launching new lines of research and asking new questions. This is a sample of Coase’s work.
(70) Commons, John R., Institutional Economics
This is the basic book of John R. Commons, the most important mid-Twentieth century American Institutionalist economist. Institutionalism (to be discussed in class) was a school of economic theory that was dissatisfied with the basic logic of modern economic theory, criticizing it as hyper-rational. Institutionalists tended to doubt a lot of the basic conclusions of orthodox microeconomic theory; in policy they tended to favor a strong state/government. This book is quite dry in places, but also has some interesting parts and is a quite different perspective from what you would get in many econ courses.
(71) Dorfman, Joseph, Thorstein Veblen and His America
Thorstein Veblen is the most famous and most colorful of the Institutionalist school of economists (see description to #69 above). His approach to economics was unique; your instructor thinks that Veblen is mostly bunk and hogwash, but many people, including many social scientists outside of economics strongly disagree. This is a sympathetic biography of Veblen which is interesting because Veblen had an interesting career; it also gives a lot of collateral historical information on the American economy in the early twentieth century.
(72) Epstein, R. J., A History of Econometrics
This is a non-technical history of a highly technical subject: The Plague that Clings To Us All– i.e., Econometrics. Only in the last 30-50 years have economists tried to turn their subject into a highly quantified, exactly measured “science” on the model of the “hard” physical sciences. This history is a rather critical one, though not critical enough to my taste. Anyway, reading this will help you to understand some of the basic issues involved in the controversy over the place of Econometrics in Economics.
(73) Friedman, Milton, and Friedman, Rose, Two Lucky People
This is the memoirs/autobiography of Milton Friedman , and of his wife Rose Friedman (also an economist) as well. It’s not a technical econ book, but traces his extremely important career from the inside out. It’s easy to read (one of the easier ones on the list) but also pretty long. It’s a good source for understanding, in a non-technical way, the background of much of contemporary economics. The Friedmans are a pleasant couple to get to know, too– eternal optimists.
(74) Friedman, Milton, Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History.
This is one of Milton Friedman’s many books. It contains an interesting collection of chapter-length essays on various episodes of monetary policy throughout history. It was written for a more general audience, not as a strictly academic book. To some degree I think this book of Friedman’s gains some added interest from today’s macroeconomic and monetary policy situation and dilemmas.
(75) Galbraith, John K., The Affluent Society
John Kenneth Galbraith was one of the most important liberal/”progressive”/Democrat economists of the era 1950-1990. Not only was he a Professor at Harvard who wrote on “technical” economics, but most of his books were aimed at a general audience– i.e., he was a major popularizer and disseminator of liberal (in the contemporary, soft socialist sense) economic doctrine. He was also one of the few recent economists who could write very well. This was the book that made him famous, written around 1960, in which he gives his version of contemporary capitalism. This book was very influential in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s and has recently been re-issued in an anniversary edition.
(76) Galbraith, John K., The New Industrial State
This is Galbraith’s other major book for a general audience (see the description for #74 above). This book is different in tone from The Affluent Society; it’s more negative, more critical of capitalism, perhaps to the point of gloominess. It was written around 1975, though, so it’s got a little more contemporary feel to it than The Affluent Society. You might say that this book contains Galbraith’s mature views. This book was tremendously influential in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s among non-economist social scientists of the “progressive” persuasion (i.e., among the overwhelming majority of non-economist social scientists).
(77) Keen, Steve, Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?
This is a very recent book in the tradition of the critics of modern Neoclassical Microeconomics. The author thoroughly disagrees with many of the basic ideas of modern mainstream economics, and with the way that economics is generally taught. It is written at a high level; many of the criticisms, I think, could be answered fairly well– but it is an intelligent critique. I include it as an example of a more heterodox quasi-Institutionalist strand of thought that exists among a minority of economists today and that has some of its roots in figures mentioned in class– Veblen, Commons, Galbraith, etc. So if you want to sample a contemporary version of the critique of economics itself from an academic economist, this could be a good book to read.
(78)Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
David Landes is another Harvard Prof, a currently active one. This is a very rich and interesting, not too difficult but rather large work of economic history. It attempts to explain just what the title says: why some countries are so rich and others so poor. He focuses on differences in both culture and institutions as the key. The book is a good example of the new revival of Economic History as an important force in economics; most of this revival occurred in the last 10 to 15 years.
(79)Thomas K. McCraw, Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction
This is the latest, hot off the press, book to arouse great interest in history of economic thought circles. It’s a biography of Joseph Schumpeter that has come out just recently to rave reviews. Not only is it described as “insightful” but also “an entertaining read.” Schumpeter was one of the half dozen greatest economists of the twentieth century but can best be described as a “maverick.” He didn’t fit into any “school” of thought, nor did he create his own “school of thought.” However, he was a pathfinder early in the twentieth century on some topics that the mainstream of economics only discovered in recent years: growth theory, the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the need for dynamic rather than static analysis in economics. Schumpeter’s stature in the profession seems to rise decade by decade. He was also a very “colorful” personal character– not at all your stereotypical econ nerd. Since this is a biography that side of Schumpeter probably gets described in detail (that’s probably why reviewers think its so “entertaining.”)
(80) Morgan, Mary S., The History of Econometric Ideas
This book covers the same ground as #71 above. If you’re an econ major intending to do an advanced degree in the subject or if you have an interest in statistical theory, this might be a good choice. If you’re in those categories, it’s an important subject to learn about. Otherwise: choose something else.
(81) North, Douglass, and Thomas, R. P., *The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History
Like David Landes’ book (#78 above) this is one of the standard works of the new Economic History. It focuses more on institutions as the key to wealth (as opposed to Landes, who puts at least equal emphasis on culture). It’s very readable and interesting and significantly shorter than the Landes book (although I actually think Landes is a tad more interesting). If you read it for American Economic History (a couple of people did) you can’t re-read it for this course, though.
(82) Samuelson, Paul, Economics (Original Edition, 1948, reissued)
Paul Samuelson’s basic college Econ text dominated the field, in fact almost monopolized it, from about 1950 to about 1980. It was tremendously important in shaping two generations of economists. The original edition has been re-issued. Reading it would give an econ major particularly an interesting insight into what’s changed and what hasn’t in basic economics since then. (It’s pretty long; if you choose this, bring it to me– you might not have to read all of it).
(83) Sweezy, Paul, The Theory of Capitalist Development
Paul Sweezy was probably the major American Marxist economist of the second half of the twentieth century. This book is his signature book. It shows how Marx’s economics was adapted and modified by his followers as time went on, and shows what American Marxist economists (of which there are, today, a few) would argue. Sweezy was an intelligent writer and this is probably Marxism presented about as plausibly as it can be presented. As a contemporary Marxist you have to explain things like: why hasn’t the “inevitable” revolution come yet, why does it appear at least that the working class is not being ground into poverty but instead acquiring SUVs, etc. Sweezy tackles the job. Read and judge for yourself.
(84)Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of the Leisure Class
This is Thorstein Veblen’s most famous book. As for who Veblen was, see #70 above. This book has created contrasting impressions among student readers: there are some students who really enjoy reading Veblen, whereas other students find him dull. Veblen has a satirical, cynical wit and comic streak which he directs primarily at the wealthy. He has a very different take on the economic world than most authors you would read in economics (and than your instructor in this course). There are some strong similarities between Veblen and the later writer, John Kenneth Galbraith. It’s probably a good experience to read a book by Veblen somewhere along the line. (By the way he wrote several other books and if you wanted to read one of these instead of this one, bring it to me and I’d probably approve it. The Theory of The Leisure Class is his most widely read book, though).
(X) GENERAL HISTORIES
(85) Blaug, Mark, ECONOMIC THEORY IN RETROSPECT
This is a top-notch, very excellent, but very high-level and rather technical history of economic thought written by the academic who is probably the leading current writer on the history of economic thought in the world. Note that it’s one of the four double-counters. This book, I would say, is strictly for the Econ majors among you. It’s written at an intermediate macro/micro theory level. But if you’re serious about economics and thrive on a little difficulty, it would be an excellent accompaniment to this class. It counts as two.
(86)Breit, William, and Ransom, Kenneth, *The Academic Scribblers
This is a book containing chapters on the life and work of various twentieth century economists who have been quite important but not quite important enough to warrant a class lecture. The list of economists covered includes some included in class (Keynes, Marshall, Galbraith, Friedman, Veblen) but also many not included or only mentioned for a minute or two, such as: A.C. Pigou, Alvin Hansen, Abba Lerner, Frank Knight, and Paul Samuelson).
(87)Buchholz, Todd, and Feldstein, Martin, *New Ideas From Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought
This is actually an alternative textbook for a history of thought course. It’s like the Skousen book that we use in that it’s written at a more popular (general reader, not necessarily econ major) level. It’s shorter and, in my opinion, not as good as the Skousen text. I include it on the list, though, because they devote about 1/3 of the book to interesting people like James Buchanan who are not given much space in Skousen. Also, a lot of this book which duplicates Skousen does so in a different way, with somewhat different interpretations. Thus, it’s not a bad book to reinforce Skousen and class lecture with.
(88)Coase, Ronald H., *Essays on Economics and Economists.
Ronald Coase is a Nobel Prize winning economist, famous for his “Coase Theorem” on externalities. (See the description for #69 above as well). This is a fairly short, easy to read book which consists of a collection of short essays by Coase on various topics associated with the history of economics. It covers a good variety of topics and Coase has a fairly original viewpoint on most of them. This book is more accessible to students than some on this list and would probably be a good choice for most students: a fairly short, readable book that “goes along with” some of the material presented in lecture.
(89) Coleman, William Oliver, Economics and Its enemies: Two Centuries of Anti-Economics
This is a history of thinkers that have criticized economics as a method of thought. Most of these critics were virulent– i.e., haters of economic thinking. Many, as you might imagine, were leftists, but there were also important “anti-economists” on the political right and among major religious thinkers. The critique of economics has, I think, been very influential—no less a thinker than Ludwig Von Mises thought that the greatest intellectual battle in the world was between economists and haters of economic thought who attempted to discredit economics. This book outlines the “Anti-Economics” tradition (as an Economist, Coleman is an anti-anti).
(90) Hayek, Friedrich, The Counter-Revolution of Science.
This is perhaps Hayek’s best book, but parts of it are philosophically deep and hence difficult. It’s a short history not so much of economics but of the philosophy of social science in the 19th century. Hayek argues and shows that there are systematic philosophical errors in much of social science thinking. The key error he calls “Constructivism”– interpreting as given, existing social realities things which are products of thought only. The error was made because of social scientists’ attempts to slavishly model their disciplines on the wildly successful physical sciences, without stopping to notice the fundamental philosophical differences between the two types of knowledge. This error, according to Hayek, leads to a “Collectivist” interpretation of reality which provided fertile ground for Marxian socialism. A great book but difficult. I have had students who read it, liked it and understood it fairly well before. If you can do that it’s an impressive accomplishment for an undergraduate.
(91)Heilbroner, Robert, *The Worldly Philosophers
This book is a longstanding classic in the History of Economic Thought, used in college classrooms for 3 decades. Heilbroner is a great writer and actually makes the history of economics dramatic (and that’s not easy!). It’s a very readable and lively book. A personal note by the instructor: I read The Worldly Philosophers when I was in high school and it was the first time I discovered that economics could be interesting. (That’s not easy, either– to make a high school kid, even a nerd, interested in economics). I still regard this book as a great piece of social science writing in form but no longer do I regard it as great in content—in fact I now disagree with almost all of Heilbroner’s opinions. He is a “progressive” writer, i.e., he’s a leftist. Reading him in high school actually launched me on a brief Socialist phase (hard to believe now, I know). There is still value in reading him, though– it’s a very well-done presentation of moderate Left , democratic Socialist economics (perhaps valuable as a contrast to what you get in class lecture). This book came out in several editions and the latest one contained a few significant revisions of the author’s earlier opinions. The last edition of it would be the one to read.
(92)Ludwig Von Mises Lecture Series, *The Age of Economists: From Adam Smith to Milton Friedman.
This book is a collection of essays by different authors, all current economists, on a variety of topics in the history of economics. Several of the essays are very relevant to class; all are readable and fairly short; the perspective is consistently free market (the book is actually a collection of lectures delivered over a period of years in a lecture series set up to honor Ludwig Von Mises, that most free market of all free marketeers).
(93)Muller, Jerry, *MIND AND MARKET
A top-notch intellectual history of the intellectual sources of critiques of a market or “capitalist” economy and some of the leading answers to it. The book deals with some leading economists and also some influential sociologists, is very well written, is only of average length (and it counts as two books), and has no fancy economic theory in it; yet it’s not an easy book, either. Gives lots of insight into the current intellectual climate. Highly recommended. It’s a double-counter.
(94) Nasar, Sylvia, Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius.
This is a relatively new book that has received much critical acclaim. The author is not an economist but acquired her interest in the subject in part by writing the biography of game theorist John Nash, which became the basis for the movie The Beautiful Mind. This book might be a little weak on technical matters, but it’s very strong on historical context. It concentrates mostly on the twentieth century— very heavily on Keynes, Hayek, Schumpeter, but also economists like Joan Robinson and Amartya Sen. Probably would be a very interesting and accessible read to accompany this course. It’s absolutely Amazing (to me, anyway) that a Professor at a Journalism School (usually a domain of muttonheads, in my opinion) could write a book on economics that’s as good as this one is.
(95)Novak, Michael, *The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism.
Michael Novak is an American intellectual and public policy writer who originally was a theologian and philosopher. He has long grappled with the question: are Capitalism and Capitalist attitudes compatible with Christianity? Novak has long believed that a market economy is the winner of the efficiency and productivity argument with alternative systems, but only gradually, through many years of study did he conclude, with some reservations, that it was also morally superior. This book is a history of the struggle of various thinkers through history with exactly the questions that Novak struggled with for so long. The book would be a great pick for someone with broad historical and ethical interests. By the way, there is a very similar book by Novak entitled The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism which you could also read instead. That book is very similar– in fact The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism kind of “grew out of” The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism—but it’s a little more narrowly focused on the ethical and religious tradition of the Roman Catholic church (to which Novak belongs). You can read either one (but not both).
(96) Robbins, Lionel, The Evolution of Modern Economic Theory
Robbins was a mid-twentieth century British economist. This is one of the standard twentieth century discussions of the history of economic thought. Written at a high level (though without extensive math or graphs), but very lively and well written.
(97)Robbins, Lionel, *A History of Economic Thought: The LSE Lectures.
See the description for #96 above. The only difference is that this book is a collection of what were originally delivered as lectures or speeches at the London School of Economics; so it’s a little more varied in what in covers than #96 is. So: very similar to #94, but perhaps a little more breadth and a little less depth.
(98) SCHUMPETER, *A HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
To many people this is the “Bible” on the History of Economic Thought, i.e., it’s the most authoritative standard reference work written by the most brilliant of the small number of twentieth century economists to be interested in the history of thought. Schumpeter is an original, creative and a bit hard-to-categorize thinker: basically very pro-free market but with a soft spot in his heart for Karl Marx (an uncommon combination of attitudes indeed.) This book is written at a high (though non-technical) level, and its over a thousand pages long (about 1200). Notice, though, its in all caps, which means that if you read it it counts as two books, so it’s all you’d have to read. Also, if anyone reads it you could bring it to me and we could cut out about 1/3 of it; you could read about 600 pages of it to count for two books (there are a few parts that would be no loss to omit, anyway). In addition, the book ends around 1950, so it doesn’t include Friedman, Galbraith, Samuelson, etc.
(99)Szenberg, Michael. Passion and Craft: Economists at Work.
This book is a collection of chapters based on interviews with fifteen or so leading twentieth century economists (some of whom are mentioned in class lecture, others of whom are also important but not mentioned in class). The author gets these leading economists to talk about their lives, their careers, and their motivations. This book would probably be more of interest to any students who might, for example, be thinking seriously about pursuing an Econ Ph.D. You might get some ideas and even find some role models here. (By the way, the same author wrote a very similar book called Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies. That one would be acceptable to review, too.
(100)Wintrobe, Ronald, The Political Economy of Dictatorship.
This book attempts to apply Public Choice theory (a la James Buchanan) to dictatorships. In other words, he offers an economic theory of Dictatorships– why they act the way they do, how they stay in power, what their weaknesses are, and how Democracies should deal with them. He uses several illustrative case studies– of Hitler, of Communist dictators, and also of some traditional (“right-wring”) military dictatorships. I haven’t read this one but the topic is potentially very interesting. The book also illustrates the contemporary attempt to use economic theory-based thinking to try to explain things that aren’t strictly speaking economic at all.
