economist

I found this book a major disappointment. It seems to me that the author is
clearly outside his field of expertise, the result being a book riddled
with errors. For instance, in his exposition of Ricardo's theory of
comparative advantage, the example has no comparative advantage. If he had
bothered to read a chapter of an introductory international economics book,
he would have found a clear illustration, Similarly, his description of
Edgeworth's contract curve is muddled and wrong with one consumer gaining
utility at the expense of the other. Indeed, it seems that the author spent
so little time writing the book that he does not even get his arithmetic
right -- his own numbers indicating the American domestic market was 167
percent larger than the British in 1910, not 250 percent larger as claimed.

To his merit, he does say something about nearly every major figure in
economics up to Friedman -- I would probably have included Samuelson as
well -- and other figures as well, e.g., Luca Pacioli, the father of
accounting. And his prose is quite readable, although I found his tendency
towards hyperbole annoying.

On the whole, if you are interested in biographical sketches of leading
economic thinkers in history and are not concerned about an explanation of
their ideas, you may find this book interesting. But I would look
elsewhere.

If I had anything to gripe it would be the EXTREMELY poor editing. Throughout the book I found words that had mistakenly been split up by a spac e mark, such as what I have included in this review. One or two can be forgiven but the twenty or so I seem to have come across is truly shameful for a book at approximately $20 or more. As a result of this and the poor examples provided I rate the book a 3 star book

This book, like The Worldly Philosophers and New Ideas from Dead Economists, is designed to illustrate the thoughts and history of the world's greatest economic thinkers. Economists. This book is ideal for those seeking to learn about some of the contributions of the world's greatest economists as well as those who are history buffs and want to learn more about the times / overlap of the world's greatest minds in other areas such as philosophy, science, etc as many of these individuals had an impact on economists of their times.

Economists highlighted in the book, which goes in chronological order from past to recent, include Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Robert Malthus, George Marshall, Thorton Veblen, Joseph Schumpeter, John von Neumann, John Nash and Milton Friedman.

Some historic events mentioned in the book, since they affected the economists' thoughts, are Holland's 17th-century bout of tulipmania, Britain's notorious South Sea Bubble, The French Revolution, the Great Depression, and the rebuilding and retribution strategies following the two world wars.

Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them. If you are interested in another excellent economics book I would start with The Worldly Philosophers (which I would buy before this book) and then read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker". Just so you know, he didn't pick the title but his work is excellent and highly applicable for managers.

One final note, The Mystery Of Capital is a highly regarded, easy to read book on economic development that is VERY popular in the offices of dignitaries throughout the world, including Paul O'Neill (Secretary of State for the U.S). During a recent CNBC documentary on Mr. O'Neill the secretary met Mr. DeSoto to get some insights before his trip to Africa where he will focus on ways to improve economic development in 3rd world nations.

Then I read Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. He brings to light something that economists cannot ignore. Even though most industries were privatized, one industry was regulated stricter than democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende ever meant to. The copper industry, Chile's leading industry was that industry. Those other industries that were privatized that are noted even by pro-Pinochet economists for causing poverty and social decadence all round.

If you care to look into the Chicago boys, just take a look at Milton Friedman's work with a critical eye. Rather than seeing to promote libertarian thought, he seemingly hurts it more. The Chicago boys built the same economy paradigm that was followed by the Russian Communist Party (yes, the Communists; 60% of the population opposed free market economics) that led to further economic chaos and social decay in post-communist Russia.

I've met many libertarians that have nothing nice to say about the Chicago boys and the Friedman line of thought. Nice way of defending Pinochet's rule. Too bad it's far from the truth.

Let us be clear here: Pinochet was, undoubtedly, the worst kind of tyrant. Even U.S. officers accused of conspiring with el jefe (Henry Kissinger, for example) do not dispute that his reign was horrible by U.S. and European standards. Thousands of opponents to the regime were tortured, jailed, and "lost".

The author does not deny this, nor does he make any attempt to candy-coat Pinochet or his regime. Quite the opposite.

Gabriel Valdes was, after all, a liberal who escaped Chile during the regime and joined the government that replaced Pinochet's. Yet he refuses to deny (as many have) the ambivalence of the Pinochet legacy. For even as the General practiced the worst kind of political oppression of dissent, he encouraged free-market economics... and Chile prospered as a result. Other states (Nicaragua, for example) which started out as darlings of the Left fell in to the worst kinds of economic decay, as Chile moved forward. (Skeptics may credit this precipitous collapse to the Contras, if they like, but the record is otherwise.)

According to this author, the ideological strength of the Chicago Boys' mission and the military authoritarianism of General Pinochet combined to transform an economy that is now seen as a model for Latin America. Gabriel Valdes makes the case that it was this economic growth itself which laid the groundwork for democracy. Ultimately, it was Pinochet's own economic platform that led to his ousting. Just as South Korea finally reached a critical mass of prosperity its government could not contain, so too did Chile's economic turn-around finally propel the collapse of the authoritarian state that had made this growth possible.

Human rights advocates too frequently overlook the vital importance of property rights. In pursuit of economic "justice," they frequently redistribute the economy to death. This author makes the case, in considerable detail, that the right to trade freely and prosper lays the groundwork for other freedoms (to be free of torture, to speak freely, to associate freely, etc.) And, because it creates jobs, free trade groweth can actually eases and obscure class tensions in the long run.

This book offers remarkable evidence for a model of nation building that too few Third World leaders endorse- one founded on the premise that economic growth precedes and permits political democracy.

P.S. I know this review is likely to get a slew of unhelpful votes. So be it. This is a great book that people should read carefully before criticizing. Leaders who refuse to consider these arguments will wind up with a less honest appraisal of history.

Published in 1987, Greider's book gave us a brief history of the Federal Reserve System in the United States and carried the survey of its history up to the October 1987 crash of the stock market spending a great deal of the book discussing the administration of Paul Volcker as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. That book left the present author wanting more. Steve Beckner's book is the answer to that prayer.

Picking up almost exactly at the time of the October 1987 crash, Beckner brings the story of the Federal Reserve up to September of 1995. The book has already become one of those books which is referred back to even after it has been completely read, spending as little time on the shelf as the dictionary and other reference materials in this house.

Heavily into the subject, Beckner spends little time explaining his terminology. Even for readers with some background in economics this can be distracting as readers break off in the middle of a good read to look up Germany's Bundesbank Lombard rate to understand what Beckner is trying to say.

Still in all, some reviewers may have been unfair to Beckner to state that he fawns over the actions of Alan Greenspan. What may appear as fawning on the surface may actually be the writing style a reporter who has learned to take care in the statements he makes to avoid sending misinterpreted ripples to the markets which have in the past been characterized as "the Beckner effect" by the New York Times as noted in the dust cover of the book. Reading the book in light of this reserve means playing tennis with the net up rather than down. Nonetheless, a careful reading of the book reveals clear criticism of Greenspan for his lack of independence from the policies of the Clinton Administration and for his over reation to the so-called "credit crunch of 1992" a phenomenon whose very existence is still being debated. The book is, therefore, an important addition to every current affairs collection.

Brian Wayne Wells
Attorney at Law
Charleston, West Virginia

I wouldn't recommend the book unless you are specifically looking for works on Modigliani's economics, or are generally curious about the career of a Nobel economist.