
The Making of Modern Economics
The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers
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Narrated by:
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Patrick Cullen
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By:
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Mark Skousen
About this listen
Unlike other histories of economics, Mark Skousen's book provides a running plot with a singular heroic figure, Adam Smith, at the center of the discipline. Skousen unites the great thinkers by ranking them for or against Adam Smith and his "system of natural liberty". He shows how Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, and even laissez-faire disciples Robert Malthus and David Ricardo detracted from Adam Smith's classical model of democratic capitalism during periods of economic failure and upheaval, while Alfred Marshall, Irving Fisher, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman, among others, remodeled and improved upon Smithian economics as the world economy recovered and prospered.
Highlights include exciting new revelations about the lives of the great economists, provocative sidelights, humorous anecdotes, and even musical selections reflecting the spirit of each major economist.
©2001 Mark Skousen (P)2002 Blackstone AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Great book, well written, excellent reader
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It appears to be biased against communism at places but the critique is honest and thought provoking.
Would-be Economics students should read this book and it will give them a head start in their course work.
This book bridges the gap between the academics and general masses. Economics does not seem all that esoteric after listening to this book. I also ordered a print copy of this book as it appeared to be useful to have a good perspective on both micro and macro economics issues.
Well written and well narrated!
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Extensive Bibliography
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The Strange History of Economics
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Worth the reminder
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Content: 5 star. LOADED with biographical information on economists from the 17th century pre-Adam Smith to the present. (I've heard of the "biggies" but I had no idea there were so many others.) It's also loaded with the gems of economic theory and application from those economists. I only read economics for my personal education but it seems to me the author covers the subject(s) quite well. IMO this might be a good textbook for Intro to Economics or Economic History.
Context: 3 star. I suspect this fine history and reference book may be better to read than to listen to. First, the subject matter jumps around alot. This is probably due to the numerous sidebars and graphs the author mentions in his introduction. Still, it is disconcerting and somewhat hard to follow in the spoken work. Second, some of the gems of economic theory and practice tend to fly right by. Yes, I rewind from time to time but that gets annoying, and you can't easily, if at all, bookmark those gems for later replay. This is the kind of book in written form I would want to reference often, leaf back and forth, look up things in the Index, etc. I found the list of figures, illustrations, and photos online and there are a LOT of them, which of course you won't have in audio.
I'm sure I'm not the first person who has wished audiobooks came with at least a text Table of Contents, perhaps with the time lapsed for each chapter. And wouldn't a function to actually leap to specific chapters be great. I think audiobook sales could be hugely increased with more interactive and informative interfaces.
Outstanding, but better read than listened to?
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It's a readable economics book.
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Good review, but avoid being indoctrinated
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Excellent
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One warning is that the author is somewhat homophobic and pro-theism(most obvious in talking about the early 1900's period and for Keynes). This seeps into some of his analysis and colors his opinions on the character of economists he talks about. Going outside of detailing the figures, he goes into simple vitriol and disdain for the figures he obviously has issues with.
As long as you know that this is a specifically pro-free market analysis, the book is very interesting. But don't let the authors irrational points effect you, and keep an eye on all his analysis. This is only one side of the argument, but he does do a somewhat complete job of explaining that side. Buy this and a book that matches it but from a less supply/free market approach and you'll get a nicely balanced view.
Detailed, but strong biased.
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