Economic Theory in Retrospect

Rating:
Summary: good for econ dudes
Review: as an econ major i found this book highly informative and interesting. however, if you are not mathematically inclined you might find some of the models and graphs difficult to follow, especially the ones involving differential equations.
but if you are an econ dude, this book is great. lots of insight about how commonly used theories and models came about. well written for the most part, but somewhat wordy at times.

Rating:
Summary: Good synopsis but poor analysis
Review: I have always felt uneasy with this book since I was an under graduated student, 30 years ago. This is undoubtedly a quiet useful book for anyone who needs a bird's-eye view of the classics in economics. If you don't have time to read Smith's Wealth of Nations or Marshall's Principles, here you have the book you need. However, it is not here that you can look for a good analysis of the meaning and implications of the main schools of economic thought, as well as the relevance of the work of its most distinguished authors and their social and intellectual environment. That is reason why I always preferred Schumpeter's History of Economic Analysis. Today, that I am lecturing this course my dissatisfaction has increased, among other reasons because you have more and better textbooks, such as Lionel Robbins' History of Economic Thought, Mark Skoussen's Making of Modern Economics, or Jürg Niehams' History of Economic Theory, which I really enjoyed reading because they try to make a portrayal of the intellectual and human stature of the most important economists of all times and their background.

Rating:
Summary: Too much lopsided for my taste.
Review: The problem with this book is that it offers an astounding bibliography, being therefore a mandatory list to further readings, but unfortunately it is entirely teleological, as it considers neoclessic economics of the most conservative kind to represent the acme of all economic thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Too much lopsided for my taste.
Review: The problem with this book is that it offers an astounding bibliography, being therefore a mandatory list to further readings, but unfortunately it is entirely teleological, as it considers neoclessic economics of the most conservative kind to represent the acme of all economic thinking.