Working Paper: NBER ID: w17607
Authors: Orley C. Ashenfelter
Abstract: In this essay I review Sylvia Nasar's long awaited new history of economics, Grand Pursuit. I describe how the book is really an economic history of the period from 1850-1950, with distinguished economists' stories inserted in appropriate places. Nasar's goal is to show how economists work, but also to show that they are people too--with more than enough warts and foibles to show they are human! I contrast the general view of the role of economics in Grand Pursuit with Robert Heilbroner's remarkably different conception in The Worldly Philosophers. I also discuss more generally the question of why economists might be interested in their history at all.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: A11; B20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Karl Marx's personal circumstances (B14) | Marx's economic theories (B14) |
| John Maynard Keynes's ideas (E12) | economic policy during the Great Depression (E65) |
| economic conditions of the early 20th century (N13) | evolution of economic thought (B15) |