The Making of Modern Economics

The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers

By: Mark Skousen

Narrated by: Patrick Cullen

Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is a bold new history of economics, the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built a rigorous social science without peer.

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 Audiobooks

Great book, well written, excellent reader

Agree with positive statements from other reviews. Author provides a rigorous treatment of the subject in a lively narrative. Under his hand, this 'dismal' topic becomes both accessible and fascinating. The reader is excellent and provides important life and emphasis. The book ends up seeming relatively short because it moves along so well.

Well written and well narrated!

This is a great book. Well written and well narrated! I got more from it than my university studies in Economics.

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.

Extensive Bibliography

I am amazed that Mark has taken an exhaustive look at the history and characters that have produced the world that we live in today. I do not believe that I would have had the time and focus to read this work with my eyes. I am glad that I was able to listen to it. I have a greater understanding of the ideas and personal beliefs that each of the recent economists have shared with the public. For me, having a foundation of understanding of the history of modern economics is indispensable. Everyone that has any inclination to learn about economics should have this in their library.

The Strange History of Economics

This book was wonderfully written, focusing on the odd people who made the history. I didn't realize how really different these economists really were until reading this. The dismal science has never been so fascinating.

Worth the reminder

I would agree that Mark Skousen does an excellent job in explaining the foundations and progressions to Modern Economics, but would add that it reads more like a text book. If you're looking to re-produce this intellectual analysis of the authors cited, then it would be best to purchase the written word.

Outstanding, but better read than listened to?

Audio: 5 star. Excellent. Clear, well-spoken, easily understood. The levels of voice volume and inflection were even throughout with only slight fluctuations occasionally.

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.

It's a readable economics book.

I have learned a lot from this book. I have listened to it twice and will listen to the last section one more time. I think it was published in 2001 so does not include current economic lessons, however all the history taught does not change. Skousen keeps it as interesting as i think it could be.

Good review, but avoid being indoctrinated

Skousen's book does a nice job of summarizing the development of modern economics since Adam Smith. But the weakness of the book is his religious fervor for the free market. He makes his bias clear at the start: Adam Smith is at the top of the pyramid, Marx at the bottom. Government intervention in BAD, free enterprise is GOOD. There is almost no attention to distributional issues or market failure, with a consistent belief that the free market will raise all boats. Hopefully, listeners will not be convinced by his repeated attacks on Nobel Laureates and other esteemed economists. He derides economists who, with scholarly hesitation, confess uncertainty about important macroeconomic questions. He tries to convince us that the "truth" of economics was discovered by Adam Smith, and that any economist who deviated from that free-market path is not only wrong, but has damaged society immeasurably. Don't be convinced. You can learn from Skousen, but avoid indoctrination!

Excellent

Great book to hear. Broad overview of history of economics. Well written and interesting to hear. Well done for the author and the narrator.

Excellent!!! Brilliant!!!

A wonderful defense of free markets with wonderful insights into human striving. Brilliant analysis and presentation. Often I am torn between rating the content and the audio presentation, but this book gets five stars on both accounts. Listen to this, then look at ?The Pentagon?s New Map? and compare the troubled spots in the world today where countries are a threat to their neighbors and where there exists widespread human suffering and conduct a comparison of the extent of the openness of their market. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that open markets rule!!!!