| By: |
Ashenfelter, Orley (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: |
In this essay I review Sylvia Nasar's long awaited new history of economics,
Grand Pursuit. I describe how the book is 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: |
economic history, economic growth, economic policy |
| JEL: |
B10 B30 |
| Date: |
2011–12 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6213&r=pke |