The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers, Seventh Edition

The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner presents ideas of Adam Smith, Parson Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes and Joseph Schumpeter, among others, with clarity and brevity. The book educates you about the historical development of the subject of economics with a very readable, quotable and imitable prose. Heilbroner takes the readers on a remarkable journey from the islands of unformed ideas to an understanding of economic realities of preceding generations. Once the knowledge of relevant forms and forces underlying different societies is shown together with methods of production, consumption and taxation; the seeker is introduced to various modes of thinking about profit, loss, welfare, capital, labor, supply, demand, stock and imperialism.The greatest thinkers (limited to Western/economic thinkers of the last three centuries) were people of flesh and blood, and in general most scientific (/and economic) texts ignore the persona behind the idea, principle or axiom. Every philosopher who has contributed to the unraveling of the mystery cult of market where profit is a virtue is revisited and celebrated as a prophet in The Worldly Philosophers. Prophets, not soothsayers, bring insight into existing situations/problems by providing perspectives that are either not available before them or are not pronounced with the same authority or clarity. Yet not all philosophers are ready for the realities of the world, just as not all the societies are mature or conducive for arrival and survival of their philosophers. The last ones are nevertheless worth being aware of, and the book introduces a remarkable cast of such characters as well.Reading the book makes one realize that a few fundamental questions remain unanswered in the field of economics: What is good and bad (in terms of choices, decisions, profit: personal vs labor force vs society? Where does the profit arise from: is it always causing injury to someone somewhere? Are market forces ever seeking profits for a marginal few? Can capitalism survive the contradictions brought about by rational or irrational self-interest versus welfare of humanity or society? Does capitalism always lead to imperialism, the nineteenth century version or the new one where multinational companies play a similar role? Is the customer always the king or is it only a ploy to rob the customer of his rightful profits? Can socialism exist unless many of the economic problems are first solved so that there is enough labor and enough work and enough food in the system? Will technocrats take over the world one day (or should they)? Does a perfect economic system exist only as a utopia?The book emphasizes how the current economic system is in fact only a century or so old, and is ever evolving, increasing in complexity, and when it comes to the distribution of wealth, the present times are no different in the West than were the days of the mediaeval Europe. We are forced to examine our notions of progress, property and propriety, and we are forced to admit that we have evolved varied ways of exploitation of masses and resources for achieving gains for a select few. Yet by its very nature, such a book provides an example of why intellectuals, why philosophers, why scholars are so central to directing and controlling human activity. In the clamor for justice in distribution of wealth we sometimes forget that we humans value things differently in different times, and equality and justice require equal opportunity for receiving any reward (material or spiritual). Perhaps we need a new worldly philosopher who will inspire a mode of production and distribution that allows education and opportunity to everyone when they are growing up, care and medicine to all old people after their share of tasks are done and sensible distribution of necessities to enable humans to live with honor, dignity, honesty and health. Before such a philosopher takes the center stage, he or she will find this book as a useful guide to the lives and works of thinkers before him/her, and I am sure he/she will nod and say, reading this made damn good economic sense!

Before you purchase this book know what it is not. This is not a comprehensive listing of every influential economist of the past 200 years. This is not an assessment of capitalism or an endorsement of any one point of view on political economy.What this book is is a look at various influential economic thinkers of the past 200 years and an attempt to put their ideas regarding economics into the context of the worlds that they lived in. What I liked about this book was not that it compared and contrasted Adam Smith to Karl Marx and tried to see which one came up with a better world view. What I liked was that Heilbroner spent a good deal of time exploring the times and environments that helped to shape each man's views on capitalism. Markets do not operate in a vacuum, they are embedded in the society in which they a part and are shaped by the cultures and technologies that support them. Smith, Marx and Keynes all lived during times when new technologies were colliding with old cultural institutions and the results were massive upheavals that led these men to the ideas they are now famous for. Had Smith been born a century earlier he could never have written about the wages of labor as he did in 'Wealth of Nations' because England had not yet moved out of a feudal economy at that point. Had Marx written 'The Communist Manifesto' in the Germany of 1988 rather than the Germany of 1848 he might not have been so confident in predicting the demise of capitalism. It is this exploration of the times that the great economists lived in that helps the reader appreciate the insights of these great thinkers.Some of the reviewers here have a problem with Heilbroner's choice of which economists he selected for this book. To that complaint I say that you can't write about everyone in a book this short and the author exercised his own judgment about who wasn't important enough to make the cut. If you don't agree with his assessment of who was worthy of inclusion in this book then go write your own overview of the great economists.This book is a very good introduction to many (but certainly not all) of the most influential thinkers in economic theory and a high level overview of their ideas presented in a very accessible format for the general public. The intended audience is the curious layman, not the nit-picking post-graduate expert. For its intended audience this book succeeds wonderfully and I highly recommend it.

Do not be deterred by the title. “The Worldly Philosophers” is a wonderful read. It is the easy way to gain an overall understanding of the history of economics from Adam Smith to Joseph Schumpeter. It is beautifully written.Before proceeding, perhaps I should admit that I have had a lifelong interest in economics. Some people might think this strange or, indeed, boring. To the contrary, I see economics as the study of everything that makes the world tick. The economist is the true generalist trying to understand big picture issues.Robert L. Heilbroner has written a wonderful book. It presupposes no reader knowledge of economics. It can be easily read by the general reader. It is brief and insightful.Personally, I am always drawn back to that famous quote by Adam Smith in 1776 that “people of the same trade seldom meet together but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some diversion to raise prices”. In my mind, this is the best sentence ever written about economics. It applies just as much today as in the late eighteenth century when it was written.However, Heilbroner uses Smith only as a starting point. The reader is quickly introduced to Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, the Utopian Socialists, Karl Marx and then to thinkers of the twentieth century. The book moves chronologically but not without showing how later generations built at least partly on their predecessors. Indeed, although he is not followed directly by many today, Smith still influences modern debate. The same could also be said of Marx although his influence is certainly on the wane.In summary, this is a very good read. I recommend it to all readers with an interest in the history of economic thought.

Heilbroner has an easy writing style which seems as though he is talking to you. It has the essentials of the theories as they developed from Smith through to Shumpeter, but also great anecdotes about how extraordinary many of these thinkers were.

Very nice and good quality cover.

I loved this book. A very readable account of the lives and theories of great economist's.

Ultra interesante

In fact I ordered the book as a gift to send to my daughter, who had received it very fast, a day earlier than planned. I have twice read it some years ago. To me, it is a wonderful book every person must read in order to understand the world we live in. As a bonus, it is wonderfully written, an easy lecture and as captivating as a thriller. I warmly recommend it to everyone, be him young or old.