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Review: The Making of Modern Economics (Audiobook)

Posted by Sean | Posted under Audio, Audiobooks, Economics, Reviews | July 27, 2008
title: The Making of Modern Economics:
sub-title:The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers
length: 19 hours, 32 minutes (unabridged)
author:Mark Skousen
published: 2004
purchased: Audible.com

Finally!

I don’t know which week I started listening to this book, but it took nearly twenty hours to complete. How in the world did I get myself into this mess? :-) I liked Macro and Macro enough that the marathon duration seemed like more of a positive than a negative. Plus, Audible.com had a slew of glowing reviews, so…

The one sentence summary of this is a history of economics, using the lives and times of famous economists to provide context for their theories.

Is it effective? I think so, in two ways.

First, sometimes the personal histories seem relevant to the theories. For example, the contradictions of Karl Marx. Second, even stories that seem irrelevant may pay dividends in future studies as a kind of mnemonic device.

The author does not seek to be impartial, yet I did not come away thinking we have it all figured out. My impression is economics will continue to evolve, so keep an open mind.

Would I recommend this book to others like me?

How geeky are you? :-) And, realistically, how much time can you devote to audio? If you don’t have several hours per day, you might lose your train of thought, or give up.

But the main issue is what do you hope to gain from this? I wanted a refresher course on economics to satisfy my personal curiousity, and pave the way for further learning. I think "The Making of Modern Economics" met my requirements.

I did not approach this as a one-stop shop for economic understanding, nor did I expect it to be immediately practical. If your goal is either of these things, I’m not sure what book to recommend, if any.

"Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt is the consensus recommendation. iTunes says I bought it in 2004, but I don’t remember it. That is not good! Maybe I listened to it, but lacking context, did not retain it? Or maybe I really did not get around to it?

In any event, "Economics in One Lesson" is the next book on my hit list. I’ll compare it to "The Making Of Modern Economics" and see if the two are complementary, and if one naturally follows the other.

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1 Comment so far
  1. MoneyEnergy August 3, 2008 10:28 pm

    Very interesting. I’d really like to know it - as an audiobook might be an interesting alternative - great for taking to the gym!:) Also, Karl Marx’s writings are much more complex and nuanced, interesting than I bet most people think when they hear the word “Marx.” He was quite smart.