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The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers, Robert L. Heilbroner, Penguin Books, Limited, 1983, 0140224823, 9780140224825, . .

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Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy , Robert L. Heilbroner, Apr 17, 1997, Business & Economics, 368 pages. Discusses historical economic writings including Bernard Mandeville, Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Jeremy Bentham, Thorstein Veblen, and John ....

Student companion, The economic problem by Heilbroner and Thurow, fifth edition, Robert L. Heilbroner, 1978, , 413 pages. .

Behind the Veil of Economics: Essays in the Worldly Philosophy , Robert L. Heilbroner, Jun 17, 1989, Business & Economics, 207 pages. Explores the "regime-like" character of capitalism, the meaning of work and economic value, and the manner in which social visions affect economic analysis.

Millennium a history of the last thousand years, Felipe Fern?"?Zndez-Armesto, 1995, History, 816 pages. An engaging work by a prize-winning historian traces the progress and regress of the world's civilizations over the past thousand years and shows how the capacity of one people ....

The Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought , Robert L. Heilbroner, 1995, Business & Economics, 131 pages. The authors present the current confused state of economic theory and suggest the direction in which economic thinking must move in order to regain the relevance it now lacks..

The future of capitalism how today's economic forces shape tomorrow's world, Lester C. Thurow, Apr 1, 1997, Capitalism, 385 pages. Cites America's economic trouble spots while charting a course for surviving and maintaining global leadership in the years to come.

The Future of Work How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life, Thomas W. Malone, Apr 1, 2004, Business & Economics, 225 pages. Explores the skills managers will need as technological and economic forces dramatically change organizational structure in the future, spawning new types of decentralized ....

The Making of Modern Economics The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers, Mark Skousen, 2009, Business & Economics, 494 pages. Here is a bold, updated history of economics--the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today's rigorous social science. Noted financial writer and economist ....

Great economists in their times , Broadus Mitchell, 1966, Biography & Autobiography, 236 pages. .

The great economists their lives and their conceptions of the world, Robert L. Heilbroner, 1955, , 320 pages. .

The Worldly Philosophers is a bestselling classic that not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas -- namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines.

In a bold new concluding chapter entitled "The End of the Worldly Philosophy?" Heilbroner reminds us that the word "end" refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

“The Worldly Philosophers, quite simply put, is a classic....None of us can know where we are coming from unless we know the sources of the great ideas that permeate our thinking. The Worldly Philosophers gives us a clear understanding of the economic ideas that influence us whether or not we have read the great economic thinkers.”

I read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" back in college my senior year, all 1200+ pages of it. I've read parts of Communist Manifesto and Capital by Karl Marx and some Joseph Schumpeter. I loved it all (especially Smith and Schumpeter) but it was BRUTAL as the dialects in those days varied so much from today's.

If you are new to economics or want summaries/insights into the greatest economists in history this book is for you. Mr. Heilbroner's book, the Worldly Philosophers, is the best books on economics I have come across and I have endured graduate level economic courses, both macro and micro (along with the undergraduate courses.) This book provides readers with a nice summary and analysis of the great Economic thinkers from Adam Smith, Karl Marx, David Ricardo, Mill, Keynes, Schumpeter and others. I found the book to be very general and not extremely analytical/scholarly if you will.

The summaries of each man's economic concepts and life/times in which he lived were extremely accurate. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the author tries to explain the multi-disciplined nature of economics and how it is a combination of sociology, history, political science and philosophy all rapped into one. If you look at the London School of Economics graduate program you will find over 30 unique Masters Programs in economics as the field is increasingly becoming applied and specialized into different parts of the society. Mr. Heilbroner asks a question at the end such as "are we seeing the end of Worldly Philosophers?" as the field is increasingly getting more specialized and very few economists are tackling the "big picture" anymore and how the various components of an economy (land, labor and capital) are intertwined with each other. Definitely something to think about.....Read more ›

The author takes a subject (economics) that is often beyond dry and makes it both entertaining and educational, with lots of surprises thrown in. Every time I thought I had caught the author in a mistake or an oversight (Ah ha! Now I've got you!) he'd cover my questions or thoughts within the next couple of pages or so. The author earned my confidence again and again. I found him to be a reliable guide through treacherous waters.

There's a lot of good history in this book. He tackles each major economic philosopher (and others), makes the man come alive in the context of his times, and relates his thinking to our own time by putting their ideas to the test of subsequent history. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Smith and Keynes.

Heilbroner spends a LOT of time in awe of these economists and spends a great deal of time explaining how great they were, how revolutionary, how brilliant, how much of a genius, how wonderful these men were, ad nauseum. Ok, I get the point. Unfortunately, all this fawning and fan worship clouds what should've been the more interesting and more important part of the book, which are the central economic ideas put forward by these thinkers. In fact, there's a lot of emphasis on putting their economic ideas in perspective to the prevailing moral philosophical thought at the time.

It's almost as if this books is written for people who have already taken Economics 101, and know all the basic economic principles and can nod, "yes, uh huh, I didn't know those personality quirks or their moral philosophical outlook about these economists - good to know. By the way, it's great that he didn't go over his economic ideas since I already know them."

In my 20th Century American Literature class we recently read Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." In conjunction with the book we watched "Roger and Me," a film by Michael Moore. The film chronicles the social collapse of Flint, Michigan, after General Motors closed several factories there in the late 1980's during a time of record profits. How ironic, then, that I should find myself reading a history of economics during a three-hour layover in an airport in Detroit, the Motor City.

I picked up a copy of Robert L. Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers for next to nothing at the Salvation Army. The cover suggests a retail price of a mere $..., a more significant sum back in 1961 when the revised edition was published. Heilbroner's book, however, is not weakened at all by its age. He sets out not to explicate his contemporary economy, but rather to recount the history of political economy by examining its greatest thinkers, beginning with Adam Smith and ending with John Maynard Keynes.

Before any of the biographies, however, there is a wonderful section on the origins of the market system. Heilbroner explains that until the 18th century, capitalism and the market system did not exist as we know them today. The lack of national unity and universal weights, measures, and currency made trade cumbersome. In addition to these impediments, the idea of seeking personal profit was not socially or religiously condoned. (Heilbroner cites an amusing case before the Boston courts in 1644 where a man was charged with making a "sixpence profit on the shilling, an outrageous gain.") Moreover, the economic concepts of Land, Labor, and Capital did not exist. Things began to shift radically in the 18th century, however, spurred along by the Industrial Revolution.Read more ›

The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers is a book by Robert L. Heilbroner. The book was written in 1953 and has sold more than four million copies through seven editions. (The only other economics book to sell more copies is Paul Samuelson's textbook Economics.) Heilbroner begins chapter two by describing the paradoxical and precarious nature of human behavior. Self-centeredness, he writes, characterizes human life along with cooperation. The result is what he calls a "struggle" (p. 18). In "primitive" (p. 19) societies such as that of the Eskimos, the struggle does not pose a problem: Individuals behave under strong pressure to act in the interest of survival. He contrasts those societies with "advanced" or "modern" ones, in which "this tangible pressure of the environment, or this web of social obligation, is lacking" (p. 19). In those societies, fewer incentives exist for individuals to act for the purpose of survival. The result is that "society's existence hangs by a hair" (p. 19). Because of modern society's complexity, a small change could lead to social disarray. He cautiously uses the words "disorganized" and "breakdown", rather than stronger words like "collapse" or "fail", to describe a society that falls victim to those ills.

Heilbroner describes three ways in which societies have dealt with such precariousness: tradition, authoritarianism, and market systems. The former two operate in the "old" ways, but the latter one is nothing less, according to Heilbroner, than a modern revolution. (He even goes on to say this revolution was fundamentally more profound than the American Revolution, French Revolution, and Russian revolution of 1917.)

The sixth edition finally revealed "backnotes" providing references to support the book. Some such

sources were unable to be noted. The book's original research material has, according to Heilbroner, "long since disappeared." The book's prose also changed with Heilbroner's "own evolving views", though the revisions made over time are unclear and apparently "noticeable perhaps only to scholars in the field". However, Heilbroner mentions references to the "collapse of Soviet communism" which occurred at the time.

There's a good reason this is the second best selling economics book of all time (the first is Paul Samuelson's Economics textbook, which was prescribed by professors for introductory economics classes for decades): its subject matter - the great economic thinkers, or 'worldly philosophers - is both timeless and assembled with great care; and the erudition and style with which Heilbroner writes is unparalleled. With seven editions over more than 60 years (Heilbroner died in 2005), this landmark book should continue to serve as an introduction and reference for years to come.

The text flows chronologically, with ample references forward and back in time as necessary to provide context, starting with the smaller building blocks of economic thought prior to Adam Smith and progressing with separate chapters for Smith, Malthus and Ricardo, Marx, Veblen, Keynes and Schumpeter. There are two additional chapters - one for the Utopian Socialists of the early 1800s, including John Stuart Mill, and a second for the Victorian era, including Bastiat, Henry George, and John Hobson. The seventh edition also includes a new concluding chapter lamenting 'The End of Worldly Philosophy', or more specifically the evolution of economics as a science disaggregated from its necessary social causes and effects.

It's not difficult to find information on any of the people noted above, or to access their major works. What sets this book apart is the seamless weaving of the subjects' accomplishments into a compelling narrative along with a context and frame of reference for assessing their work. In this regard, Heilbroner's work stands at the opposite end of the scale from the excellent but inevitably dry reference books commonly available.

Heilbroner's literary style is unlike that of any economic or financial writer today. Most today write factually and clearly, and in the case of Michael Lewis and a few others, with a flair for character development and storytelling. Only John Kenneth Galbraith matches Heilbroner's elevation of his prose to literary level, enjoyable not only for the content, but for the grace and style with which it is delivered.

While some may feel that Heilbroner editorializes too much for a historical survey, he is a wise and genial guide, his commentary is well placed and apolitical, and his insight serves to highlight some of the economic debate that continues to this day. The only major flaw with the book is that, despite the seven updated editions, there would appear to be few contributions to the field of economics in the past half century. Thorsten Veblen has a chapter, but Milton Friedman, John Kenneth Galbraith, Paul Samuelson, Daniel Kahneman, Amartya Sen and others receive scant or no attention.

Frederic Bastiat, a nineteenth century French economist, once wrote a open letter calling on parliament to intervene and prevent unfair competition from ruining the industries related to lighting; his argument was plain: "We are suffering from the intolerable competition of a foreign rival placed, it would seem, in a condition so far superior to our own for the production of light, that he absolutely mandates our national market with it at a price fabulously reduced ... This rival ... is no other than the sun."

Sarcasm, Robert Heilbroner tells us, is just one of many ways in which economists have tried to express their ideas and make them intelligible to a skeptical public. If Bastiat comes off as an eccentric, that is because he was. But wait till you meet others such as absent-minded Adam Smith or aspiring revolutionary Karl Marx. Only then will the world of economics become alive.

In this succinct volume, Mr. Heilbroner aims to make economics appealing to non-economists. There are no graphs, few numbers, and all ideas are conveyed in a superb way, paving the way for future inquiries (a rich bibliographical survey serves the same purpose). The book will also excite those with an economics background, as it offers anecdotes into people whom students usually

know only academically. Still, the greatest contribution will be the introduction of the economics world to those who seem aloof to it, either because they find it boring or difficult. After reading this book, they should change their minds.

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