lpm100's review
5.0
Be careful of books published on university-labeled publishing houses!
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
I have read now, all told, probably about two dozen of Thomas Sowell's books-- and they were all very good.
That is, until this one.
I actually purchased the book about 8 years ago, and it sat on my shelf for all of that time.
I tried to pick it up once several years ago, and could not get interested after about 50 pages. The same thing happened all over again when I picked it up several years later.
This book is probably for somebody who has finished an entire degree in Economics at a reasonably reputable University - - and that means that he will have read some of all of the pantheon of dead economists that are discussed here. It may even be that it is for a master's-level student.
But, it is not for the intelligent public, and that is because these debates are just too esoteric and the authors have been dead for too long for most people to know anything about.
The label on which this book was published (Yale University Press) was a giveaway of how intensely boring it would be. I don't think I have ever come so close to PERISHING OF BOREDOM, and nary a book by this author have I put down without finishing it.
Had that I known that 8 1/2 years ago, when I first purchased this book!
Most of Thomas Sowell's books are published by Basic Books, and so he is a known quantity to them and a predictably well-selling author for them. It's a publishing house mainly aimed at the intelligent public-- People who may not have been trained in a given topic, but would like to learn more about it and are not opposed to reading about "smart stuff."
But, this book was too boring even for them. (I myself have a persistent dilettante's interest in Economics, but this book was not suitable for a person like me.)
Verdict: NOT recommended. This is the first Thomas Sowell book that I have EVER given that recommendation.
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
I have read now, all told, probably about two dozen of Thomas Sowell's books-- and they were all very good.
That is, until this one.
I actually purchased the book about 8 years ago, and it sat on my shelf for all of that time.
I tried to pick it up once several years ago, and could not get interested after about 50 pages. The same thing happened all over again when I picked it up several years later.
This book is probably for somebody who has finished an entire degree in Economics at a reasonably reputable University - - and that means that he will have read some of all of the pantheon of dead economists that are discussed here. It may even be that it is for a master's-level student.
But, it is not for the intelligent public, and that is because these debates are just too esoteric and the authors have been dead for too long for most people to know anything about.
The label on which this book was published (Yale University Press) was a giveaway of how intensely boring it would be. I don't think I have ever come so close to PERISHING OF BOREDOM, and nary a book by this author have I put down without finishing it.
Had that I known that 8 1/2 years ago, when I first purchased this book!
Most of Thomas Sowell's books are published by Basic Books, and so he is a known quantity to them and a predictably well-selling author for them. It's a publishing house mainly aimed at the intelligent public-- People who may not have been trained in a given topic, but would like to learn more about it and are not opposed to reading about "smart stuff."
But, this book was too boring even for them. (I myself have a persistent dilettante's interest in Economics, but this book was not suitable for a person like me.)
Verdict: NOT recommended. This is the first Thomas Sowell book that I have EVER given that recommendation.
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Sowell's eloquence is so great that even complex theories seem easy to understand. Many different interpretations of various economic problems have been set forth as the discussion of the book, each was discussed in how various economists treated the assumptions and dealt with the problem. The debates of the era that caused many ideas to be taken and others to be overlooked is a theme of this book. Sowell raises awareness on an extraordinary economist, Sismondi, who's ideas had to be rediscovered later on. An explanation of how Marx was misunderstood by Marxists was very insightful. Even more insightful was the evolution of the different interpretation of ideas. A slight defect of the book is that when referencing the classical problems, Sowell rarely mentions the theory in modern day's language, as in to what end the classical problem led current understanding. The book is more suitable if knowledge of more than basic economics is already known, only with prior knowledge of economics does this book have a lot of value.
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