tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post682041512043891628..comments2023-12-19T19:28:28.619-08:00Comments on Wealth is not the Problem: The Benevolence of CapitalismHaynesBEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11263223513305886233noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-19107168431719332492009-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:002009-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:00Thank you, everyone, for all the suggestions. From...Thank you, everyone, for all the suggestions. From them, I see several possibilities emerging, each for a different audience:<BR/><BR/>1. A general history of economic <I>ideas</I> ("thought") that gives due attention to advocates of a free market among all the others. This would be primarily about theories, in historical order. Professor Brady has made suggestions for this category.<BR/><BR/>2. A history of ideas developed by advocates of the free market. The author of this more specialized work would need to define his subject (advocates of a free market) carefully to make room for borderline cases and look-alikes.<BR/><BR/>3. A socio-intellectual history of free-market <I>economists</I>, that is, economists (as specialized scientists) who were also advocates of a free market. By "socio-intellectual" I mean focused on:<BR/><BR/>(a) intellectuals (such as economists) <I>as individuals</I> (their careers, for example).<BR/><BR/>(b) their ideas (what did they inherit, what did they innovate).<BR/><BR/>(c) what they did in society to disseminate their ideas (teach, write, lecture to general audiences, work for "think-tanks," and so forth).<BR/><BR/>The situation seems to be ripe for an ambitious author to write book 2 or 3. The latter, especially, could be very informative to intellectual activists operating today in the field of economics because it would show what past economic/intellectual activists have done--both their errors and their triumphs in disseminating their ideas.<BR/><BR/>In other words, this third type of book would be similar in one respect to C. Bradley Thompson's <I>Anti-Slavery Political Writings, 1833-1860: A Reader</I>. However, the book I have in mind would be a history, not an anthology of original writings. It would be a history of what individuals thought and did to get their ideas out into the world.<BR/><BR/>To prepare for (in academic classes, for example), to research, to outline, and to write such a book shouldn't take more than 20 years to complete.Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-38534495248370335872009-03-15T07:06:00.000-07:002009-03-15T07:06:00.000-07:00More on book suggestions:RE: the Skousen book---ca...More on book suggestions:<BR/><BR/>RE: the Skousen book---<I>caveat emptor</I><BR/>http://www.mises.org/story/668<BR/><BR/>From Mark Brady, econ prof at San Joe State University:<BR/>"I suggest you'd be better off reading a good history of economic<BR/>thought that explains how "free-market economists" -- whoever they are and they're a mixed bunch for sure -- contributed to the broader conversation...Twenty years ago I used Robert B. Ekelund and Robert F. Hebert’s A History of Economic Theory and Method, 2nd ed.(McGraw-Hill, 1983) for a class that I taught on the history of economic thought. The current edition is the fifth (Waveland Press, 2007). In summer 2005 I used Harry Landreth and David C.<BR/>Colander's History of Economic Thought, 4th ed. (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002)and found it really quite good, not least because it gave serious consideration<BR/>to dissident perspectives, including the Austrian school. I’m considering adopting one or other book for my class (Econ 190A) this fall."<BR/><BR/>I am going to get Rothbard's book and then see if I can take Brady's class in the fall.HaynesBEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11263223513305886233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-10782977600618146742009-03-14T18:45:00.000-07:002009-03-14T18:45:00.000-07:00I was going to mention the Austrian economists as ...I was going to mention the Austrian economists as well but Beth beat me to it. Rothbard and a few others have written a lot on economic history. It can be found at mises.org if you don't mind navigating around the libertarian anarchism that gliters the website.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-46749038849593251402009-03-13T23:27:00.000-07:002009-03-13T23:27:00.000-07:00OK. I was able to locate two possible works: An Au...OK. I was able to locate two possible works: <BR/>An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic thought by Murray Rothbard and The Making of Modern Economics by Mark Skousen. <BR/>I suspect each of the authors will have their own perspectives mixed into the works, but from their table of contents, they look like a place to start. Both are available at amazon.com. (Thanks to the folks at yahoo group "thebarstooleconomists" for their prompt replies!)HaynesBEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11263223513305886233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-62737931930909834192009-03-13T16:48:00.000-07:002009-03-13T16:48:00.000-07:00I am unaware of such a work. What a wonderful idea...I am unaware of such a work. What a wonderful idea!<BR/>I have recently come across an interesting volume which I have not had time to read (close to 1000 pages)titled The History of Economic Thought by Lewis Haney, MacMillan Co. 1949, but it is not specifically on free-market economists. I will pose this question to an Econ yahoo group I follow and get back to you.HaynesBEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11263223513305886233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774848724259616420.post-40155956995809505682009-03-13T14:56:00.000-07:002009-03-13T14:56:00.000-07:00A question for anyone familiar with the historical...A question for anyone familiar with the historical roots of economics: Has anyone written a history of free-market economists?<BR/><BR/>It might be as simple as a chronological series of chapters, one per economist--stating the main points of his own intellectual development and where he fits into the overall trends.<BR/><BR/>Suggestions?Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com