The Changing Face of Economics: Conversations with Cutting Edge Economists

It's an unfortunate (though, to some degree, unavoidable) fact of undergrad education that introductory courses in economics focus on core theory that's at least a few decades old. (The bulk of what's taught in a typical "ECON 101" course was state-of-the-art some 50-100 years ago!) Even first-year PhD courses seldom stray close to the "cutting edge". So this book, which gives a snapshot of some of the most interesting work in economics circa 2002 through interviews with a dozen economists, provides a valuable service to potential and current grad students. It may also be a useful antidote to straw man attacks on economic science, though those with no background in economics might gain more from reading one of the many recent popular books on economics.The authors interview ten working economists: Deirdre McCloskey, Ken Binmore, Herb Gintis, Robert Frank, Matthew Rabin, William Brock, Duncan Foley, Richard Norgaard, Robert Axtell, and H. Peyton Young. These "cutting edge" economists aren't necessarily young (most earned their PhD in the 60s or 70s); indeed, all are in the midst of well-established research programs, with plenty of publications on their CVs. Interviews with two Nobel laureates, Ken Arrow and Paul Samuelson, provide additional perspective.The selection of interviewees is representative, not comprehensive or definitive. I could probably come up with a list of ten equally-interesting interview subjects (Leigh Tesfatsion, Al Roth, Ernst Fehr, Steven Durlauf, Larry Blume, Oded Galor, and Sam Bowles spring to mind immediately), but the authors seem to have chosen a sample that's about the right size. Perhaps within a few years it will be time for a sequel to this volume with a new sample of economists. If so, it would be interesting to hear from a few economists earlier in their careers. Macroeconomists are also underrepresented in the current book, but perhaps the authors were wise not to duplicate the work in  Conversations With Leading Economists : Interpreting Modern Macroeconomics , not to mention the classic  Conversations With Economists: New Classical Economists and Opponents Speak Out on the Current Controversy in Macroeconomics .I recommend this book to anyone thinking about a career in economics and unsure whether there are open areas of research they'd find interesting. I also recommend it to anyone mired in their first year of study toward the PhD, as a reminder that there's life beyond their core coursework.

It has been a while since I read a serious book as quickly as I read The Changing Face of Economics! I see two reasons for this: First, the book is very well written; it is easy to read. Second, the topics are captivating. All eleven interviewees are very interesting people. They work, or have worked sometime in their academic life, at the very frontier of economic thought.Of the eleven Ken Arrow and Paul Samuelson are best know. However, all the interviewees are connected by the fact that they are innovators and inventors. The book is about how those innovations and inventions have changed, and continue to change, economic thinking. Behind innovations and inventions are people. These people paid a heavy cost, especially initial sunk cost, in human and personal suffering. Most readers would remember that Paul Samuelson had to endure anti-semitism as a young graduate student and professor. Ken Arrow was not immune from discrimination either, and his personal experience may have helped him develop the economics of discrimination. But imagine just as you are graduating the head of your department sends out a letter warning other institutions not to give you a job. How terrible!The scholars profiled in this book are unique individuals. All are dynamic thinkers and doers as evidenced by their accomplishments. All pursued economics as a small part of a large system of anthrosociobiology. Nearly all simultaneously studied mathematics and economics just as hard as they advanced some other cause: anti-Vietnam war, environmentalism, civil liberties, etc. Their causes may not be what the reader would approve, but any fair mind would acknowledge the effort.The book demonstrates that it is nearly as productive to be orthodox and heterodox. However, orthodox is the past; heterodox is the future, and as Arthur Schopenhauer would say, the future is always longer than the past.The last question of the interview is" "Where do you see the economics profession going in 25 or 50 years?" The answers varied, but none of the interviewees said the economics profession will disappear. Nearly every one of them is doing something to make sure economics will thrive. Please read this book.Amavilah, AuthorNational Wealth Accounting and Baseball Player Exports: Economic Implications for PerformanceISBN: 978-3838330099Economic Versus Non-Economic Dimensions of the Well-being of Nations.ISBN: 9783838320984Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies.ISBN: 1600210465Quotable Arthur SchopenhauerISBN: 9781430324959