Customer Reviews

The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Skousen has really accomplished something with this book. If the average college professor could convey the information in their field of study with this kind of penetrating clarity, a lot more people would really understand what they learn, rather than just preparing to parrot it back for a test.

This book captures a broad cross-section of the ideas and history behind modern economic thought and ties it all neatly together by linking everything with the simple idea of relating it to Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. It's brilliant in its simplicity. Skousen starts by saying these are the three you really need to know. Then he says they aren't created equal and ranks them out: #1 Smith, #2 Keynes, #3 Marx. Seems like nothing, but all of a sudden you have a simple and solid mental framework from which to hang the rest of what Skousen tells you.

For each of Skousen's three main characters, you learn about the thinkers that laid the foundation for each of them (or in Smith's case, the lack thereof). You also learn about the historic events that spurred each of them to come up with their theories. You learn each of their theories, then finally - and so critically - you learn in plain English the shortcomings of each of the theories (fatal in two cases).

All of a sudden, you have a deeper understanding of the history and ideas of economics than a lot people who majored in the subject. And because of Skousen's entertaining writing style, you never really noticed how much you were learning.

Kudos to Mark Skousen. I wish more people (myself included) could write like this.

If you've ever had even the slightest interest in economics, do yourself a favor and read this book. You'll be glad you did.

This book is well written, easy to follow and presents the ideas of many economists with simplicity. Yet I only gave it two stars, and this is due to several reasons. First, the content of the book is not faithful to its title. This book should have been called "The Big One in Economics (Adam Smith)". I bought the book hoping to read about the main economic principles put forth by each of Smith, Marx and Keynes. Instead, the book turned out to be a description of how Smith's ideas triumphed over all others despite the numerous attacks that were launched on them. My problem is not the fact that the author thinks that Smith's ideas have triumphed, although I don't agree with that. Smith after all is the father of modern economics and he was an excellent thinker. His book should be read by all. My problem is with the author using such a misleading title. Second, I was amazed at the ease with which the author wrote off Marx as an economic thinker. The author actually goes as far as to wonder how anyone can believe in Marx's economic theory. The answer, again according to the author, was that Marx was more of a prophet and hence the effect that he had on his followers need not be rational. The author mentions Paul Sweezy's book "The theory of Capital Development" in a small paragraph and does not even bother himself to address any of the issues raised by it. Instead, like many authors before him he spends a considerable amount of time talking about Marx's life. I would have rather read a critique of some of the Marxian ideas put forth by Sweezy than read how Marx had an illegitimate child. When it came to discussing the ideas of Keynes, the author manages to give Keynes credit for being a great economist, yet makes his ideas seem as good enough for specific circumstances, and not good enough to be an all-encompassing theory. Keynes, according to the author was right in a specific circumstance, nothing more. All in all, the book started out as being very promising and ended as a narrow version of the history of economic theory.

Enhanced throughout with charts and photos, "The Big Three In Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, And John Maynard Keynes" by academician and economist Mark Skousen is a history of modern economics as represented by the contributions of the three most influential economists in world history. Adam Smith expounded a revolutionary new doctrine in the 18th century that a nation of rich and poor could flourish under laissez faire and an unfettered market; Karl Marx inspired disenfranchised workers and intellectuals in the 19th century to end the exploitation of the underprivileged by the powerful; and in the 20th century, British economist John Maynard Keynes sought to stabilize a crisis prone market system through activist fiscal and monetary government policies. A work of impeccable scholarship that draws from both biographical and historical data to showcase the lives and ideas of three men who shaped economic theory and practice form three centuries, and whose contributions continue to influence economists in the 21st century, "The Big Three In Economics" is very strongly recommended reading for both students of Economics and non-specialist general readers with an interest in economic history and theory.

This book is an easy-to-read and informative introduction to the history of economic thought. Specifically, the author focuses on the three most influential economists in history: Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Please note that this book focuses on economic *ideas* not on economic models.

Although the big three are the focus of the book, other important economists and their influence are discussed. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

* David Ricardo and the introduction of the Ricardian vice
* Thomas Malthus and the conception of Malthusian crises
* the Marginalists (William Stanley Jevons, Carl Menger and Leon Walras) and their alternative to the labor theory of value
* Ludwig von Mises and the rest of the Austrian School
* Paul Samuelson and his influence in championing the ideas of Keynes
* Milton Friedman and his influence in changing perceptions as to how bad monetary policy, not capitalism, caused the Great Depression.

The author, Mark Skousen, is a prolific free market economist who is largely influenced by the Austrian school but also is very friendly towards Milton Friedman and Adam Smith. In addition to delineating the rich history in economic ideas, Skousen dissects where the ideas of Marx and Keynes fall short and persuasively argues why the more pro-laissez-faire an economist is, the better his ideas tend to be. Thus, Skousen concludes that Adam Smith offers the most important ideas of the big three and hopes to encourage a revival of free market thinking in the United States.

I wish to stress that this is more of an introductory book on this fascinating subject. For those seeking a more advanced treatment of economic thought from a free-market perspective, I highly recommend Mark Skousen's 'The Making of Modern Economics', which is an excellent 400-paged history of this kind. Also worthy of note is 'The Great Austrian Economists', which offers brief 20-paged overviews of the economic ideas of several economists who are of great importance to the Austrian school of economics, including Ludwig von Mises, Jean-Baptiste Say, Carl Menger, Frederic Bastiat, Eugen Bohm-Bawerk and the like.

The good:
1. The book accomplishes what it says it will -- it gives a general history of economics from the publication of "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776 until today. The book gives a relatively brief biography of each of the "Big Three", explains the fundamental principles of each figure's economic model, and then gives the reactions and counter reactions to the each of "Big Three" by economists contemporary at the time.
2. The history is clear and well-written. So long as you have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of economics, you won't need to do research outside of the book to understand what it is saying.

The not so good:
3. As some other reviewers have said, the author is opinionated. As this is a history, I suppose that is unavoidable, but the author is unashamedly opinionated. He likes Adam Smith. Any deviation from Adam Smith's philosophy and the author tends to use more inflammatory language in describing it. What is most bizarre though is that he frequently states that Adam Smith's system creates an "optimistic world" and criticizes opposition to Adam Smith by labeling them as "pessimistic" or such. The author's bias should be taken into consideration by the reader.
4. Some parts of this book are copied word-for-word from the author's other book, "The Making of Modern Economics".

In the tradition of Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers, Skousen takes us through a spirited and fascinating introduction to the great economists and their ideas.

Skousen is passionate about his subject and it shows. The discussions are lively, detailed, clear, and concise, and often filled with interesting details about the economists' personal lives. I thought I knew Marx's life well, but I still learned some new things--such as the fact that Marx, always thought a devoted father--had an illegitimate son which Engels agreed to raise as his own, not admitting it until he was on his deathbed ten years after Marx died. One of Marx's surviving daughters (only two of his six children survived childhood), committed suicide on hearing the news.

Engels, who helped Marx throughout his life--sometimes even writing his newspaper pieces for him when Marx couldn't be bothered to earn a living as a journalist--was a wealthy industrialist who personally benefited from the capitalistic system he and Marx despised--despite the fact that there is no evidence that Engels tried to improve the lot of the workers in the factory in England that he operated for his father.

The book isn't just about the three great economists, though, Smith, Marx, and Keynes; dozens of important economists and their ideas get discussed, and how their ideas were different or similar to the big three. Oftentimes the discussion of the big three's ideas serve as jumping off points for discussions of other theories and ideas. There were so many people whose ideas I once knew well but that over the years had faded, that it was a real pleasure to become reacquainted with their ideas once again, men like Montesquieu, Ricardo, Say, Condorcet, Chantillon, Clark, Marshall, Wicksell, Fisher, von Mises, Hayek, Samuelson, Arrow, Friedman, and many others.

Having at least a basic econ course or introductory econ text under your belt would help, but it's not necessary to read this book. I think an intelligent layman could still read it, and then if an unfamiliar idea comes up, you could look it up on Wikipedia or the Britannica or something and read the brief article there and then you'd be back on your way. I do this all the time now in subjects I'm rusty on and it usually works pretty well. For science subjects, the Britannica has an edge, and for history related questions, the World Book is probably better. If you get the DVD versions they're quite affordable and I love having them on my laptop where they're always convenient. But usually I just go out to Wikipedia.

Skousen's book is a well-written, readable, and fascinating account of the great economist's ideas and their lives. It's packed with great information and is about the best brief review of important economic concepts I've come across. In an era when basic econ books can run to 900-1000 pages, there's a lot to be said for a smaller book like this, being only 241 pages. He has a detectable bias toward unfettered and unregulated capitalistic markets, and his descriptions of economists who advanced those positions are more flattering than the socialistically oriented economists, but that's the only caveat I would mention for the book. Overall, it's really a great little book and well worth your time and money.

This is an excellent book that shows the development of mainstream economic thinking in terms of the theories of the three giants in economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes.

Adam Smith (1723-90) was the first. He basically provided the first foundation of what is now called economics. Today he is considered to the right wing of the economic scale. Interestingly enough, his views have prevailed.

Karl Marx (1818-83) reacted against the Adam Smith theory with the belief that the 'invisible hand' of the marketplace has no compassion for the workers and that this could be better administered by a compassionate government. Generally discredited today, his theories seems to live mostly in the halls of the universities.

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) followed with an analysis of a way to stop recession/depression cycles that combined the Smith/Marx theories.

The author does an excellent job in tracing the impact of these three as it reaches today's world. At this time Smith is on top again, as modified by later thinkers, but as the author concludes in his last chapter,

'There is no telling how high the world's standard of living can reach through expanded trade, lower tariffs, a simplified tax system, school choice, Social Security privatization, a fair system of justice, and a stable monetary system. Yet bad policies, wasted resources, and class hatred die slowly.'

A very good an clear book. The author is a fan af Adam Smith and across the book everything is measured through the lenses of Smithian economics.
The author is capable of rendering the dismal science an exciting subject.
I recommend this book to all interested in understanding how economics ideas are intertwined with history and with everyday's life.

For a while I have been wanting to delve into economics. With the current crisis, I thought it imperative to start learning what was going on so I could at least understand the news if nothing else. This book is fantastic for the novice who wants to understand economics. Though it is a history, learning the history may be the best way to learn the subject.

Those sympathetic to free-market economics will probably enjoy more than others since Skousen is critical of Marx and Keynes. But he also submits evidence as to why Marx and Keynes have been wrong much of the time. While it is called The Big Three (Smith, Marx, and Keynes), I'd say that they take up only about half of the book. A fair amount of space is given to the background and influences of these big players. A brief biographical sketch is given of the Big Three. Then he covers their economic beliefs. He discusses their successes and shortcomings. Skousen does an excellent job of painting a coherent image of economic history.

In case you are wondering, I would guess that Skousen is most sympathetic to the Austrian School (and rightly so!).
Unfortunately this book came out just a bit before the current economic crisis took off so it isn't covered. But Skousen does correctly point out that much of what you see in the news media (and the governing politic) is Keynesian ecomonics (consume, consume, consume your way out of the recession). And this is very evident watching the TV today. Too bad they're wrong.

The book is entertaining. Mr. Skousen could add a new
introduction to the next print regarding the new
economic crisis around the world. The other day I
heard that since last three years the top 1% has
doubled its wealth in USA !!! Inevitable accumulation
of the wealth !!?