Customer Reviews

On Classical Economics

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No other name today rivals that of Thomas Sowell in the arena of economic principles and history. Sowell once again delivers to us fortunate readers, a treatise on the history of economics during the "classical era" in his latest book, ON CLASSICAL ECONOMICS. The era when "intellectual thinking" gave such enormous contributions to modern history, few more so than in the field of economics, is thoroughly examined.

Though Sowell does examine many of the `giants' in the field, and you will certainly recognize Keynes, Hayek, von Mises and others, you may also, like me, find some you are not so familiar with such as Engel and Sismondi, whom Sowell so deftly explains why his work was so important and also why it has been so neglected. A rather large portion of the book also focuses on the boy genius, John Stuart Mill, as well as critical insight into Marxian economics and why liberal campuses are to this day, so enamored with Marxian economic theory despite its' total absence from today's economic theater.

Contrary to the book's title, this is not just a history of classical economics, but is also an analysis of the various theories to arise from that era. There is an enormous amount of knowledge to be gleaned here and I would think in the very near future, this book, like several others of Sowell's work, will take its rightful place as a fundamental text among economics students, as well as others simply seeking to broaden their knowledge of economics.

For those of us who are not "in" the field of economics, Sowell lucidly explains such otherwise difficult economic issues such as the law of diminishing returns and why it was so critical to the economic minds of the classical era, the flaws of Malthus' doomsday theories on population growth, why Marx incorrectly thought capitalism would destroy the standard of living of workers, and much more. As always, Sowell's writing style flows extremely well, reducing complex theories and problems into comprehendible solutions.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com

This book is more for the trained economist then Dr. Sowell's previous books, Basic Economics and Advanced Economics. While some terms will be unfamiliar to the general reader, with care it is still possible to follow his analysis. I especially found his assessment of Marx to be useful. And not to be found anywhere else.

This book is essential reading for anyone aspiring to understand more fully the field of economics in general and classical economics in particular. As often as Dr. Sowell has mentioned one particular author, a first or fifth reading of F. Hayek's, The Road to Serfdom, would make an excellent preface, or addendum, to this book.

This is a good book for those seeking a more detailed understanding of the history of classical economic thought from the perspective of a free market economist. Since Sowell does not spend much time providing broad overviews of the ideas of the major classical economists, I do not recommend this as the *first* book to read on the history of economic thought. Instead, I recommend Mark Skousen's "The Big Three in Economics" as an excellent first book on this important subject.

There is much good to be obtained from this work. From reading this book, you will also learn about, amongst many other things, the following:

* The various ideas underwriting the methodology of the classical economics

* How David Ricardo shifted economists away from empirical observation and ideas and towards mathematical models.

* Say's Law. The extensive discussion on Say's Law is particularly helpful.

* The different theories of value amongst Classical Economists.

* Malthusian population "crises" and Marxian economics "crises". Sowell also does a good job of dissecting these ideas and exposing the fallacies contained within.

* A decent amount of insight on Adam Smith. For example, Smith was an abolitionist on both moral and economic grounds, he thought of landlords as "idle rich", disliked collusion, did not see society as merely a sum of individuals and favored regulations to handle externalities in public works and banking.

* John Stuart Mill's key ideas, including the idea that income is inversely proportional to the intensity of work.

* Karl Marx's exploratory method of sequential approximation in Das Kapital. That is, for example, in the second volume of Das Kapital, Marx refutes assumptions made in the prior volume and subsequently introduces new assumptions to correct the previous flaws. Thus, according to Sowell, many critiques of Marx's arguments, such as the famous one by Eugen Bohm-Bawerk, actually refute Marx on the same grounds that he later refuted himself. Nevertheless, Sowell still concludes that Marx's economic ideas are still deeply flawed, especially due to his overemphasis on the importance of labor.

Overall, this is a very good book to add to your reading list if you want a better picture of the history of economic thought. However, to reiterate, I recommend that this not be the first book on your list.

My main complaints are as follows. One, this book does get a little bombastic at times, which makes it a slower read. Second, although the summarizing conclusions at the end of each chapter are very helpful, Sowell sometimes probes deeply into pedantically settling minor points that are surely largely limited to academic interest when he could be spending more time illustrating the essential ideas at hand. For example, consider how Sowell repeatedly contrasts Sismondi's view with the Ricardian interpretation of Say's Law on whether an increase in savings *necessarily* leads to a subsequent growth in production.

Many economists at some point of their careers have met Schumpeter's magnificent opus "History of Economic Analysis". However, for the vast majority of them, who are not normally devoted full time to the study of economic doctrines (like me), reading all Schumpeter's work represents a huge effort that maybe they are not willing to do. Thomas Sowell's On Classical Economics is a handy alternative to grasp just the core ideas of the dismal science. I would simply define this book as a concise review of the doctrines of the modern economic science in a brief, methodical and enjoyable manner.

On Classical Economics is a brilliant masterpiece. Author and educator Thomas Sowell, delivers a well-researched, historical account of economic thought and theory. No other well-known economist living today knows more about the time period of classical economics than that of Thomas Sowell.

On Classical Economics dives into the time period in which the mercantilist ideology was being challenged by free-market thinkers. Sowell considers this time period to begin with David Ricardo and Adam Smith, and ends with John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx. Using the words and writings of the classical economists themselves, Sowell presents the original theories, within context, that have shaped thought and ideas which has evolved into modern economic theory.

The approach taken by Thomas Sowell is that of context. On Classical Economics does not intend to make a political statement, or use the classical time period to push an agenda. The author simply intends to educate a post-modern society on a time period that has been abused, unjustly criticized and/or forgotten.

This is one of the most readable reviews of classical economics I've ever read. Things have improved greatly in the last 30 years for econ books intended for the intelligent layman. Back then the stuff I was reading wasn't nearly as well written or as interesting to go through.

As another reviewer here has said, this wouldn't make a good first book on classical economic thought, but as a review it's excellent. I was rusty and I used it for that, and for that it served very well. And sometimes Sowell likes to get into somewhat esoteric discussions of details that would only be of interest to more academically oriented readers. But at only 200 pages of expository text (the Notes section is 104 pages, making the book 300 pages long) it's overall pretty concise and to the point.

Sowell covers the usual suspects, but what I found most interesting was the chapter on Simonde Sismondi, an early theoriest on aggregate equilibrium income theory who was capable of great intuitive insights and even brought some early but crude mathematical rigor to the subject, but whose work was largely ignored by the economic establishment of the time. Another such figure was Cournot, who was perhaps the most rigorous mathematical theoretician of his time (but certainly exceeding even the great Ricardo) and yet who was also ignored.

The book is especially strong on Ricardo's formalistic approach (which Sismondi critiqued as being too far removed from practical and policy issues), John Say and Say's law, John Stuart Mill's contributions (and also negative effect in dismissing so many other ideas that were later shown to be valid), Karl Marx, and of course Adam Smith.

The book is also excellent in showing how the classical economists were not as simple and naive about some issues as modern writers have sometimes portrayed them, such as the famous 20th century economist J.M. Keynes. They often understood many of the subtleties behind the issues, but the knowledge to analyze them wasn't quite there yet.

Sowell is also very good discussing the definitional issues and economic terms, which often varied between writers and even in the writings of the same writer in the same book, not just different stages in his career. This could be very confusing for the non-specialist but Sowell does a fine job of discussing and navigating through this potentially treacherous maze of shifting terminology.

Finally, in the last chapter, "Thoughts on the History of Classical Economics," Sowell offers some interesting thoughts on why the history of economic theory has turned out the way it has, apparently capriciously igoring some theoriests while honoring others. Overall an interesting, concise, well written and enjoyable review on many topics in classical economics.

As a student of classical economics, this book was a real pleasure. Not for the faint at heart and you do need to have some experience with the great economic minds he writes about throughout the text. I found his critique of Karl Marx interesting and eye opening. This book is unlike any other book of his with the exception of "intellectuals and society". So if you are a fan of economic theory (strange group we are) you should really enjoy this nice piece of work from Thomas Sowell.

From time to time you may wish you had a logical primer on Economics. This would be that primer.

Here's who this book suits:
You want a way to bring macro/micro and the history of economics into context. You are not scared of academics wrangling over nuances of definition. You have at least a cursory understanding of economic models and the methods used to make sense of data.

Thomas Sowell on Classical Economics does this in spades. His writing style is clear and without condescension.

If you are looking for a book that explains current economic cycles or events, this is not for you. This book will give you the background to understand what is going on, but that is not the purpose of this particular book. This is your adult economic course condensed.

For current insight, try Basic Economics, or Wonder Why, both from Thomas Sowell. Gems. Absolute gems.