Customer Reviews

How to be Human*: *Though an Economist

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This book is a collection of short articles published previously, all for the generalist economist. McCloskey skewers mainstream economics for its insular habits, woeful statistical techniques, and inability to change. I found all of the essays provocative. The style is chatty and conversational, and as McCloskey has interacted with many of the world's leading economists and Nobel laureates, it makes a great read. Highly recommended.

"Most of the essays in "How to Be Human Though an Economist" were published originally in Deirdre McClosky's regular column in the "Eastern Economic Journal." The material is sophisticated and serious but not technical, and many noneconomists will be able to follow along with difficulty. In a short review, it is impossible to summarize all the essays. In general, the book has to do with the economics profession - what McClosky thinks is wrong with it and how to fix it. Much of the material will be familiar to anyone who has read McClosky's earlier books - "The Rhetoric of Economists" (1985), "The Writing of Economics" (1986), and "The Vices of Economists; The Virtues of the Bourgeoisie" (1997). The essays are grouped loosely around basic suggestions that sounds like those in the latest self-help book: be yourself, be brave, be ethical, write better, read more."

"A large section of the book is devoted to McClosky's on-going and largely futile war on "statistical significance." McClosky is not the only critic of how empirical statistical research is conducted, but she is certainly the most vocal one. Every economist who has ever estimated a regression equation should read these essays."

-From "The Independent Review," Fall 2002

The first half of this book is filled with stories -- McCloskey's gender transformation (she was born Donald), economists she has known or known of (and their copies of Mad Magazine), anecdote-laden advice on the life of a economics professor. Even as an Econ 101 student, I enjoyed this.

Later she gets into more technical analysis, and the current controversies in the field, naming names and taking no prisoners. This is almost readable for a newbie (McCloskey is a witty and concise author) ... but only almost. If you read many academic economics books, I guarantee you will enjoy this one. Otherwise, read the first half or so, then put it down when you start to get bored.