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Conversations with Great Economists: Friedrich A. Hayek, John Hicks, Nicholas Kaldor, Leonid V.Kantorovich, Joan Robinson, Paul A.Samuelson, Jan Tinbe Paperback – September 23, 2009
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length172 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJorge Pinto Books
- Publication dateSeptember 23, 2009
- Dimensions6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101934978205
- ISBN-13978-1934978207
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Product details
- Publisher : Jorge Pinto Books (September 23, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 172 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1934978205
- ISBN-13 : 978-1934978207
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #5,552,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,305 in Money & Monetary Policy (Books)
- #9,594 in Economic History (Books)
- #24,133 in Finance (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2017Very good. Some serious economics discussed here. Especially useful for anyone interested in the history of ideas and the divisions between today's economists.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2009"Conversations with Great Economists" by Diego Pizano
Commentary by Jorge Ramírez-Ocampo, Former Minister for Economic Development of Colombia
Bogota, 28th September 2009
I met Diego Pizano in London in the early seventies. I was impressed by his maturity, devotion to academic work and profound concepts on economic issues. I have confirmed that impression during the last nearly forty years.
The book I comment is a small jewel. It was possible thanks to the impressive erudition in economic matters of the author and to the audacity of a young Colombian scholar who was bold enough to propose to some of the most important economists of the time a very ambitious project.
The method he used and his capacity to get to the point in his well prepared questions, allowed the people he interviewed to be very specific in their answers. The book will help his readers to understand some of the most complex concepts of economic theory.
Pizano did not limit the scope of his enquiries to people whose opinions were close to his own. Among the seven eminent economists interviewed there is a wide range of economic thinking: from Leonid Kantorovich, one of the main inspirers of economic planning in the Soviet Union, to Friedrich Hayek, a prophet of the political right in the XXth Century.
I strongly recommend the reading of this excellent book to whoever wants to try to understand the apparent contradiction between the progress of economic thinking and the frequent failures of economic policy during the last 70 years. This is much more relevant now, when we have to cope with the crisis we have been witnessing during the last two years.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2009This book by my old college classmate Diego Pizano presents conversations that he held about thirty years ago with eminent economists that were active at the time. Its preparation benefited from the author's deep familiarity with the writings of these economists and from an intelligent selection of issues that he discussed with them. Dr. Pizano's book also deserves credit for the clarity and readability of a subject matter that is at times complex, albeit always considerably interesting. With these ingredients, the reader will readily appreciate a set of economic controversies of the time, important both because of the academic interest they elicited as well as for their application to issues that were in fact not too different from those we face today.
The economists covered by the book span the widest ideological gamut, ranging from the free market extreme represented by Professor Hayek, to Professor Robinson's Keynesianism, and to Professor Kantarovich's economic planning. The author exploits this wide range of views to elicit responses from these economists to issues of interest that mark the book's thematic unity. By way of example, I point to two of those issues that should be of interest to readers. One relates to the methods that these economists used to develop their arguments, an issue that straddles the threshold between economics and philosophy and in which the book displays the author's deep interest and knowledge. The discussion highlights Hayek's support for an approach akin to the philosophy of Karl Popper, who argued that scientific theories, by their abstract nature, can be verified only by probing into their observable implications (the "pattern of a process", in Hayek's formulation). This contrasts with the more Kantian approach that emerges in the conversations with Professor Robinson or with the "a priori truths" of Lionnel Robbins and Ludwig Von Mises that Samuelson, in turn, rejects in his chapter.
The second example refers to the ubiquitous debate between free-market advocates and those that support planning and state intervention. It is particularly interesting that the pendulum of public opinion between the two continues to this day as each of the two approaches shows its positive and adverse manifestations. The chapter covering Kantarovich is an interesting testimonial of optimism on the merits of planning ten years prior to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. At the other extreme, Hayek's aversion to the concept of "social justice" in a market economy is something of a shock at a time when governments increasingly collect taxes, reputedly to achieve greater "social" justice through public spending.
The two examples above illustrate the depth and ample thematic content of a book that also discusses several other issues such as economic development and economic cycles. The care that Dr. Pizano afforded to the preparation of these discussions and the clarity in their presentation deserve my five-start rating of this book, which I took the opportunity to read and enjoy again in its second edition.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2009To interview the world's greatest living economists: that was the brilliant idea that a young Colombian graduate student had during his time at Cambridge in the 1970s. He had the audacity to approach these eminent thinkers, and they, with the generosity that only true greatness can bestow, granted him the interviews. The very fact that they took the time to talk to a young academic reveals a great deal about them and their attitudes in life. The conversational question and answer format sheds light on their thoughts (and personalities) in ways that texts written for publication never could...they talk about their theories in language that is easy to understand. The brief descriptions of the different settings where these interviews took place in addition to the clear and direct answers ---which at times reveal playful sides to their characters-- make these formidable figures seem approachable and real and adds to our understanding. With the passage of time this book has gained in value as a testament of what these greats were really like.
It is a book that works for heavy duty economists as well as for people like me that are not experts but wish to understand more of the dismal science as the crisis looms. In particular I was fascinated to read about an outstanding woman economist Joan Robinson at Cambridge. I first read this book in Spanish and can personally vouch for the English version: it is an accurate translation that reads like "true" English.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2009Pizano, the young man, chose the Platonic formula of the dialogue between teacher and pupil. It works well.
The new edition in times of crisis is fortunate for an economy in which sense and great ideas have been assaulted by the vulgar voracity of buccaneers and adventurers.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2009This book contains an excellent interview with Friedrich Hayek on a variety of topics. The interviewer is well informed, and Hayek is in top form providing substantive and concise answers to good questions.