November 18

The Worldly Philosophers

Robert L. Heilbroner
Published by Simon & Shuster (1999, New York) (330 Pages)

Nicole Narcross (Economics-Mr.OGrady)

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Economics is a class that many people chose to take in college, high school, or at
some point in their schooling career. As the course of the class goes on, I am sure that a
series of important figures will be mentioned. Figures such as Karl Marx and Adam Smith
formed the bases of many teachings in economics classes. In order to understand some
concepts in economics, you have to understand what these philosophers were thinking.
Many recourses can help us get inside the thoughts of these philosophers and
understand what they truly might have been thinking. One of these recourses is The
Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner. This book gives upper level descriptions of
a variety of philosophers and other important concepts necessary to understand
economics.
As mentioned previously, the author of The Worldly Philosophers is Robert L.
Heilbroner. He was an American economist and historian of economic thought. He is the
author of over twenty books, but best known for The Worldly Philosophers. Robert was
born into a very wealthy German family. He attended Harvard University and graduated
in 1940 with a summa cum laude degree in philosophy, government, and economics.
During WWII he served in the United States Army. Robert is a highly unconventional
economist, and thought of himself as more of a social theorist and worldly
philosopher. He was recognized as an economist nevertheless, and was elected as the
vice president of the American Economic Association in 1972. He published The Worldly
Philosophers (the first edition) in 1953 and it has sold almost 4 million copies. This
makes it the second best selling economics text of all time. Robert Heilbroner is
responsible for coming up with the different classifications of economies as either

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traditional, command, market, or mixed. After living a life full of mastering economics
Robert L. Heilbroner died on January 4, 2005 in New York City at the age of 85. (Robert
Heilbroner)
To start I would like to recognize my favorite parts of The Worldly Philosophers.
Out of the whole book, and the vast amounts of information included inside, my
favorite parts of the book were the first and last chapter. The first chapter dove into the
importance of economics, which to me is quite fascinating and appropriate to open a
book that is about to explore early economics. It served as a good base for a novel that
is filled with dense information. The last chapter gives and overview of economics and
gives a look into the direction that Heilbroner believed economics was moving toward. I
also found this appropriately fitted for the last chapter. It summed up the dense
information the reader has just concluded reading and ends on a note that leave the
reader feeling complete. Sometimes I feel as if books end unfinished, so I think it was
good that the author chose to close with an overview.
The book is truly about the different philosophers that shaped economics. Out of
the entire different economist explained, my favorite description, or section, was that
about John Maynard Keynes. The chapter takes place on pages 248-287, so a rather
detailed section. It is clear that that Keynes was a figure that the author admired. During
Keynes life interest rates were declining and there was no upward trend of investment.
Something that stood out to me in this chapter was the solution to this issue that
Keynes came up with. He published his solution in his book The General Theory of
Employment, Interest, and Money. In this book he made three gloomy diagnoses.

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First, An Economy in depression can stay there. There was nothing inherent in the
economic mechanism to pull it out. One could have equilibrium with unemployment,
even massive unemployment. Second, Prosperity depended on investment. If business
spending for capital equipment fell, a spiral of contraction would begin. Only if business
investment rose would a spiral of expansion follow. And third, Investment was an
undependable drive wheel for the economy. Uncertainty, not assurance, lay at the very
core of capitalism. Through no fault of the businessman it was constantly threatened
with satiety, and satiety spelled economic decline (Heilbroner 273). I partially enjoyed
this chapter so much because of these three points. For some reason, this made me
understand Keynes thought process more, and his reasoning. The other chapters where
other philosophers were discussed made sense and were very informational, but this
chapter on Keynes was my favorite and also where I felt as if I was in the philosophers
head.
My biggest problem with the book is that it is unclear what audience the author
is addressing. The book is giving and overview of different philosophers and the basics
of economics. That being said I would assume that the book is for beginning economic
students/readers, or for people who want to learn more about economics in general.
When reading it is clear that the book could not be for any one. I found that the
language used in this book was very advanced. I know that I am certainty not an
advanced student, but if the book was truly for people looking for and introduction the
book should not be so complex. I would recommend this book for people who have
some background in economics, a more solid idea of the concepts that make up the

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subject as a whole. If I were going into an economics class I would not want to read it
after the class but simply in the middle of the class or more toward the end.
I did, however, like how this book was formatted. Now, after reading the book, if
a topic about one of the philosophers come up and I have more questions or want to
learn more I can find the specific chapter on the philosopher (assuming it is in the book)
and learn more. It is nice that that is in sections also because the book is so dense so
you can take is a section at a time. After finishing one philosopher, the reader may want
to take a break and move on to the next one. There is also an index which will be useful.
If in class a topic comes up I can easily just find it in the index to find the certain pages
that correspond. That is much simpler than sifting through the large book to find one
topic.
Overall, I would say this it is possible The Worldly Philosophers is one of the most
informational books on economics available. I am by no means and expert at
economics, in fact I would say I am indefinitely a beginner, but this is one of the most
informational books I have ever found myself reading. Page after page is more
information on different important figures who impacted what economics is today. I
would not say this book is enjoyable, but would compare it to reading a textbook. Not
something you want to do, but afterward you come away with something. I certainly
came away with many new facts on different philosophers that I did know before. I
would hope that every economics student would consider reading this book.

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Works Cited
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great
Economic Thinkers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Print.
"Robert Heilbroner." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.