Partha Dasgupta

I enjoyed parts of this book, found others long winded and unnecessary, and was occasionally surprised, sometimes pleasantly, by its choice of material. But then, I have a degree in economics, a Masters in economic history, and work as an economist professionally. If I was coming to the subject cold and wanted a book to give me an idea of what it is that economists do, I don't think this would help much. It might, in fact, be of more use for someone progressing from standard introductory micro and macro classes to intermediate stuff or even post-graduate study as it does a reasonable job of showing where the frontiers of the discipline currently are. That is not, however, what you'd be looking for from a book in this series.… (mer)