The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think

The book arrived on time. The book was in great condition as given in the description.

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It needs to be read by every economist, and everyone interested in social history, and particularly the history of analysis.

This is a splended book by Mary Morgan who utilises case studies of a sort to present her case for the use of models in the broad church that is economics.When I first opened the book I was reminded, almost at once, of the work of Mark Blaug and Peter Lloyd a few years ago Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics which can be seen as a complementary good of this one.In my first year of initiation into the hallowed halls of economics I was introduced to the puzzle of the discipline, science or art, positive or normative. It seemed so much simpler in those days where there were only a few perspectives whereas now there quite a few more. It was a broad church, yet unifying all views was the use of models.My preferences lay in the Classical School, the works of Smith and Mill, although these days my interests lie in networks and complex systems. Today, much of what constitutes contemporary professional economics is based heavily on mathematics and statistics.Morgan's excellent work spans over three centuries and because her focus is on models she manages to subsume much of economic theory under the development of the type of models used. Very deftly she manages to make her case in an objective manner without showing any preference for any particular side in the conflict between ideas and, if anything is arguing the case that all economists, regardless of perspective, share common ground in the use of models to see the world.Throught my reading of this book I kept thinking of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition and his postulation of periods of normal science and puzzle solving. It appeared to me that that is indeed, what Mary Morgan is describing, how the nature of economics has changed throughout the period since Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Indeed, the conclusion that game theory has brought no clear resolution to general economic problems suggests that perhaps a gestalt switch is at hand.For me the greatest thing about this book has been that the preference expressed by John Maynard Keynes that "If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid." has been repudiated. That is to say that economics is a vibrant discipline where the professional world view is under attack from scholars who wish to look beyond the confines of mathematical logic A Guide to What's Wrong with Economics (Anthem Studies in Development and Globalization) and also Pluralist Economics a trend which was in motion before the Financial Crisis began and which was strengthened because of it. One of the illuminations obtained from the crisis was the antithesis of the use of models for reasoning in that those working in the financial services field began to try and make the world conform to their models.This is an outstanding book which should be on the shelves of historians and economists alike.

The author is not only an economics scholar, but she also is a very talented writer and educator. The book isn't targeted for the professional economist, but rather the student of economics. The material in the book provides a historical progression of modelling in economics starting with the early work done by those just trying to understand basic relationships in fields such as farming. As time goes by, the modelling has gotten more elaborate and particularly, more specialized. The author does an excellent job describing not only the economic mechanisms, but also how the modelling has evolved over time and to some extent has become more and more mathematical. Although this is a criticism that I've seen in some texts, and leads to a sterile economy and society, the author to her credit does not try to either defend models in economics or condemn them. She simply is trying to teach the development and presence of the economic model.The author's talent for writing is obvious even from the early chapters. I really believe that this book positions the average "armchair" economist with the understanding to develop much deeper concepts. This satisfied a goal that I've held for some time. Whereas most books on economics are rather dry and boring (my opinion), the author really is a bit of a story teller, but doesn't tell the story in such a way that compromises the learning process (or more importantly the integrity of the material).I unconditionally give this book five stars and really believe that the book is approachable by anyone with a high school education. But more importantly, a passion for learning is the final ingredient to really appreciating this book.