Inside the Economist's Mind (I.T.E.M.)
This Blog hosts discussion of issues relevant to the book, Inside the Economist's Mind, coedited by Nobel Laureate Paul A. Samuelson and William A. Barnett and published by Wiley/Blackwell Publishing.
***To comment on an existing post, click on "comments" below that post.***
About Me
William A. Barnett is Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Kansas. He was previously Research Economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC; Stuart Centennial Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin; and Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis. William Barnett has been a leading researcher in macroeconomics and econometrics. He is one of the pioneers in the study of chaos and nonlinearity in socioeconomic contexts, as well as a major figure in the study of the aggregation problem, which lies at the heart of how individual and aggregate data are related. He is Editor of the Emerald Press monograph series International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics, and Editor of the journal Macroeconomic Dynamics, published by Cambridge University Press. He received his B.S. degree from M.I.T., his M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. He has published 20 books (as either author or editor) and over 140 articles in professional journals. His research has been published in 7 languages.
COEDITOR: PAUL A. SAMUELSON
The book, Inside the Economist's Mind, is coedited by Paul A. Samuelson and William A. Barnett. Although this Blog is hosted solely by the latter coeditor, the following is the information in the book's front matter about Paul Samuelson:
Paul A. Samuelson was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Professor is the highest rank awarded by MIT. His landmark 1947 book, Foundations of Economic Analysis, based upon his Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard University, established him as "the economists' economist" by raising the standards of the entire profession. Paul Samuelson's classic textbook, Economics, first published in 1948, is among the most successful textbooks ever published in the field. The book's 16 editions have sold over four million copies and have been translated into 41 languages. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. As one of the profession's most productive scholars for over a half-century, he remains an intellectual force of towering stature.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
German Edition

The German edition of ITEM now is available to be advance ordered from Wiley, but Wiley will not begin delivering the German copies until December 2009.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Adam Smith Blog
The reputation of Paul Samuelson, from the start of his illustrious academic career, and the publication of his Phd dissertation, Foundations of Economic Analysis (1947), is enormous. His popular textbook, Economics, was used to teach, literally, tens of thousands of post-war students, and even his latest writings on his profession (e.g., Inside the economist's mind: conversations with eminent economists, 2007) show why his reputation is so high.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Foreword to Russian Translation of ITEM
Monday, January 12, 2009
ITEM Translated into Russian
Friday, January 09, 2009
A Blog Post in Nepal
Saturday, December 27, 2008
A Principles Course Syllabus
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Russian Translation
Chinese Translation
The book title in Chinese is "经济学家之经济学家" with an ISBN no. of 978-7-301-14225-7 and can be ordered through Amazon's Chinese site (www.amazon.com.cn) or a Chinese online bookseller called 当当网(www.dangdang.com) or www.zhuoyue.com. The book also is in many bookstores in China, including Xidan Bookmall and Peking University Bookstore in Beijing.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Why Did the Bubble Burst?
Saturday, September 06, 2008
James Hamilton's Review
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
German Translation
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Economic and Political Weekly Review
"This book can make you fall in love with economics all over again. A collection of interviews with 16 eminent economists, it presents the attractive face of the field – one rediscovers an economics concerned with improving the human condition by putting to good use tools borrowed from disciplines as diverse as mathematics and psychology. The book is a labour of love for William Barnett, the editor of the journal Macroeconomic Dynamics in which these interviews originally appeared between 1997 and 2005. Though the interviews were aimed at professional macroeconomists, much of the book is of broader interest. That is because these eminent economists, interviewed by their peers, are often able to describe their complicated work in simple terms, with modesty and humour, and enriched with anecdotes from their lives."
The author of the four page review was Prakash Loungani, Advisor, Research Department, International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Russian Translation
If you look at that site, you will find the following statement:
" The SKOLKOVO publishing series is opened by books of world-renowned authors:
- 'Essential Writings on Management' Peter Drucker;
- 'The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do' Clotaire Rapaille;
- 'Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance' George Kohlrieser;
- 'The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World' Alan Greenspan;
- 'Inside the Economist's Mind', edited by Paul Samuelson and William Barnett)."
You can also find the following there:
"Being realized in partnership with the government of the Russian Federation, SKOLKOVO is a part of the national priority projects programme, funded exclusively by private business. Dmitry Medvedev, the President of the Russian Federation, is the Chairman of the SKOLKOVO International Advisory Board."
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Housing Bubble
Friday, April 25, 2008
Korean Translation of ITEM
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Economic History Review
Friday, January 25, 2008
Google Books Preview
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Amazon Reviews
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Economics Roundtable Book Picks
1. Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, Monetary History of the United States.
2. John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.
3. Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics.
4. Gregory Mankew, Principles of Economics.
5. David Warsh, Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Economists who Love to Fish
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Choice Picks
Monday, May 21, 2007
Choice Magazine Review
Social & Behavioral Sciences \ Economics |
| Inside the economist's mind: conversations with eminent economists , ed. by Paul A. Samuelson and William A. Barnett. Blackwell Publishing, 2007. 419p afp ISBN 1405159170 pbk, $29.95; ISBN 9781405159173 pbk, $29.95. Reviewed in 2007jun CHOICE. |
| Inside the Economist's Mind offers 16 stand-alone, candid personal interviews with some of the world's best economists, conducted by other leading economists. A far cry from Matt Lauer talking with Tom Cruise on The Today Show, these 25-page conversations quickly hone in on what makes these leading economists from the academic world and public policy corridors tick, and how they--and the profession itself--evolved in research and thinking. These chapters originally appeared in an academic journal (Macroeconomic Dynamics, various issues, 1998-2005), and the exchanges are pitched at a fairly sophisticated level and tilt toward macroeconomic theory and policy matters. Some knowledge about and appreciation for higher economic analysis should be expected from readers; such readers have the most to gain from the book. But the people and the personalities show through in this superb collection of "economists' economists," or more specifically, the "old guard"--all are over 60; a companion volume on the "young and the restless" would make a nice complement. Bibliographic materials--references, appendixes, index--are not necessary or included in the volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Informed general readers; students, lower-division undergraduate and up; researchers and practitioners. -- A. R. Sanderson, |
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Bottom Line/Personal
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Economic History Review
EH.Net is supported by the Economic History Association along with the following affiliated organizations: the Business History Conference, the Cliometric Society, the Economic History Society, and the History of Economics Society.
Among the more interesting comments in the long review of ITEM are the following:
"They [Samuelson and Barnett] raise mirrors reflecting the ideas of eminent economists presented in the volume, and these mirrors, like those of the Hubble Space Telescope, focus them in sizable bits for the digestion of the readers . . . The interviews are meticulously balanced . . . Reflecting on the scope of the book, we find rays of spontaneous thought from minds that breathe and dream of economics . . . our review implies that the ideas covered in this volume have some ability to predict and have been validated thus far in their confrontation with reality. . . If one is looking for answers to how economists discover great thoughts, this book is a place to start looking . . . The readers will find this a source book for comprehensive thought on the deep matter of economics. No one interested in the modern economy should fail to read it."
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Milken Institute Review
Monday, April 16, 2007
Events Blog
Monday, April 09, 2007
Kansas City Simulcast

There will be a Lawrence event about the book in Alderson auditorium at the Kansas Union at 7:30 pm on April 24. Unlike the more informal Dole Institute event that was held on March 27, the auditorium event will include 1 1/2 hours of presentation and discussion, moderated by Kay McIntyre of Kansas Public Radio. The event will be simulcast at the Edwards campus in Kansas City.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Dole Institute of Politics
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Challenge Magazine
"Inside the Economist’s Mind: Conversations with Eminent Economists (ITEM) will prove an invaluable resource for those wishing to understand the greats and their work. . . Readers find eccentric and irascible characters behind some of the major innovations in economic science, and that is the draw to the book."
Of particular interest is the conclusion to the book review:
"Inside the Economist’s Mind is a very rare thing—an economic page-turner, like Heilbroner’s The Worldly Philosophers, Foley’s Adam’s Fallacy, and Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics. The personalities behind the frontiers of economic research make for compelling reading. I can’t recommend it enough."
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Bloomberg Markets Magazine
With over 260,000 Bloomberg Professional service subscribers, Bloomberg Markets is now the largest financial monthly magazine in the world. The magazine is carried by the Barnes & Noble and the Borders bookstore chains in the US.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
"Book Scores Big"
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tax Guru's Amazon Store
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Valor Review Translated
The translator was Professor Marcelle Chauvet at the University of California at Riverside. She is Brazilian, so this translation can be viewed to be accurate. I am impressed by the investment of Valor in this article. Too bad that there is no English edition of Valor. If there were, and if this review is representative of coverage in Valor, I'd subscribe myself.
Kansas City Star
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monetarism as an Oral Tradition
Monday, February 12, 2007
Paul Volcker
Friday, February 09, 2007
Best Review Yet
"In frank conversations, unburdened by the formalizations found in academic papers, 16 eminent American and European economists posit their philosophies, explain theories and methodologies, and offer their personal experiences. The end result is a picture of the profession that is in constant flux ... ITEM, which was recently launched in Europe and the U.S., is already a best seller on the Financial Times list and offers great help ... The book which is edited by William A. Barnett, macroeconomics professor at the University of Kansas, and Paul Samuelson, 1970 Nobel Laureate, is really a map into the minds of 16 American and European important economists, who are well-known for their major contributions to economic study. The book regales us with personal anecdotes of these economists, their memories, choices made, and landmark moments in their careers ... This book is about unfiltered ideas, not in the tradition found in the usual academic avenues of censored personal views in lieu of purely technical models, theories, or insights. Both interviewers and interviewees successfully rally around the book's central focus on the importance of intellectual exchange ... it is useful to learn about the experiences of these economists and what drives them to their pursuit. This book provides a coherent vision of modern economics and its connection with the lifetime experiences of famous economists, whose work was seminal for the discipline ... It's important to know (or remember) that Janos Kornai's defense in Budapest on the eve of the revolution of 1956 attracted an audience of hundreds. When he published it in book form with a title that spoke of the "excess of centralization", he lost his job, and a close friend was executed ... ITEM is a valuable work, and it succeeds in the need to contextualize the advances of the field's theories with a sense of its implicit history."
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Best Seller
Sunday, January 28, 2007
News about Paul Samuelson
Monday, January 22, 2007
Google Book Search
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Financial Times of London
"J.K. Galbraith joked that 'the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable'. Just as economics is half way between science and guesswork, so too Inside the Economist's Mind blends academic analysis with biographical informality.
It comprises interviews with 16 economists, half of them Nobel Prize winners, conducted by fellow economists. The emphasis is on macroeconomic theorists such as Robert Lucas and Milton Friedman, though also numbered among the interviewees are central bankers including Paul Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve under the Carter and Reagan administrations, and Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel.
The aim is to see how their lives and work have intersected. . . . the book's value for the layman is to humanise a branch of thought that is abstruse yet full of practical consequence for everyday life."
This latest review has been added to the rapidly growing list of reviews, commentaries, and endorsements for the book.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Review in Ireland
"This is a collection of interviews commissioned for a journal, Macroeconomic Dynamics. The idea is to gauge the position of the profession by asking the people who invented large swaths of the theory their motivations for doings what they did, when they did it, and how they did it. Readers find eccentric and irascible characters behind some of the major innovations in economic science. I loved this book, and read it cover to cover in a day.
The book purports (pg. xi) to “contain unique insights into the thinking of some of the world’s most important economists, whose work contributed to the evolution of modern economic thought,” and does.
. . . So it’s great that William Barnett, the editor of Macroeconomic Dynamics, and the co-editor of this book, decided to ask these men these questions."
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Bloomberg Podcasts
If you don't want to take the time to listen to the two podcasts, but would just like to know about Tom Keene's commentary about I.T.E.M. during the program, here it is:
"It was the talk at the American Economic Association meetings. Folks, it has my highest, highest recommendation. It is very exciting. I heard more buzz about this book at the A.E.A. than any I've heard in years. And folks I'll be blunt: it's on my "must read list," and it's the first book ever to go on the "must read list" without being [completely] read. It's so thick, so dense, so rich. Folks I cannot emphasize enough the energy off the page, because of the uncensored nature of some 400 pages ... I am sure there will be a volume 2; and after you sell the movie rights, there will be a volume 3. There is a great energy in this book. The tension among the economists is great.... I cannot convey to you enough the accessibility of the book with a minimal amount of math and a maximum amount of emotion and candor ... Don't take my word for it. Paul Samuelson opens up his part of the book with: 'this book adds up to more than the sum of its parts.' "
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Bloomberg on the Economy
"Rules are meant to be broken. Samuelson & Barnett goes on the list without a complete read. Sixteen stunning interviews; the candor shocking. But then, this is Samuelson. Taylor interviews Friedman; Blanchard interviews Fischer. You get the must-read picture."
Evidently the prior rule that he has broken is not to put a book on his "must read" list before completing his reading of the book. Should be interesting to see what he writes after he has finished the book. I don't think he'll change his mind.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Bookviews Review of I.T.EM.
- "The study of economics lost one of its greatest minds, Milton Friedman, in November of last year. He was passionate about freedom and keeping government from interfering with the most basic element of choice that underlies the open marketplace of goods and services. A unique book, Inside the Economist's Mind: Conversations with Eminent Economists ($74.95/$29.95, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, hard and softcover) is edited by two other famed economists, Paul A. Samuelson and William A. Barnett. They sat down with sixteen of their colleagues, and their candid interviews make for some lively reading that even those unfamiliar with this critical field of analysis would find interesting. For those for whom economists represent the guidance needed in an ever shifting landscape of events, this book offers some excellent insights."


