Synopses & Reviews
Economists make confident assertions in op-ed columns and on cable news--so why are their explanations often at odds with equally confident assertions from
other economists? And why are all economic predictions so rarely borne out? Harnessing his frustration with these contradictions, Jonathan Schlefer set out to investigate how economists arrive at their opinions.
While economists cloak their views in the aura of science, what they actually do is make assumptions about the world, use those assumptions to build imaginary economies (known as models), and from those models generate conclusions. Their models can be useful or dangerous, and it is surprisingly difficult to tell which is which. Schlefer arms us with an understanding of rival assumptions and models reaching back to Adam Smith and forward to cutting-edge theorists today. Although abstract, mathematical thinking characterizes economists' work, Schlefer reminds us that economists are unavoidably human. They fall prey to fads and enthusiasms and subscribe to ideologies that shape their assumptions, sometimes in problematic ways.
Schlefer takes up current controversies such as income inequality and the financial crisis, for which he holds economists in large part accountable. Although theorists won international acclaim for creating models that demonstrated the inherent instability of markets, ostensibly practical economists ignored those accepted theories and instead relied on their blind faith in the invisible hand of unregulated enterprise. Schlefer explains how the politics of economics allowed them to do so. The Assumptions Economists Make renders the behavior of economists much more comprehensible, if not less irrational.
Review
The Assumptions Economists Make is a marvelous piece of political economy. Jonathan Schlefer ably contrasts the two main approaches to macroeconomics--neoclassical and classical/Keynesian--and on social, historical, and political grounds strongly endorses the latter. Lance Taylor, author of < i=""> Maynard ' s Revenge: The Collapse of Free Market Macroeconomics <>
Review
A marvel of clarity and elegance, The Assumptions Economists Make is the best book I've read about the ideas and practices of economists. With great respect, curiosity, insight, and wit, Jonathan Schlefer has given readers a sense of how the models and metaphors of economics inform our most important public policy debates. He manages to connect the theories that economists produce--and the assumptions that go along with the theories--to economists' varied, influential roles in public life as policy makers and public intellectuals. Rawi Abdelal, Harvard Business School
Review
Not a history of economic thinkers, this is an examination of their prevailing assumptions, from Adam Smith to the present. Schlefer asserts that macroeconomic models failed to guide government policy before 2008 because economists got their neoclassical theory wrong, and he blames the economic troubles of 2008 and beyond on the instability of private financial markets. He disputes factors such as supply and demand, technology, and unionization as causes of the current recession, noting that many believed the "supply of better-educated workers increasing relative to lower-skilled workers would cause their pay premium to fall" when just the opposite happened. Joanna B. Conrad
Review
A lucid, plain-spoken account of the major economic models, which [Schlefer] introduces in chronological order, creating a kind of intellectual history of macroeconomics. He explains what the models assume, what they actually demonstrate--and where they fall short. Library Journal
Review
Fascinating...[Schlefer's] book is a tough critique of economics, but a deeply informed and sympathetic one. Binyamin Applebaum - New York Times blog
Review
This book is an impressive and informative analysis of the economics literature--and it presents some useful insights about how a more eclectic, catholic approach might allow economics to progress more convincingly into the future. Justin Fox - Harvard Business Review blog
Review
The Assumptions Economists Make is a valuable book for readers who like to argue, reflect, and advance knowledge. Michelle Baddeley - Times Higher Education
Review
The Assumptions Economists make [is] a knowledgeable...broadside against neoclassical economics...Schlefer's gripes concern model-building run amok...His criticisms of these models are original and sophisticated. A. R. Sanderson - Choice
Synopsis
Economists make confident assertions in op-ed columns and on cable news--so why are their explanations at odds with equally confident assertions from other economists? And why are all economic predictions so rarely borne out? Harnessing his frustration with this contradiction, Schlefer set out to investigate how economists arrive at their opinions.
About the Author
Jonathan Schlefer holds a Ph.D. in political science from MIT and is the author of Palace Politics: How the Ruling Party Brought Crisis to Mexico, as well as articles for The Atlantic and other publications. He is currently a research associate at Harvard Business School.
Harvard Business School