The Changing Face of Economics: Conversations with Cutting Edge Economists

It's an unfortunate (though, to some degree, unavoidable) fact of undergrad education that introductory courses in economics focus on core theory that's at least a few decades old. (The bulk of what's taught in a typical "ECON 101" course was state-of-the-art some 50-100 years ago!) Even first-year PhD courses seldom stray close to the "cutting edge". So this book, which gives a snapshot of some of the most interesting work in economics circa 2002 through interviews with a dozen economists, provides a valuable service to potential and current grad students. It may also be a useful antidote to straw man attacks on economic science, though those with no background in economics might gain more from reading one of the many recent popular books on economics.

The authors interview ten working economists: Deirdre McCloskey, Ken Binmore, Herb Gintis, Robert Frank, Matthew Rabin, William Brock, Duncan Foley, Richard Norgaard, Robert Axtell, and H. Peyton Young. These "cutting edge" economists aren't necessarily young (most earned their PhD in the 60s or 70s); indeed, all are in the midst of well-established research programs, with plenty of publications on their CVs. Interviews with two Nobel laureates, Ken Arrow and Paul Samuelson, provide additional perspective.

The selection of interviewees is representative, not comprehensive or definitive. I could probably come up with a list of ten equally-interesting interview subjects (Leigh Tesfatsion, Al Roth, Ernst Fehr, Steven Durlauf, Larry Blume, Oded Galor, and Sam Bowles spring to mind immediately), but the authors seem to have chosen a sample that's about the right size. Perhaps within a few years it will be time for a sequel to this volume with a new sample of economists. If so, it would be interesting to hear from a few economists earlier in their careers. Macroeconomists are also underrepresented in the current book, but perhaps the authors were wise not to duplicate the work in Conversations With Leading Economists : Interpreting Modern Macroeconomics, not to mention the classic Conversations With Economists: New Classical Economists and Opponents Speak Out on the Current Controversy in Macroeconomics.

I recommend this book to anyone thinking about a career in economics and unsure whether there are open areas of research they'd find interesting. I also recommend it to anyone mired in their first year of study toward the PhD, as a reminder that there's life beyond their core coursework. ( )