Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius
By Sylvia Nasar, Simon & Schuster
(Author of "A Beautiful Mind")
Book reviewed by James Grant in the WSJ.com:
"...Economic genius would seem to be in short supply these days.
On the say-so of economists, Congress has spent upwards of $1 trillion to "stimulate" an economy that remains unstimulated.
The best economists are formidable intellects, as it goes without saying—Ben Bernanke was the spelling champion of South Carolina—but you begin to wonder if they know what they're talking about...
Her collected geniuses, Ms. Nasar claims, were "instrumental in turning economics into an instrument of mastery." I find nothing in these pages remotely to substantiate that contention...
But economists no more set the world to producing and consuming than baseball statisticians hit home runs. Then, too, you'll never see Bill James, the dean of the baseball sabermetricians, trip up a base runner the way the government thwarts an entrepreneur. The intervention-minded economists are the ones who give the government its big ideas...
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Link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576557360442970594.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_8
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