Heimann's History of Doctrine and Current Issues

Abstract

TROFESSOR 1IEIMANN'S statement of objective is very appealing: show the inward logic .... of the development of modern economic thinking and thereby to place the study of economic theory in its proper setting. And, in its main outline and fundamental features, the execution also strikes this reviewer as sound and fitting. However, these statements leave room for much disagreement, not merely on details, but also on matters of great importance, either from a doctrinal or from a pedagogical standpoint. In fact, there is so much that I find very good and also so much that seems quite bad that it is difficult to review the book at all satisfactorily in brief compass. The first point in question is the combination of tasks suggested by the title and subtitle. The author's plan indicates that he intends the subtitle to be taken seriously, though perhaps the word introduction need not imply that it should be the very first reading assigned to a student in the field. But should any roughly chronological survey of a subject like economics, in which there have been many revolutionary advances, come before, rather than after, the acquisition of a fair grasp of the content and problems? The latter is established practice in teaching the natural sciences. Furthermore, by combining the two objectives, Heimann produces a history of economic doctrines that will not be satisfactory either to the scholar or to the teacher, even allowing for its brevity-about 75,000 words of text. There is practically no quotation and not a page reference in the whole work. The author interpretively summarizes the position of each writer, striving to bring