The Making of an Economist, Redux - by David Colander (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Economists seem to be everywhere in the media these days. But what exactly do today's economists do? What and how are they taught? Updating David Colander and Arjo Klamer's classic The Making of an Economist, this book shows what is happening in elite U.S. economics Ph.D. programs. By examining these programs, Colander gives a view of cutting-edge economics--and a glimpse at its likely future. And by comparing economics education today to the findings of the original book, the new book shows how much--and in what ways--the field has changed over the past two decades. The original book led to a reexamination of graduate education by the profession, and has been essential reading for prospective graduate students. Like its predecessor, The Making of an Economist, Redux is likely to provoke discussion within economics and beyond.

The book includes new interviews with students at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Chicago, and Columbia. In these conversations, the students--the next generation of elite economists--colorfully and frankly describe what they think of their field and what graduate economics education is really like. The book concludes with reflections by Colander, Klamer, and Robert Solow.

This inside look at the making of economists will interest anyone who wants to better understand the economics profession. An indispensible tool for anyone thinking about graduate education in economics, this edition is complete with colorful interviews and predictions about the future of cutting-edge economics.

From the Back Cover

"The Making of an Economist, Redux is self-recommending. David Colander's work on the profession of economics is by far the best we have. A significant follow-up to his book of twenty years ago, it will become the standard account of what economics graduate school is like."--Tyler Cowen, George Mason University

Review Quotes

"[T]his book is . . . a must-read especially for . . . those who are contemplating going into graduate training in economics . . . and for all those who have influence on the content and design of graduate programmes in economics. For all others this can still be a book for the coffee-table, since my own experience has shown that it does function quite well as a conversation starter."---René L. P. Mahieu, Erasmus Journal For Philosophy and Economics

"This work is an essential read for undergraduates considering graduate work in economics; it is also valuable reading for anyone interested in learning about what is being taught, and how it is being taught, at the top-ranked institutions in the field."---M.L. White, Choice

"Will economics departments and bodies such as our own Royal Economic Society step up to the challenge Colander sets them with this book, and reshape the graduate curriculum? I hope so, or we will find ourselves with even fewer graduate students in economics than we have now."---Diane Coyle, Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author

David Colander is Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Economics at Middlebury College. He is the author or editor of more than thirty books, including Why Aren't Economists as Important as Garbagemen?, The Lost Art of Economics, Economics (Irwin/McGraw-Hill), and The Stories Economists Tell (Irwin/McGraw-Hill).