Passion and Craft

Most celebrities have to wait until the end of their careers to publish their autobiographies. Here, twenty economists in mid-career (nineteen scholars and an economics journalist) bring together personal accounts of their work and lives. The contributors were asked to elaborate on their methods of working and their private thoughts. The result is a rich set of biographies, addressing issues such as the effects of politics on work and vice versa, family life, creativity in and inspired by the workplace, the study of law and economics, and the conducting of research, and the role of women in this male-dominated field.

The contributing economists represent a wide range of endeavors in economics such as research, education, law, and journalism, and include Francine D. Blau, David Colander, William Darity, Jr., Avinash Dixit, Benjamin M. Friedman, Claudia Goldin, David M. Gordon, Elhanan Helpman, Paul Krugman, William M. Landes, N. Gregory Mankiw, Deirdre N. McCloskey, Rachel McCulloch, Philip Mirowski, Roger B. Myerson, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Richard Schmalensee, Hal R. Varian, David Warsh, and Gavin Wright. Michael Szenberg provides an introduction.

Passion and Craft provides a fascinating glimpse into the minds and lives of some of the most interesting economists of our time. It will be inspiring reading for economists as well as all other social scientists, students considering a career in economics, and anyone interested in how great minds work.

Michael Szenberg is Director, Center for Applied Research, and Professor of Economics, Lubin School of Business, Pace University. He also serves as editor of The American Economist.

Praise / Awards

• "Passion and Craft is a worthy sequel to Eminent Economists. It should be of greatest interest to young scholars who want to know what it is like to 'do economics' and to senior economists who will learn how things have changed (or have they?)."
  --Victor R. Fuchs, Stanford University
  
• "Readers will find Passion and Craft entertaining because the authors have succeeded in placing economics in a human context and demonstrating that they are insightful practitioners of what is far from a 'dismal science.' Drawing on their varied backgrounds, interests, and experiences, they employed colorful vignettes, candid comments and trenchant observations to liven their writing. . . . It is an absorbing and informative volume that should appeal to everyone with an interest in economics."
  --John J. Casson, Business Economics, October 1, 1999
  
• "Readers will find Passion and Craft entertaining because the authors have succeeded in placing economics in a human context and demonstrating that they are insightful practitioners of what is far from a 'dismal science.' . . . It is an absorbing and informative volume that should appeal to everyone with an interest in economics."
  --John J. Casson, Kean University, Business Economics, October 1999
  
• "The forthright nature of nearly every entry makes this book required reading for would-be academic economists."
  --M. H. Maier, Glendale Community College, Choice, July/August 1999
  
• "It is instructive as well as entertaining to read the personal accounts of these unconventional economists, whose research has extended the traditional boundaries of economics and challenged the conventional assumptions of neoclassical mainstream orthodoxy."
  --VV. Bhatt, Economic and Political Weekly, March 2002
  
• "Autobiography is a challenging genre, and it requires a sensibility that our academic training as economists does nothing to impart. Nevertheless, there are two reasons why these essays are important to economists. The first is that autobiography is a source for understanding the social history of a discipline. The second is that we all need models of people who have struggled and succeeded in the difficult career we share. . . [A] lively collection that deserves to become part of the culture of contemporary economics."
  --Evelyn Forget, University of Manitoba, Review of Social Economy, March 2003