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Product Description
In his New York Times bestsellers Liar’s Poker and Moneyball, Michael Lewis gave us an unprecedented look at what goes on behind the scenes on Wall Street. Now he takes us back across the centuries to explore the four classics that created and defined not just Wall Street, but the entire economic system we live under today. Brought together with Lewis’s illuminating editorial commentary, they form an essential reference for any student of economics—in fact, for anyone who wants to understand the market forces and government policies that have shaped our world, and will continue to shape our future.
Includes:
1776: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
1798: An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus
1817: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo
1899: The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions by Thorstein Veblen
1936: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Misleading Description of Book, 2009-01-06
Luckily Amazon has corrected the extremely misleading description of the book, but that does not correct the main issues with this book. When I bought the book, Amazon's description said "Michael Lewis introduces you to four classics of economics," which made me think, "I would follow Michael Lewis anywhere since he is a fantastic writer and I would like him to break down dense economic classics into easily digestible form." What I got was a 1472 page book with a paltry introduction by Michael Lewis.
Once I got over that initial shock I was still left with a 1472 page book with little commentary. Who wants to own and potentially carry a 1472 page book?....Hercules? I heard that Hercules was practically illiterate so they might want to redefine the target demographic for this book.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A classic brick, 2008-12-06
I spotted this book in the local Barnes and Noble and when I picked it up, it fell on my foot, causing a nearly permanent damage. I played with the book for two hours, pondering whether to buy it. Eventually, I didn't. The size of this tome is a serious drawback for me. It's hard to carry around; hard to flatten its pages; hard to read in bed. A second criticism I have in the selection of the "classics". I understand the three founders and Keynes for his relevance, but why Veblen? I would have either kept it to the neoclassical with the inclusion of the Theory of Moral Sentiments, or replaced Veblen with Marx' Capital Vol. I. The final drawback, and a nearly fatal one, is the lack of notes and commentary. It is very dangerous to read the classics out of context. Words take on different meanings, and are loaded differently. Smith, for example could safely assume that his readers were steeped in English empiricism. We are too, to some extent, but our understanding is less precise. There are good sides to the book to. Lewis is witty, concise and educated. And the price is unbeatable. I hope these two qualities close the deal for you.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
 Too little commentary, 2008-09-09
This book is the verbatim texts of several classics. That's sort of cool, but to be honest, reading 18th century prose is slow. Very, very slow...
Michael Lewis adds some commentary. Unfortunately, that's only a few pages per book. What is there is generally quite good, but it is far too little. In particular, it would have been interesting to see comments on the actual texts, as opposed to general comments on the authors' lives.
If you really want to read all the classics, it's convenient to have them all in one place. Otherwise, you should probably pass.
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
 Real Price of Everything by Lewis, 2008-04-06
This is a complicated book because of its length and
technical verbiage in economics. The outline includes
lengthy dissertations by 5 or more writers in foundational
economic literature and reporting. These are:
1776: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
1798: An Essay on the Principle of Population
by Thomas Malthus
1817: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
by David Ricardo
1899: The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions by Thorstein Veblen
1936: The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
by John Maynard Keynes
There is an extensive development of macroeconomic theory
dealing with the GNP, as well as the microeconomics pertinent
to everything human beings do. The Wealth of Nations is the
classic by Adam Smith. It espouses the theory that human
beings are driven by self-interest & that they play a role
in improving the market. The Mercantilists of the
time believed that the wealth of a nation began with trade
surpluses. The division of labor leads to greater improvement, dexterity, time saving and mechanization. These concepts
permeate the modern patent laws around the world. The inherent
difficulty in weighing metals leads to the utilization of coins
and other money in the form of paper, bonds etc. Value is
defined in terms of its use in exchange. The real price is
a function of the toil involved in the manufacture or assembly
of a product.
Malthus believed that increasing the price of a stock
necessarily increased the price of provisions.
David Ricardo believed that population doubled every 25 years
and that capital doubled in less than 25 years or it lagged behind. Therefore, wages increased because the demand for labor
was greater than its supply. The value of a
commodity was a function of the amount of labor expended in
producing it. The quantity of labor with respect to commodity
production is modified by the employment of machinery, fixed
and durable capital.
Thorstein Vebleu believed that wealth increments lead to a
leisure class developing in structure and function.
At some point, the leisure class matures and it becomes exempt
from the idea of thrift and savings.
Overall, the book explains many of the concepts behind money and
wealth. The downside is the 1400 pages or so to accomplish this
monumental task. This would be an excellent purchase for students
of the economic sciences, government, politics, world history and
news reporting. The $30 price tag is a solid value for the content contained within this massive text.
25 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
 A Good Reference Work, 2008-01-08
Despite being an economics/finance geek, who is a fan of Michael Lewis' previous work, especially Moneyball, I was debating whether to buy this. I have already read The Wealth of Nations, which makes up half of this huge book. It is nice to have such a collection of great works together though, and although the vast majority of the writing is just old copyright expired material you can get on the Internet for free, Lewis' commentary does add to it. In addition to being an accomplished writer, the author does have a masters in economics from the London School of Economics, and does have a knowledge of and a passion for the subject. So on the whole this is really intended for people who have an academic interest in the subject, but at the very least you will have a really big book on your shelf to impress your friends.
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