John Maynard Keynes: Volume 2: The Economist as Savior, 1920-1937

Customer Reviews:

Skidelsky overlooks Keynes's mathematical contributions.......2004-10-25

I highly recommend the second volume of Skidelsky's three volume study of the life of John Maynard Keynes for the general reader.The general reader will be rewarded with a 5 star performance.Skidelsky masterfully weaves an incredible amount of material about the private and public life of Keynes in a manner that will provide the nonspecialist,general reader with many hours of reading pleasure.Unfortunately,the same cannot be said for the specialist seeking a technical analysis and evaluation of Keynes's scientific contributions to philosophy,applied probability,applied statistics,decision science and economics.It is in this area that Skidelsky fumbles the ball just as it appeared that he was going to go all the way and score a touchdown.This is most likely due to the fact that he is a historian with little or no training in philosophy,mathematics,statistics,probability and economics.Let me catalog the technical problems .First,Skidelsky confuses the 12th-13th century debate between the nominalists and the realists(Platonists) with the realist versus idealist debate of the 19th-20th century between,among others,G.E.Moore and Bertrand Russell(the realists of the 20th century who would be supporting the nominalists in the 12th century),on the one hand and J.M.E.McTaggart and F.H.Bradley,on the other hand,who would be supporting,in general,the realists of the 12th century.(See Skidelsky's extremely confusing discussion on pp.74-77).Second,Skidelsky is completely confused about the nature and construction of Keynesian probabilities.Keynesian probabilities,in general,are intervals.They require the use of two numbers ,not one.The first number is called a lower bound.The second number is called an upper bound.Keynes's approximation method has absolutely nothing to do with ordinal rankings. In fact,the general case occurring among decision makers in the real world would be of overlapping intervals.Consider the following simple example.Let probability one be estimated by the interval[.4,.6].Let probability two be estimated by the interval[.5,.7].The probabilities have very specific numeric bounds,but they are ,in fact,nonrankable,noncomparable and nonadditive.It is not possible to say that one of the two probabilities is greater than,less than or equal to the other probability.Skidelsky has accepted at face value the extremely poor analysis of Keynes's TP done by F.Ramsey in two book reviews published in 1922 and 1926.Ramsey committed the fatal error of misinterpreting Keynes's chapter 3 terms in the TP,nonnumerical and nonmeasurable,as meaning that no numbers could in general be used to estimate the probability relation.Ramsey never read chapters 15 and 17 of the TP where Keynes made it clear that most probabilities could be represented as intervals.(The reader will find literally one dozen errors of omission or commission committed on pp.58-61 and 67-73 of Skidelsky with regard to the issue of the use of numbers in Keynes's logical theory of probability).Skidelsky ignores Keynes's creation of an index to measure the weight of the evidence,w,where w is defined on the unit interval[0,1]and measures the completeness of the relevant potential evidence available upon which to make an estimate of a probability.Skidelsky overlooks Keynes's conventional coefficient of risk and weight,c,that solves all of the paradoxes of subjective expected utility theory.Keynes was the first scholar in history to devise a decision rule incorporating nonlinear probabilities and weight of the evidence(later called ambiguity of the evidence by D.Ellsberg in 1961).Lastly,Skidelsky has overlooked the mathematical specification of Keynes's theory of effective demand that Keynes derived from his Y model of chapter 10 and from his D-Z model of chapters 3,20-21 of the General Theory in 1936.Let us define w to equal a constant money wage,p to equal the price level,w/p to equal the real wage,MPL to equal the marginal product of labor in the aggregate,MPC to equal the marginal propensity to spend on consumption goods, and MPI to equal the marginal propensity to spend on copital goods.Keynes then arrives at the following general result:w/p=MPL/(MPC+MPI).The classical and neoclassical(monetarism,rational expectations,real business cycle theory,etc.)theories are all special cases which require that MPC+MPI=1.Skidelsky's claim that Keynes did not provide a mathematical model of his theory of effective demand in the GT (see pp.537-542,especially p.540)is an error in magnitude equal to the errors made by Frank Ramsey about the meaning of the terms "nonnumerical" and"non measurable".The specialist will be disappointed with this volume of Skidelsky's biography of J.M.Keynes.

Economics is a moral science.......2004-05-14

The second part of Prof. Skidelsky's magnificent biography of J.M. Keynes is nearly totally concentrated on economic issues. Keynes' personal life was perfectly settled after his marriage with a Russian ballerina. He continued to be in contact with the Bloomsbury group, which 'remained subversive by habit, but was anxious to retain their dividends and beauftiful houses'.
In fact, this book centres on the question how Keynes came to write the 'General Theory' and its defense of governmental intervention (public investments) in the economic cycle in order to break the capitalistic slump. He proved that in a laisser-faire system an equilibrium could be formed at a far lesser level than 'natural' unemployment: 'There is work to do, there are men to do it. Why not bring them together!'
We discover that Malthus was a real influential precursor with his proposition to prop up insufficient demand by public works and that Richard Kahn made a decisive contribution with his multiplyer effect.
Prof. Skidelsky characterizes perfectly the 'General Theory' as a complex psychological drama with as main characters the life-denying rentier, the businessman and his fantasies and the victimized working class.
Keynes' ultimate nightmare was a world were making money triumphed over making things, which is actually happening. Financial transactions are dwarfing the industrial ones and there are many more investment trusts than industrial companies in the US.
The discussions after the publication of the 'General Theory' are fascinating. In fact, the debate is still red hot: inflation/deflation, the influence of the (inter)national banks, savings and (un)employment.
This book is not an easy read. I recommend readers to (re)read some parts of the 'General Theory'. But this work is a fascinating tale about the (r)evolution of the ideas of the greatest economist of all times.
I have only one minor remark: Ibsen is a Norwegian, not a Swede.

Who was more keynesian them Keynes himself?.......2003-11-07

Keynes activities, both as an active participant of the economic life of his country and continent, and as an icon to the cultural life of his epoch and to his many friends and groups of interest, is impressive. To define him is an elusive task: philosopher?, economist?, historian?, linguist?. He was all this and much more, but he was above all a man of a very practical mind and, notwhidstanding his immense philosophical background, deeply attached to the theories of his contemporary G.E.Moore and others, he had the feeling of having a mission to accomplish, given the immense superiority his intellect had over the rest of the mortals.

What was to become of Europe after the end of the First World War was foreseen by him in many essays and primarily in his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace. The task which lays ahead for him, and only him, was to warn politicians and thinkers of the impending dangers of the years to come, specially in regard to a lack of theoretical analisys to support the transition from the old economy (classicist in his jargon), which ended with the death of the great Alfred Marshall, and a new one, which he purpoted himself to establish and then save the world. And save the world he did!!! Keynes is one of this towering figures who had the opportunity to mingle himself with daily facts and change them for the better. Amid a lot of controversy and polemic regarding the originality of his ideas, he published his major opus in 1937, which was to be used against the vagaries of rampant unemployment and inflation. His General Theory of Interest , Employment and Money is a sort of tribute he pays to his father , Malthus and G.E.Moore.
In the personnal side of his life, if this can be said of Keynes for his personal life was eminently devoted to cultural interests i many areas, the book portrays some important changes in his personal atitudes towards homosexuality (he abandoned) and his new life marrying the russian ballerina Ludmila.

When you we get volume 3?.......2000-02-15

A great book about a great man. The development of Keynes' thought is handled well, although some more discussion around possible sources of some of his ideas would have been welcome. Several books about his Bloomsbury freinds have emerged recently, and it is interesting to compare perceptions. I'm uncomfortable with Skidelsky's analysis of Keynesian theory which strikes me as too much of a shoe-horning of Keynes into a classical framework, but I'm hardly an expert. All in all a book to be savoured, and an essential item in one's library.

John Maynard Keynes Volume 2: The Economist As Savior 1920-1937

Average customer rating:

Fine book on a great man

John Maynard Keynes Volume 2: The Economist As Savior 1920-1937
Robert Skidelsky
Manufacturer: Trans- Atlantic Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0333584996

Customer Reviews:

Fine book on a great man.......2000-06-21

This is vol. 2 of Skidelsky's Keynes biography (any sign of vol. 3?). It is a very enjoyable (and exhaustive) account of the most productive professional years (Bretton Woods aside) of one of the great figures of the 20th century. Keynes was the son of Victorian intellectual academic bougiousie; a star of the public school system; trained in mathematics and economics (student of Marshall); student of philosophy, then a bureaucrat in academia and government, becoming an expert in public finance as a high-ranking Treasury official during WWI; a traveller in artistic circles (later a benefactor), part of the Bloomsbury group (intimate with Duncan Grant, Virginia Woolf, etc. (to differing degrees, of course)); statistician/philosopher (his first major published work was "A Treatise on Probability"); pamphleteer ("Economic Consequences of the Peace," etc.); publisher/editor for both the popular and academic press; institutional investor; currency speculator; husband to a Russian ballet dancer; and most influential economist of the 20th century. Keynes would not be possible today.

The one drawback to the Skidelsky book is that it can be slow going. Those with no background in economics should be prepared to skim sections (or work hard). If you're already familiar with the difference between Ricardo and Malthus, and how their thinking carried through Jevons, Marshall, and Marx, and can follow arguments on gold standard vs. floating exchange rates, then you should be able to breeze through.

Book Description

Tim Horton was the rock-steady rear guard who captained the Toronto Maple Leafs for 18 years and led them to four Stanley Cups in the 1960s, including the franchise's last Cup win in 1967. Horton's premature death deprived the hockey world of a legend, but this book rightfully returns him to the spotlight. Dozens of vintage photographs and complete stats complete this tribute to an amazing athlete from hockey's golden era.

Customer Reviews:

Nice collection that gives one a feel for a hockey great........2004-05-04

This book is a collection of articles concerning Tim Horton. Very complimentary of the man and player, the articles definitely give you a feel for the time and play of Tim Horton.

Known to most of us because of the donuts (and they are really good!), this collection allows a glimpse of the man as well. I would recommend this book for those who want a feel for 50 and 60s hockey, as well as those who want the feel of the times.

An all-star book about an all-time defenseman.......2001-06-07

To today's young hockey players and fans, the name Tim Horton elicits thoughts of coffee and donuts; to an older generation of fans, the name Tim Horton brings memories of one of the greatest defenseman ever to play the sport.

Tim Horton was the strongest hockey player of his generation, perhaps of all-time. He was not a goon, however -- he would end fights simply by wrapping his muscular arms around much-bigger players and pulling them apart. He was known for his generosity and gratitude. His teammates made gentle fun of his poor eyesight, calling him "Cousin Weak-Eyes." Horton and Bobby Baun anchored a Leaf defense unmatched in team history.

Tragically, Tim Horton was killed in a car accident in February 1974. Hockey lost one of its heroes.

Craig MacInnis's REMEMBERING TIM HORTON is a terrific look back at the man and the legend. MacInnis and his roster of veteran journalists and writers bring us back to the days when honor meant more than stardom, when pride and winning meant more than a contract hold-out and who's picked higher in the NHL draft, when the Leafs were fighting to winning the Stanley Cup instead of hurrying to pack up their golf bags a few weeks earlier than the Cup champions.

Gives insight of a great player through unique perspective........2001-02-09

This is a great book for those interested in hockey behind the scenes. It is very interesting to read stories told by people such as Punch Imlach etc. about Tim Horton off the ice, in the dressing room and family man. This book is not only for those hockey fans of the 6 team days, but modern day hockey fanatics as well.

Book Description

This Concise Companion presents a multidisciplinary range of approaches to a vast multimedia subject, Shakespeare on screen.

The book's contributors use the latest thinking from cultural studies, communications, and comparative media, in dialogue with literary, theatrical, and filmic approaches, in order to push the field forward. They consider Shakespeare on screen not only as a set of finished products but also as a process. For this reason, the volume is organized around topics such as authorship and collaboration, theatricality, sex and violence, globalization, and history.

The Concise Companion offers readers a variety of accessible routes into Shakespeare on screen and supports further study of the subject through the inclusion of a bibliography, a chronological chart, and a thorough index. At the same time, it serves as a focal point for exploring fundamental issues in the study of literature and culture more broadly, such as the relationships between elite and popular culture, art and the marketplace, text, image, and performance.

Book Description

Believing herself a daughter of the West, Karol Griffin took the myths of the place-and of the outlaw-on faith. When she walked into the Body Art Workshop in Laramie, Wyoming, she found what she was looking for: a culture on the fringe of polite society, complete with outlaw signature. Soon Karol was a full-time tattoo artist, an occasional outlaw, and a tattooed woman looking for love in all the wrong places. By the mid nineties, the West had been invaded by suburban culture; and tattoos had become a mass commodity of coolness, compelling Karol to go even farther to find the authentic outsiders she romanticized. She eventually hooked up with a real old-fashioned Wyoming outlaw, complete with felony convictions and out-standing warrants-which is how Karol wound up looking down the barrel of a gun held by a tattooed caricature of true love.

Customer Reviews:

Confused rebel gal learns life.......2007-02-28

I found this book on a remainder table at Stanford. Thought it would be fun. Turned out to be compelling, hard to put down, especially after being hooked in by the author's, er, "relationship" problems in the opening chapter. Spurning "traditional values," she falls prey to the romanticized ideal of a "Western outlaw" life and men to her regret with that last relationship. Overall a gripping memoir. I found amusing that "the counter-culture girl" couldn't cut it in SF's Mission District, the haven of SF counter-culture types. Perhaps as she raises her child she'll learn that there are a thousand gray areas between "boring" and "outlaw"...and there is a reason outlaws are outlaws!

Takes the myths of the West on faith.......2004-02-07

Karol Griffin takes the myths of the West (and surrounding the outlaw image) on faith in Skin Deep as she encounters a body art workshop in Laramie Wyoming, only to find a new vocation on the fringes of polite society. Griffin's newfound career as a tattoo artist leads to plenty of social insights and commentary in this lively unusual, "reader engaging", and very highly recommended discourse.

worth reading.......2003-11-16

I am from Laramie, Wyoming and I know this author personally. I thought Karol did a fine job of portraying the town and area and the blend of tattoong history interspersed with incidents of this author's life made a rich tapestry of a tale. I could identify with this girl who didn't quite fit in so she finds herself in an unusual job, living a nonconventional lifestyle. Yeah, she has a little attitude problem but thats half her charm. The book read like fiction rather than nonfiction with vivid scenes and well-drawn characters. I'm not into tattoos myself, yet I enjoyed a look into this very different subculture and this authors personal take on it.

thumbs up.......2003-11-16

The last three people who posted reviews didn't bother to read the book first. At least I did my homework. I usually dont like nonfiction accounts of peoples lives but I found this to be a very interesting book. This writer seems sincere in her desire to tell her lifes story as a tattoo artist. It appears she got the bad end of the stick a time or two even though she brought a lot of it on herself. Though I can't figure out if this chick is for real or a poser, that doesn't really matter. The book was well written and she comes off as a person trying to make some sense of her nonconventional life, mistakes and all and she should be respected for her candidness.

Too Kool For School.......2003-11-06

Karol Griffin? If you only knew her from this book, you'd think: Great writer, awful attitude problem.

If you've ever gotten a tattoo or piercing, you know that the Gods of Body Mod can be, shall we say, a little snotty. If you're not the "right" kind of client, you get icy treatment. I made the cut, as it were (I had 25 piercings by 1991, and back then, maaaan, that gave me The Cred), but I always hated hated hated that McOutlaw audition process you had to go through. "Are you a non-conformist just like us? Well, okay then! If not...hmph."

Griffin drips contempt for every deb, dude, novice, suburbanite, sorority girl, or otherwise non-hipster damaged person who crosses her path, and who crosses the threshold of the tat shop. Mix that with her hue and cry over the corruption of the West (oh GOD, that cliche again?) *and* the corruption of the sanctity of tattooing and you've got a great writer who you can't stand! Shame. She's got some real chops.

Only in the afterword does she a) pretty much confess that she herself is a whitebread exile in the McOutlaw world or b) show any thoughtfulness and generosity toward others regarding external markers and what they mean about identity (she finally realizes they don't mean much at all. welcome to adulthood, dollface.)

It's savagely ironic for someone who sells their tattoo skills to whine about the increasing popularity of tattooing. If you want to stay pure, stay out of the marketplace and stay in your tidy, kooler than thou bubble. It'll be lonely as hell, but at least you'll be assured that everyone around you meets your exacting alterna-snob standard.

Her use of language is fun and alive, but what she's choosing to communicate is petty and ugly and, frankly, about as tired as a tribal tat on the lower back.

Average customer rating:
Skin Deep : Tattoos, the Disappearing West, Very Bad Men, and My Deep Love for Them All
Karol Griffin
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Art and Science of Modern Tattooing

ASIN: B000OJEON6

Book Description

Tips on combining all 60 deadly spells
Weapons tactics that massacre the competition
Details on all three terrifying quests
Comprehensive walkthroughs of every mission
Covers each online multiplayer mode

Magic combo tactics
Mission maps

Customer Reviews:

You need it.......2003-03-06

This game is a couple of years old now however it holds up very well. Unfortunately it wasn't a big seller so it didn't get the praise it deserved. Game Spot gave it a "Great" review, 85% I think, and the game lives up to the high marks.

It also deserves a game guide and Prima has done another excellent job in coming through with "Nox: Prima's Official Strategy Guide".

The single-player game can be quite a challange and this guide will get you through the rough spots without resorting to the old "GOD" cheat.

The only complaint I have is the black and white screen shots which did not come out well but it's a minor complaint really.

When I buy a PC game I always check first to see if a strategy guide will be published. It makes a difference in my decision to proceed with the purchase. Any time I see that Prima is going to publish the guide I am well pleased as they always do a terrific job. Prima never disappoints, never.

Got Nox? Get This!.......2000-12-07

This Strategy guide has everything you ever wanted to know about Nox. It is helpful, informative, and 1.5 inches thick (Literally)! Have you ever missed a secret area? Have you ever wanted to know what bonuses a Silver Longsword of Healing and the Moon Did? Get the Guide! This is personaly the best guide I have ever used, because it is well written and complete. Unfortunately, it is not all perfect. The guide does not cover the downloadable "Nox Quest" epansion, where many people need the most instruction. It is not as great looking as some, like C&C Tiberian Sun, but has b&w pictures that suffice in showing you around. Overall, this is a great guide, lacking a few thing needed for that high goal of 5 stars.

Nox can be a great game but......it is very hard........2000-06-07

this will help alot and you may do alot better

Average customer rating:

Insightful!

A Guidepost for Success

Good for general managers, not for professional purchasers

Insightful!

The Sourcing Solution: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating a Successful Purchasing Program
Larry Paquette
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Lean Supply Chain Management: A Handbook for Strategic Procurement

ASIN: 0814471919

Book Description

The purchasing function is in the middle of unprecedented change. The transformation is being driven by globalization in consumer and supplier markets, as well as by rapid technological advances that facilitate procurement on any scale.

The Sourcing Solution offers a clear overview of the new tools of sourcing success, including e-commerce and Internet strategies, supply-chain management technology, inventory auction sites, strategic sourcing initiatives, offshore and international sourcing, and much more. Author Larry Paquette brings his considerable experience to this engaging and accessible guide, designed to give readers practical ideas for use in their own organizations and throughout their careers.

The Sourcing Solution is a timely resource for professionals at all levels, including:

* Newly promoted buyers who will use it as a basic introduction to purchasing, filled with great ideas for how to do the job better * Managers whose growth and new responsibilities require understanding of broader issues * Executives who need to identify shortfalls in current sourcing initiatives, set new procurement goals, and develop strategies and metrics for ensuring

Customer Reviews:

Insightful!.......2004-04-23

Purchasing is a critically important business function, although it lacks the glamour and excitement of, say, finance or sales. In the past, purchasing employees have often been little more than glorified clerks mired in price comparisons. Sometimes, their responsibilities included accompanying vendors to ballgames and such, activities that helped keep the purchasing pro's mind off the fact that not many CEOs seemed to come up through the purchasing department. That may already be changing. Indeed, purchasing is now a career hot spot. Several trends - such as corporate demands for cost cutting and outsourcing, new electronic markets and auctions, globalization of customers and vendors, sharper supply-chain logistics technology, and the movement to create partnerships with suppliers - make purchasing substantially more important than ever before. Author Larry Paquette offers a short, lucid, quite readable summary of the essentials of purchasing in that light. We find it an excellent, comprehensive and useful overview of sourcing.

A Guidepost for Success.......2004-04-16

In an age of micro business specialization, The Sourcing Solution provides a refreshingly broad approach to sourcing in the global economy. Where most business books on the shelf today delve deeply into a specific topic or bore the reader to tears with exploring the remotest corners of a topic, this book provides a road map to overall sourcing success.

As Paquette points out, this book provides an overview approach to sourcing, and lists and briefly covers the steps required to improve the probability of attaining success. For the new buyer, this is a checklist of learning and experience required. For the manager of a company looking to install a sourcing process, The Sourcing Solution identifies areas to be concerned with. As the reader goes through the text, they are free to create a sylibus of topics they feel they need to explore further.

This book is not intended to be the "Be all, final sourcing reference" when it comes to sourcing. Instead, it is a well written guide to sourcing of the future. I found it to be an entertaining read that presents the material in an informative, yet interesting manner.

Good for general managers, not for professional purchasers.......2004-04-10

As a procurement consultant I can agree on most issues Paquette raises in his book. Despite valuable details and a good overview, however, I would not recommend this book for professional purchasers, even though this is the target group Paquette addresses.

Why? The book is a little bit superficial in nature, just scraping issues without providing you with the tools you need to actually solve problems. As an example, Paquette talks about a Japanese technique called SMED. In the single page dedicated to the issue, you do not really learn what it is. The only advantage of being mentioned is that you may feel inspired to find out if it fits your company and how to implement it. Paquette includes some literature links, unfortunately without regularely quoting them in the text. So you have to start an own research or ask someone to do so for you.

This leads me to my final conclusion: In my opinion, professional purchasers may find the book too little revealing. Still, it is a good book, however for a different audience: The typical reader would be the head of a commercial department, who has also taken over the responsability for a purchasing sub-department and needs to have some introductory insights to understand the state and the potential for his purchasing unit.

Insightful!.......2004-03-10

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