Second Thoughts

"The caliber of the reasoning and the presentation of the historical evidence will place this book at the center of economic policy debates. It will be read by those who agree with the argument and, more important, by those who expect to disagree with it."--Stanley R. Engerman, University of Rochester; coauthor of Time on the Cross"A delightful volume."--Choice"In Second Thoughts, some of America's leading economic historians tell us what lessons should have been learned from the past to guide us in matters of current public policy....Economic history was never such fun."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History"McCloskey combines his talents with those of many of his closest professional colleagues to produce an enticing set of relatively short essays that use economic history to illustrate the pitfalls and promise for contemporary public policy problems....A delightful volume."--Choice"The caliber of the reasoning and the presentation of the historical evidence will place this book at the center of economic policy debates. It will be read by those who agree with the argument and, more important, by those who expect to disagree with it. Second Thoughts is an excellent volume to be used by students as well as by general readers."--Stanley R. Engerman, University of Rochester; coauthor of Time on the Cross"Second Thoughts reaches conclusions that will challenge people of every political persuasion."--Rocky Mountain News"[Economists'] insights into how humans behave when faced with changed incentives remain remarkably reliable. Donald McCloskey...[with this book] steers the profession back to this tradition of 'refined common sense.' In this collection assembled for the Manhattan Institute, economists become storytellers."--The Wall Street Journal"Looking at a broad spectrum of American policies through the years--from farming to trade to income tax--these authors plead for a better understanding of how policies actually work."--The Washington Post Book World