Paul A. Samuelson & William A. Barnett 
Inside the Economist’s Mind 
Conversations with Eminent Economists

By focusing on the human side as well as the intellectual
dimensions of how economists work and think, this collection of
interviews with top economists of the 20th century becomes a
startling and lively introduction to the modern world of
macroeconomics. A fun read!

For more information, frequent updates, and to comment on the
forthcoming book, visit William A. Barnett’s weblog at
http://economistmind.blogspot.com/.

Acclaim for Inside the Economist’s Mind

‘In candid interviews, these great economists prove to be
fabulous story tellers of their lives and times. Unendingly
gripping for insiders, this book should also help non-specialists
understand how economists think.’

Professor Julio Rotemberg, Harvard University Business School,
and Editor, Review of Economics and Statistics.

‘Economics used to be called the ‘dismal science’. It will be
impossible for anybody to hold that view anymore … This is
science with flesh and blood, and a lot of fascinating stories that
you will find nowhere else.’

Dr. Jean-Pascal Bénassy, Paris-Jourdan Sciences
Économiques, Paris, France

‘This book provides a rare and intriguing view of the personal
and professional lives of leading economists … It is like A
Beautiful Mind, scaled by a factor of 16 [the number of
interviews in the book].’

Professor Lee Ohanian, University of California at Los
Angeles

‘ … if you want an insider view of how economics has been
developing in the last decades, this is the (only) book for
you.’

Professor Giancarlo Gandolfo, University of Rome ‘La
Sapienza, ‘ Rome

‘Here we see the HUMAN side of path-breaking research, the
personalities and pitfalls, the DRAMA behind the science.’

Professor Francis X. Diebold, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia

Table of Content

Coeditor’s Foreword: Reflections on How Biographies of Individual
Scholars Can Relate to a Science’s Biography (Paul A. Samuelson).

Coeditor’s Preface: An Overview of the Objectives and Contents
of the Volume (William A. Barnett).

History of Thought Introduction: Economists Talking with
Economists, An Historian’s Perspective (E. Roy Weintraub).

Interviews:

1. An Interview with Wassily Leontief (Interviewed by Duncan K.
Foley).

2. An Interview with David Cass (Interviewed jointly by Stephen
E. Spear and Randall Wright).

3. An Interview with Robert E. Lucas, Jr. (Interviewed by
Bennett T. Mc Callum).

4. An Interview with János Kornai (Interviewed by Olivier
Blanchard).

5. An Interview with Franco Modigliani (Interviewed by William
A. Barnett and Robert Solow).

6. An Interview with Milton Friedman (Interviewed by John B.
Taylor).

7. An Interview with Paul A. Samuelson (Interviewed by William
A. Barnett).

8. An Interview with Paul A. Volcker (Interviewed by Perry
Mehrling).

9. An Interview with Martin Feldstein (Interviewed by James M.
Poterba).

10. An Interview with Christopher A. Sims (Interviewed by Lars
Peter Hansen).

11. An Interview with Robert J. Shiller (Interviewed by John Y.
Campbell).

12. An Interview with Stanley Fischer (Interviewed by Olivier
Blanchard).

13. An Interview with Jacques Drèze (Interviewed by Pierre
Dehez and Omar Licandro).

14. An Interview with Thomas J. Sargent (Interviewed by George
W. Evans and Seppo Honkapohja).

15. An Interview with Robert Auman (Interviewed by Sergiu
Hart).

16. Conversations with James Tobin and Robert Shiller on the
‘Yale Tradition’ in Macroeconomics (Conducted by David
Colander).

About the author

Paul A. Samuelson is Professor Emeritus of Economics and
Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. In 1970 he became the first American to win the Nobel
Prize in Economics. His landmark 1947 book, Foundations of
Economic Analysis, based upon his Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard
University, established him as ‘the economists’
economist’ by raising the standards of the entire profession.
Paul Samuelson’s classic textbook, Economics, first
published in 1948, is among the most successful textbooks ever
published in the field.

William A. Barnett is Oswald Distinguished Professor of
Macroeconomics at the University of Kansas. He is Editor of the
monograph series International Symposia in Economic Theory and
Econometrics, and Editor of the journal, Macroeconomic
Dynamics. He has published 17 books and over 130 articles in
professional journals.