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The question, what are the three best books in hot, raises its own
questions. Are we looking for the three best instances of primary
literature or secondary literature? And if the latter (which is what I
presume) are we interested in textbooks, books, or articles? Finally,
are we looking for books that talk about how to do history, or are
instances of history (though some do both)?
In my reply, I take it we are talking about the secondary literature, and
actual instances of history. I tell my hot class that there are few
decent texts in history of thought, so we'll just rule texts out. So the
range will be good books and articles.
For books, 2 that come to mind are Skidelsky's masterful and beautifully
written biography of Keynes, and Peter Clarke's pathbreaking "The
Keynesian Revolution in the Making." Four articles that I use in my own
thought class as examples of excellent (but very different from one
another in content, tone, and approach) contributions are Mirowski's
"Physics and the `Marginalist Revolution'" _Cambridge Eco Journal_ 1984,
Brad Bateman's "In the Realm of Concept and Circumstance" _HOPE_ 1994,
Vernon Smith's "The Two Faces of Adam Smith" _Southern Eco journal_ July
1998, and (a personal favorite) Caldwell's "Hayek and Socialism" _JEL_
1997.
Bruce J. Caldwell
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