Warsh, who had a long-running economics column in theBoston Globe, here journeys through the discipline's history en route to an analysis of an influential 1990 technical paper. Written by Paul Romer, "Endogenous Technological Change" is described by Warsh as mathematically formidable, which is the way modern economists like their fare, begging the question of why its story would be of general interest. First, hundreds of thousands annually enroll in university-level economics courses; second, Romer's paper, pertinent to the information revolution that is our zeitgeist, is clearly explained by Warsh; and third, Warsh reveals the occupation of economics to the benefit of those who aspire to it. After historical exegesis of Adam Smith and his successors, Warsh depicts post-1945 schools of thought, biographically summarizing figures such as monetarist Milton Friedman and Keynesian Robert Solow, and those of Romer's generation now in their career primes. Appraising the intellectual lineage and gestation of Romer's paper, Warsh imparts in a comprehensible way the engagement many have with economic thought.
