On the Other Hand ... Essays on Economics, Economists, and Politics.

• Author: Hoaas, David J.

Stein defines the economics industry as having three main segments: the raw-material-production part, the teaching part, and the advising part. Those working in the area of producing raw economics write articles that flow into the journal mill. Teachable economics is that body of knowledge made available to students. In the advising part of the industry there is a stock of economics that consists of a few elementary concepts and propositions. It is in the advising sector of the economics industry that Herbert Stein has worked for fifty-six years. This text chronicles Stein's observations of economic advising since he first arrived in Washington D.C. in 1938. His most notable time in Washington was spent as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Nixon Administration and a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute.

The title of the text is drawn from President Truman's observation that he wished he had a one-armed economist who would not say, "On the one hand . . . and on the other" [p. 1]. The text is insightful, light-hearted, and humorous. Structurally, the book is divided into six sections and thirty-four chapters. Most chapters represent previously written and published articles. A large number of these articles appeared in either the Wall Street Journal or The American Enterprise in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Most of these are stand alone pieces, and as such, it is not necessary that one read the sections or the chapters in order. Since this text represents a collection of essays, there is the usual small degree of redundancy from chapter to chapter. The level of redundancy, however, is not annoying.

Chapter 4, "The Triumph of the Adaptive Society," provides Stein's history of capitalism in the United States from 1929 to September 1989 when the piece was originally published. Stein's view of capitalism and the American economy forms the basis for many of his ideas and policy recommendations.

In the prior chapter, "The Future of the Adaptive Society," he identifies what he considers to be the most obvious concerns of the American people [pp. 23-24]. He is quick to caution that he does not wish to make prior judgments about whether these are real or merely alleged concerns. Likewise, he does not care to prioritize these concerns. His list of concerns is similar to the list that most economists would generate: average per capita income growth has slowed; the incomes of some parts of the population have been growing...