One is struck by the wide disparity in the quality and content of these essays. Some are quite insightful: either shedding light on a particular economist's field(s) of interest, or else opening the particular economist's psyche for the reader to see. Tibor Scitovsky's piece is an excellent example of writing that does both; the reader comes away with knowledge of the intellectual underpinnings of Scitovsky's work as well as some clarity into what motivated him in the first place. His is, in my opinion, the most thought-provoking piece in the book. Also notable, William Baumol's essay is a clearly written, lucid exposition of his worldview, and even the most ideologically opposite reader comes away with an appreciation for Baumol the man.
Other essays are turgid and difficult to wade through (like much of economic writing, I'm afraid). Maurice Allais' work was so uninteresting as to make me wish I were reading something else. To be fair, it must be noted that Allais' piece was translated and may have been brilliant in the original French.
Some of the economists obviously took lightly the task of setting their life philosophies in print, while others took advantage of the opportunity to try to wrest validation for their now-discredited theories. Samuelson's piece, in particular, came across as shrill and catty, resulting to the often-used but rarely effective (except in the academic world) tactic of criticizing an opponent with an a priori sense of correctness (by which I mean including in the criticism the inflection that "everyone who's anyone already believes this, I'm just doing the world a favor and putting it in print." Samuelson does himself much disservice by attacking his betters, especially Hayek and Friedman, in this manner.)
A pleasant surprise was discovering that the life philosophies of some of the economists from whom I least expected it turned out to be interesting and enjoyable to read. Shigeto Tsuru's essay falls into this category. Although I disagree with almost all of his economic work, Tsuru demonstrates his intellectual consistency and helps the reader to understand his motivation, as well as admire his intellectual honesty in staying true to his ideals.
One final note: It is striking the amount of influence certain economists held over this generation, and by extrapolation, hold over the world as we know it. One wonders what shape the world would be in if Joseph Schumpeter, J.M. Keynes, A.C. Pigou and a few others had chosen other professions.
