croeconomics Samuelson’s development of diagrams of supply and demand, or cost curves set the disciplines standard. However, in the area of macroeconomics, there are some criticisms of Samuelson’s theories.One of these critics is Professor Mark Skousen of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Professor Skousen believes that Samuelson created a false sense that there is a unified way of thinking on how economies work. Skousen states that in Samuelson’s book, “Economics” he was introducing John Maynard Keynes’ beliefs about economics that advocate the need for active government and skepticism about market outcomes. Skousen believes that people are denied the opportunity to be exposed to the trends of privatization and supply-side economics that have significantly boosted economic activity in other nations.Skousen’s strongest criticisms of Samuelson are about Samuelson’s belief that the Soviet’s economy was proof that a Socialist command economy can function and thrive. Shortly after that statement, the Berlin Wall was torn down and the Soviets economy collapsed. Skousen’s other strong criticism is in regard to Samuelson’s “paradox of thrift” that states that excessive savings could cause recession or worse. (Skousen, p.11)COMPARSION/IMPACTSamuelson's influence was felt all over the world. Indeed, his textbooks have sold more than a million copies and have been translated into French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic. "The book's emphasis on different themes has changed with the changing of the nation's economic problems," wrote Business Week in 1959" (Anonymous bio.html).The first edition was dominated by the end-of-the-war worry that widespread unemployment would return while later editions put growing stress on fiscal and monetary controls over inflation. In the later editions Samuelson has worked toward w...
