Thirtyfive rules for clear and persuasive prose chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing by deirdre n. Economists do not mind criticism of their facts or their formalisms, because they have been trained in these to take criticism, and to dish it out. Donald mccloskey department of economics and of history, university of iowa. Her thirtyone rules, offered with wit and delightful brevity, include the essential warning that though rules can help, bad rules hurt. Absolutely no one is impressed by a sentence they cannot understand. Mccloskey delivers a thoughtful, fun, and very slim volume, focused on economics writing but also applicable to most nonfiction writing. Most writing handbooks are exactly what they most admonish. The main cause of bad writing in economics is that economists dont read. Deirdre nansen mccloskey born september 11, 1942 in ann arbor, michigan is the distinguished professor of economics, history, english, and communication at the. Understanding that irony well, mccloskey has imbued economical writing with just enough wit and excursus to make it pleasurable. Economical writing mccloskey 1985 economic inquiry. Mccloskey is an economist by training, but she has written across a wide variety of fields.
Most people who write a lot, as do economists, have an amateurish atti tude towards writing. For reasons i do not entirely understand, the clerisy after 1848 turned toward nationalism and socialism, and against liberalism, and came also to delight in an everexpanding list of pessimisms about the way we live now in our approximately liberal societies, from the lack of temperance among the poor to an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The quality of your economic logic is what counts, not big words or complicated sentences. Presentation mode open print download current view. Thirtyfive rules for clear and persuasive prose chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing pdf.
Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left. An executive summary deirdre mccloskey university of iowa the main cause of bad writing in economics is that economists dont read good writing. Writing is thinking now the influence of mere style is greater than you think. Proceeding from bigpicture ideas to concrete strategies for improvement at the level of the paragraph, sentence, or word, mccloskey shows us that good writing, after all, is not just a matter of taste its a. The three books comprise one intellectual venture which aims to answer the great riddle of contemporary economic historians. Eleanor birch, thomas borcherding, ross eckert, anthony english, clifford geertz, albert hirschman, linda kerber, charles kindleberger, meir kohn, david landes, much of the mccloskey family laura, helen, and joanne, joel mokyr, erin newton, much. Pdf salant 1969 complained that on many occasions he found the writing of. The economist deirdre mccloskey, in her provocative short guide economical writing, explains the idea nicely. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Eleanor birch, thomas borcherding, ross eckert, anthony english, clifford geertz, albert hirschman, linda kerber, charles kindleberger, meir kohn, david landes, much of the mccloskey family laura, helen, and joanne, joel mokyr, erin newton, much of the solow family john, barbara. Deirdre mccloskey s economical writing, originally aimed to help economists write better, is in this second edition clearly a book that should be read by scholars in every field.
Mccloskey, donald, economical writing, economic inquiry. An economically trained person is likely to spend most of her working life writing papers, reports, memoranda, proposals, columns, and letters. It explores a wide range of questions related to the nature of ethical economic practice. If economists would read jane austen or george orwell, or even adam smith or thomas schelling. Rewrite and edit your first draftand your second one, too. One of the best books for writers in the social sciences is deirdre mccloskey s economical writing, a very short, very small book that offers a number of important principles for writing. Thirtyfive rules for clear and persuasive prose, deirdre n. Mccloskey, donald, economical writing, economic inquiry, apr. Somewhere around 1980, deirdre mccloskey undertook a decisive break with her intellectual past. Economical writing, third edition university of chicago press. Essentially there are two kinds of economics papers.
Marx and especially his followers deirdre nansen mccloskey1 karl marx has had since 1848 the tightest grip on the social imaginary of the clerisy out of all the men we are discussing here. Read economical writing, third edition by deirdre n. Mccloskey, donald, economical writing, economic inquiry, 23. Economical writing donald mccloskey most people who write a lot, as do economists, have an amateurish atti tude towards writing. Economical writing by deirdre mccloskey stephen kinsella. Preface vii why you should not stop reading here 1 1 writing is a trade 3 2 writing is thinking 6 3 rules can help, but bad rules hurt 9 4 be thou clear, but seek joy, too 15 5 the rules are factual rather than logical 19 6 classical rhetoric guides even the economical writer 22 7 fluency can be achieved by grit 24 8 write early rather than late 26.
Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, ipad, iphone and android. Economically speaking, she writes, the production function for thinking cannot be written as the sum of two subfunctions, one. Mccloskey born donald mccloskey, september 11, 1942 in ann arbor, michigan is an american professor who is a distinguished professor of economics, history, english, and communication at the university of illinois at chicago uic. The man in the street loves his mistaken opinions about free trade, and will not listen to professors of economics. The oxford handbook of professional economic ethics, coedited by george demartino and deirdre mccloskey, is now available. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Search for more papers by this author department of economics and of history, university of iowa. A series of short 1 to 3 page chapters in a small 5 by 7 inch book about writing, aimed at economists but useful for any technical writers. Mccloskey the university of iowa the length of the acknowledgments here testifies to an unexplored feature of the rhetoric of economics, the role of the audience. Proceeding from bigpicture ideas to concrete strategies for improvement at the level of the paragraph, sentence, or word, mccloskey shows us that good writing, after all, is not just a matter of tasteits. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Mccloskey 2000, though we use it here in a somewhat narrower sense than she does.
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