Great Economic Thinkers: An Introduction - from Adam Smith to Amartya Sen

(Paperback)

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Great Economic Thinkerspresents an accessible introduction to the lives and works of the most influential economists of modern times. Free from confusing jargon and equations, the book describes and discusses key economic concepts from the role played by the division of labour, to wages and rents, cognitive biases, saving, entrepreneurship, game theory, liberalism, laissez-faire and welfare economics showing how they have come to shape how we see ourselves and our society today.

All of the thirteen economists featured Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall, Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, and Nobel Prize winners Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, John Forbes Nash, Jr, Daniel Kahneman, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz have had a profound influence on our attitudes towards market intervention and regulation, taxation, trade and monetary policy. Each chapter combines a biographical outline of a single thinker with critical analysis of their contribution to economic thought. The book features an introduction by economics historian D'Maris Coffman.

If you've ever wanted to find out more about the theorists who gave us the `invisible hand', Keynesianism, `creative destruction', behavioural economics and other concepts, this book is the perfect place to start.

Reviews

"For general readers wishing to develop a basic understanding of the economic ideas of major Anglophone thinkers, as well as Marx's economic ideas, the book is instructive."-- "Economic Record"
"The thirteen economists represent what is essential knowing in economics by all cognizant readers, who are stimulated to reflect on what makes for 'great economic thinking.' It is evident that, for all their diversities, the authors here celebrated showed a strong tendency to defy disciplinary boundaries--albeit without the imperialistic intent of today's economics--in observance of the Keynesian rule that a good economist is never only an economist. . . . Readers of different kinds will profit from this book and enjoy it. Though it eschews the technicalities of the specialist literature and is a pleasant read, the stories told are never oversimplified, even when complex theoretical constructs are tackled."-- "European Journal of the History of Economic Thought"
"Thirteen papers present accessible profiles of notable economists, highlighting the ways in which they have influenced attitudes toward market intervention and regulation, taxation, trade, and monetary policy."-- "Journal of Economic Literature"

Author Bio

Jonathan Conlin is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Southampton. His books include Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Making of the Modern City (2013), Evolution and the Victorians (2014) and Adam Smith (Reaktion, 2016).