A Times Best Business Book of 2018
What can the ideas of history's greatest economists tell us about the most important issues of our time
Since the days of Adam Smith,economists have grappled with a series of familiar problems - but often their ideas are hard to digest,before we even try to apply them to today's issues. Linda Yueh is renowned for her combination of erudition,as an accomplished economist herself,and accessibility,as a leading writer and broadcaster in this field; and in The Great Economists she explains the key thoughts of history's greatest economists,how their lives and times affected their ideas,how our lives have been influenced by their work,and how they could help with the policy challenges that we face today.
In the light of current economic problems,and in particular economic growth,Yueh explores the thoughts of economists from Adam Smith and David Ricardo through Joan Robinson and Milton Friedman to Douglass North and Robert Solow.
Along the way she asks,for example: what do the ideas of Karl Marx tell us about the likely future for the Chinese economy How does the work of John Maynard Keynes,who argued for government spending to create full employment,help us think about state investment And with globalization in trouble,what can we learn about handling Brexit and Trumpism
In one accessible volume,this expert new voice provides an overarching guide to the biggest questions of our time.
The Great Economists includes:Adam SmithDavid RicardoKarl MarxAlfred MarshallIrving FisherJohn Maynard KeynesJoseph SchumpeterFriedrich HayekJoan RobinsonMilton FriedmanDouglass NorthRobert Solow
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780241974476Number of pages: 368Weight: 257 gDimensions: 201 x 130 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'You can see her journalistic training in the way she makes connections between the lives,characters and thinking of her subjects'- John Lanchester,The Sunday Times
'Crisp pen portraits and introductions to complex ideas have been melded with an assessment of what a particular dead economist might have advised about a contemporary issue...The portraits are entertainingly crafted and the details of family lives well deployed.'- Iain Martin,The Times
'Awesome yet accessible...recommended!'- Tim Harford
'The achievements of modern,scientific economics are significant,and the reader who wants a slick and well-curated tour of its current policy recommendations will profit greatly from Yueh's enjoyable and up-to-date book.'- Felix Martin,The New Statesman
'Is economics a science in which each new generation's discoveries build on those of the old Or a humanistic study in which old ideas remain valid and relevant today Linda Yueh's account of the thinking of the great economists demonstrates that both perspectives are true.'- Professor John Kay
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