A Little History of Economics by Niall Kishtainy

A Little History of Economics

by Niall Kishtainy

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History & Foreign Affairs

From Plato and Aristotle to Piketty, Stiglitz and Sen, in about 40 short chapters, each built around a thinker or a concept. Kishtainy writes for readers new to economics, and he ties each set of ideas to the historical events around it, so you see what every thinker was responding to.

Core ideas
  • Ancient and medieval roots: Economic thinking begins long before the modern discipline, with Plato, Aristotle and medieval thought such as Thomas Aquinas.
  • Rival systems: Mercantilism, the Physiocrats, Adam Smith and David Ricardo, the utopian socialists Fourier, Owen and Saint-Simon, and Marx each get their turn.
  • Into the present: Alfred Marshall, Keynes and his critics, and the Great Depression lead toward today's arguments over poverty, trade, crises and government intervention.
Published2017
Pages256
ISBN9780300206364
ReadFeb 2024

Connected to 4 other books

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The History of Money: A Story of Humanity by David McWilliams The History of Money David McWilliams Read Aug 2026 Money is a relationship as much as it's a tool. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber Debt David Graeber Read Jul 2023 The barter story sounds sensible, and economists have told it since Adam Smith. How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities by John Cassidy How Markets Fail John Cassidy Read Mar 2024 At their best, markets let people trade to mutual benefit, the ideal economists call Pareto efficiency. The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel The Psychology of Money Morgan Housel Read Aug 2023 Morgan Housel's case is that doing well with money depends more on how you behave than on what you know.