The Making of Modern Economics: The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers / Edition 3

by Mark Skousen

Overview

The Making of Modern Economics presents a bold and engaging history of economics—the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today's rigorous social science.

This comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the major economic philosophers begins with Adam Smith and continues through to the present day. It examines the contributions each one made to our understanding of the role of the economist, the science of economics and economic theory. Boxes in each chapter highlight little-known and entertaining facts about the economists' personal lives that had an influence on their work.

The fourth edition adds coverage of modern monetary theory, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, minimum wage debates, Schumpeter and socialism, Malthus and immigration, and more.

The Making of Modern Economics is a valuable, engaging text for courses in the history of economic thought and political economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765645449
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/15/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	510
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Mark Skousen is an investment expert, economist, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph.D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College and is a Presidential Fellow and Doti-Spogli Endowed Chair of Free Enterprise at Chapman University.

Table of Contents

	List of Figures, Illustrations, Photographs, and Tables	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction	1
1.	It All Started with Adam	13
2.	The French Connection: Laissez Faire Avance!	45
3.	The Irreverent Malthus Challenges the New Model of Prosperity	67
4.	Tricky Ricardo Takes Economics Down a Dangerous Road	91
5.	Milling Around: John Stuart Mill and the Socialists Search for Utopia	115
6.	Marx Madness Plunges Economics into a New Dark Age	131
7.	Out of the Blue Danube: Menger and the Austrians Reverse the Tide	167
8.	Marshalling the Troops: Scientific Economics Comes of Age	193
9.	Go West, Young Man: Americans Solve the Distribution Problem in Economics	223
10.	The Conspicuous Veblen Versus the Protesting Weber: Two Critics Debate the Meaning of Capitalism	243
11.	The Fisher King Tries to Catch the Missing Link in Macroeconomics	267
12.	The Missing Mises: Mises (and Wicksell) Make a Major Breakthrough	285
13.	The Keynes Mutiny: Capitalism Faces Its Greatest Challenge	319
14.	Paul Raises the Keynesian Cross: Samuelson and Modern Economics	351
15.	Milton's Paradise: Friedman Leads a Monetary Counterrevolution	379
16.	The Creative Destruction of Socialism: The Dark Vision of Joseph Schumpeter	413
17.	Dr. Smith Goes to Washington: The Triumph of Market Economics	431
	Index	459
	About the Author	487

Editorial Reviews

Proclaiming that "it all started with Adam," Skousen runs through the history of Western economics by ranking thinkers from Say and Bastiat to Milton Friedman against Adam Smith and his "system of natural liberty." Rather than reeling out a dry history of the dismal science, Skousen (Rollins College, Winter Park, FL)<-->an enthusiastically partisan free-marketeer<-->tells this as a running narrative, with the heroic figure of Smith at its center. (He even provides notes on the background music appropriate for each chapter; Smith's own story gets Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man.") His history examines the contributions made by each thinker to the role of economist, the science of economics, and economic theory overall. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"The most interesting and lively book on the history of economic thought ever written." - Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College, UK.

"My students love it. Skousen makes the history of economics come alive like no other textbook." - Roger W. Garrison, Auburn University, USA.

"The most interesting and lively book on the history of economic thought ever written." - Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College, UK.

"My students love it. Skousen makes the history of economics come alive like no other textbook." - Roger W. Garrison, Auburn University, USA.

Praise for previous editions

"A story rarely told….It’s unputdownable!" - Mark Blaug, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

"One of the most original books ever published in economics." - Richard Swedberg, Cornell University, USA

"Provocative, engaging, anything but dismal!" - N. Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University, USA

"Irreverent, passionate, entertaining, sometimes mischievous, like the author himself!" - David Colander, Middlebury College, USA

"Mark Skousen's history is brilliant." - Brad DeLong, Berkeley, USA

From the Publisher