Description
Book SynopsisAs a broad introduction to the history of economic thought – based on courses the authors have taught for many years – this book provides a magisterial overview for students and teachers who have not had the opportunity to cover the development of the field of economics in its historical context.
The text is presented as a series of twenty-four lectures, which can be used as the basis for self-study or for the delivery of a course. Each lecture presents an outline of aims, a select bibliography, a chronology, an overview of between 3,000 and 4,000 words, and questions for further study or reflection.
Contemporary understanding of economic principles sheds little light on the manner in which past thinkers thought, so the reader is provided with the much-needed context behind the development of ideas, as well as being guided through the original writings of economists such as Smith, Jevons, Marshall, Robbins, Keynes and others. The emphasis is on the broad developing stream of economic argument from the seventeenth century to the present, seeking to emphasize a diversity that is sometimes suppressed in more conventional textbooks, which tend to organize their histories into sequences of schools of thought.
Backhouse and Tribe bring their considerable insight and knowledge to bear on the text, having honed their presentation to the needs of those with no previous background in the subject, without sacrificing analysis or rigour. The book will be warmly welcomed by students and teachers alike.
Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Commerce, wealth and power: the disputed foundations of the strength of a nation2. Natural order, physiocracy and reform3. Adam Smith I: outline of a project4. Adam Smith II: the two texts5. The political economy of Malthus and Ricardo6. Political economy in continental Europe and the United States7. Political economy, philosophic radicalism and John Stuart Mill8. Popular political economy: List, Carey, Bastiat and George9. Radical political economy: Marx and his sources10. Marginalism and subjectivism: Jevons and Edgeworth11. From political economy to economics12. Alfred Marshall’s project13. Microeconomics after Marshall14. Monetary economics15. The rise of mathematical economics, 1930-6016. Robbins’s Essay and the definition of economics17. John Maynard Keynes18. Quantitative economics19. The Keynesian revolution20. Modern macroeconomics21. Inflation and the Phillips curve22. Popular economics23. Economics and policy24. Ideology and place
