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This book provides a concise history of economic thought for readers of all ages. While some basic economics knowledge would be helpful, it is not required. The book sets out to achieve three aims: to be interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking. While the authors may appear opinionated in certain instances, this is intentionally done in order to alert readers to form their own views. History of ideas does not make the us smarter nor richer, but it can reduce our ignorance and the "banality of evil"-a term Hannah Arendt referred to people who lack self-reflection, "He did his duty...; he not only obeyed orders, he also obeyed the law."
List of contents
Fun and Useful.- Welcome!.- Dead Men's Wrong Ideas?.- Pioneers and Contenders.- Wealth and Power: Mercantilism.- The Physiocrats and Law of Nature.- Classical School.- Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand of the Market Mechanism.- Thomas Malthus and Effectual Demand.- David Ricardo and Differential Rent.- John Stuart Mill and the Peak Time of the Classic School.- The Rise of Socialism.- Antagonists to the Classic School.- Karl Marx and the Collapse of Capitalism.- Marginal Analysis.- The Marginal School in France.- The Marginal School in Germany, Austria, and the U.K.- Application and Extension of the Marginal School.- Alfred Marshall and the Foundation of the Neo-Classical School.- Theories of Imperfect Competition.- Contemporary Trends.- The Boom of Mathematical Economics.- The Institutional School.- Keynes and Keynesian Economics.- Early Austrian School.- The Rise of the Chicago School.- Epilogue: Economic Ideas in Retrospect.- Further Readings.
About the author
Cheng-chung Lai is Emeritus Professor at National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), with three decades of experience in teaching economic history and history of economics thought. His books in English include: Adam Smith across Nations: Translations and Receptions of The Wealth of Nations, Oxford University Press (2000); Braudel's Historiography Reconsidered (2004). He was educated in Taiwan (BA) and Belgium (MA), received his doctorate from École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.
Tai-kuang Ho is Professor of Economics at National Taiwan University, educated in Taiwan (BS and MA) and at the University of Bonn, Germany (Ph.D.). Specializing in International Money/Finance as well as its historical aspect, he has been published widely in many learned journals, including Journal of Money, Banking, and Credit, Oxford Economic Papers, Economica, and Explorations in Economic History.
