The Great Economists

A Times Best Business Book of 2018What can the ideas of historys greatest economists tell us about the most important issues of our time?The best place to start to learn about the very greatest economists of all time Professor Tyler Cowen author of The Complacent Class and The Great StagnationSince 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 todays 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 historys 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 SolowEconomics students like others can learn a lot from this book - Professor Paul Collier author of The Bottom BillionNot only a great way to learn in an easily readable manner about some of the greatest economic influences of the past but also a good way to test your own a priori assumptions about some of the big challenges of our time. - Lord Jim ONeill former Chairman at Goldman Sachs Asset Management former UK Treasury Minister and author of The Growth MapAn extremely engaging survey of the lifetimes and ideas of the great thinkers of economic history. - Professor Kenneth Rogoff author of The Curse of Cash and co-author of This Time is DifferentThis book is a very readable introduction to the lives and thinking of the greats. - Professor Raghuram Rajan former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and author of I Do What I Do and Fault LinesRead it not only to learn about the worlds great economists but also to see how consequential thought innovations can be and have been. - Mohamed el-Erian Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz former CEO of PIMCO Review Are you looking to learn about the very greatest economists of all time? Linda Yuehs book is the best place to starta modern-day version of Robert Heilbroners classic The Worldly Philosophers. -- Tyler Cowen the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and author of The Complacent Class and The Great StagnationEconomics students are not taught the history of economic thought. They like others can learn a lot from this book: some of the great economists of the past had insights that could have saved the subject from its recent embarrassments. -- Paul Collier Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford UniversityNot only a great way to learn in aneasily readable manner about some of the greatest economic influences of the past but alsoa good way to test your own a priori assumptions about some of the big challenges of our time. -- Lord Jim O’Neill former Chairman at Goldman Sachs Asset Management former UK Treasury Minister and author of The Growth MapA fascinating event for anyone interested in