From the ancients to the moderns, questions of
economic theory and policy have been an important part
of intellectual and public debate, engaging the
attention of some of history's greatest minds. This book
brings together readings from more than two thousand
years of writings on economic subjects. Through these
selections, the reader can see first-hand how the great
minds of past grappled with some of the central social
and economic issues of their times and, in the process,
enhanced our understanding of how economic systems
function. This collection of readings covers the major
themes that have preoccupied economic thinkers
throughout the ages, including price determination and
the underpinnings of the market system, monetary theory
and policy, international trade and finance, income
distribution, and the appropriate role for government
within the economic system. These ideas unfold, develop,
and change course over time at the hands of scholars
such as Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Locke,
Francois Quesnay, David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Robert
Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx,
William Stanley Jevons, Alfred Marshall, Irving Fisher,
Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman,
and Paul Samuelson. Each reading has been selected with
a view to both enlightening the reader as to the major
contributions of the author in question and to giving
the reader a broad view of the development of economic
thought and analysis over time. This book will be useful
for students, scholars, and lay people with an interest
in the history of economic thought and the history of
ideas generally. |
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