A Little History of Economics

This little book about the huge and complex subject area of Economics is extremely well written. This will forever be my go-to contextual reference in Economics to help me navigate the wide historical expanse of Economic thought. It is a linear history of the development of Economics, Economic thought, and philosophy. It highlights the personalities behind Economic theories and puts the theory in contextual space and time to motivate the development of these ideas. The book is well and clearly written with a format that eases reading. Jargon and terminology are clearly defined before use, with concrete examples. In aggregate, these attributes make the book accessible to the lay reader. I highly recommend A Little History of Economics to the lay reader wanting a working knowledge in Economics or any undergraduate or AP level student about to embark on their first course in Economics. I wish I had a reference like this for my undergraduate Economics electives.

Each chapter is engaging and graced with a charming title. I might have like to have seen a few different figures in the collection, but the work of each economist or political economy that makes Kishtiany's line up is presented a clear, insightful, and economical way. The book is worth reading.

Probably my favorite non-fiction series of the last 5 years, little history is reliably excellent. Economics is a "silently controversial" topic because of how deeply it affects people's worldview without them explicitly realizing it. Many arguments about what people "deserve" boil down to some kind of fundamental difference in economic principles, which carry a real moral weight because of how tightly the outcomes of different economic ideas are tied to people's actual lives and happiness. I loved the historical aspect of this book. There's a comfortingly iterative aspect of "and then so and so came along with this new crazy idea about how the economy *really* worked, his ideas become popular, the government tried it, and it kind of worked but was also terrible". Then you skip forward in time 20-120 years and repeat. A nice reminder that modern economic theories rest upon the principle of a smart, daring guy who the nuts to make bold, overarching claims about the fundamental nature of society, and then subsequent chaos of neat, intellectual models meeting reality. The dismal and essential science indeed.

This excerpt sums up the book well “The economists we’ve met in these pages came up with different ideas in response to the problems of their times. In economics there isn’t one ‘right’ answer that stays right forever, like in a maths problem. By appreciating the different responses of history’s thinkers we can be inspired to come up with our own, the new ideas we need in order to face today’s economic problems, whether that’s extreme inequality, financial crisis or global warming.”

What a joy reading this book. Chapters are very brief, about 5 to 7 pages, so it's easy to get hooked on it or keep reading it through a few days. Languages is clear and friendly. Author does a great job explaining such a complicated topic. I think I will ready it again, several times. Very objective... the history of economics could be easily skewed towards political points of view, but author keeps a very fair and straight description and every economy thought leader in the past, be it Marx or Keynes. I love this series and I will go on to read the Little History of Literature and Philosophy next (2 different books from this same series).

Great book for a general idea of the chronological order and brief explanation of the economics views from the greatest economists over time. Great for beginners in the area (like myself).

And yes... Economist use mostly fiction as mirrors, fragmented ones, to better interpret or analyze real world. I have started an Economics course on Coursera, but I couldn't pursue it further due to some 'externalities' and also due to the fact that the teacher was sort of conservative in his approach. My girlfriend gave me as a present a one year suscription to the economist and it has been an interesting view of the many nations around the globe. Enters this book and it has such a great structure to start an economics journey. Each chapter has a very narrative, intriguing name, a couple of interesting characters who lead the topic and ALWAYS a narrative introduction. Outstanding. Indeed a little history/story of Economics. I would highly recommend this book to people interested in the topic but also to all university students whichever their field as economics study all of our economic relationships. Outstanding. I have recommended it to some friends and I hope some heated conversations around it. Oh dear. Also, this book functions as a catalogue to go next, so many authors, so many books on economics, so little time. Literary economics.

Wonderfully written and very well explained. The author drifts in and out of lyrical-prose as he tells important short stories about the people and concepts that constitute the field of economics. Excellent overview and introduction to the history of economics. Perfect for those that have just finished or are busy with economics 101.