The Worldly Philosophers Author:Robert L Heilbroner This is the most celebrated an popular account of the history of economics ever written. — "Madmen in authority," wrote the late Lord Keynes, "who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back." The Worldly Philosophers is the story of those academic scribblers - from Adam Smith through Malth... more »us, Karl Marx, Veblen, Lord Keynes himself, to the economists now wrestling with the problems of our contemporary world. Their subject -economics- has been called the dismal science, but their private lives were full of strange and curious events, and the private worlds of ideas they built around themselves make fascinating reading.
"It is a brilliant achievement. The author is a gifted writer and he handles his men and his subject matter nearly to perfection. He is lucid and concise. His judgment as to what is central and his ability to summarize it are both excellent." - J. K. Galbraith« less