The Worldly Philosophers：The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers

TheWorldlyPhilosophersisabestsellingclassicthatnotonlyenablesustoseemoredeeplyintoourhistorybuthelpsusbetterunderstandourowntimes.Inthisseventhedition,RobertL.HeilbronerprovidesanewthemethatconnectsthinkersasdiverseasAdamSmithandKarlMarx.Thethemeisthecommonfocusoftheirhighlyvariedideas--namely,thesearchtounderstandhowacapitalistsocietyworks.Itisafocusnevermoreneededthaninthisageofconfusingeconomicheadlines.InaboldnewconcludingchapterentitledTheEndoftheWorldlyPhilosophy?Heilbronerremindsusthatthewordendreferstoboththepurposeandlimitsofeconomics.Thischapterconveysaconcernthattoday'sincreasinglyscientificeconomicsmayoverlookfundamentalsocialandpoliticalissuesthatarecentraltoeconomics.Thus,unlikeitspredecessors,thisneweditionprovidesnotjustanindispensableilluminationofourpastbutacalltoactionforourfuture.