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

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

by Robert L. Heilbroner

The Worldly Philosophers is one of the bestselling economics books of all time. For more than half a century, it has not only enabled us to see more deeply into our history but has helped us better understand our own times.

In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner unearths a theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas, namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works.

It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines. 

In a bold concluding chapter entitled "The End of the Worldly Philosophy?  Heil broner reminds us that the word "end" refers to both the purpose and limits of economics.

This chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are  central to economics.

This timeless classic provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

Robert L. Heilbroner was an American economist and historian of economic  thought. He wrote more than twenty books and was a trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security. Heilbroner died in 2005 in New York, NY, at the age of 85 

"If ever a book answered a crying need, this one does. Here is all the economic lore most general readers conceivably could want to know, served up with a flourish by a man who writes with immense vigor and skill, who has a rare gift for simplifying  complexities" - The New York Times

"Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers is a living classic, both because he makes us see that the ideas of the great economists remain fresh and important for our times and because his own brilliant writing compels us to reach out into the future." - LEONARD SILK

"A brilliant achievement." - John Kenneth Galbraith

Pages in unmarked condition. Cover has some shelf wear to edges and corners. Cover has some indentations and chipping.