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 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, Fran?ois Quesnay, David Hume, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall, and John Maynard Keynes. 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. The History of Economic Thought: A Reader can be used as a core textbook or as a supplementary text on courses in economic thought and philosophy. It will provide readers with a good foundation in the different schools of thought that run through economics.

Author Biography

Steven G. Medema is Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado at Denver, USA. He also serves as editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought. Warren J. Samuels is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Michigan State University. He is co-editor of the annual Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology.