Robert L. Heilbroner

The bestselling classic that examines the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to Karl Marx—“all the economic lore most general readers conceivably could want to know, served up with a flourish” (The New York Times). The Worldly Philosophers not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new 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 new concluding chapter entitled “The End of the Worldly Philosophy?” Heilbroner 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. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers

The Worldly Philosophers

Lester Thurow

Explains the basic concepts of economics, describes how our economy runs, and discusses big business and international economics

Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works and Where It's Going

Economics Explained

This text provides a brief historical approach to explain economics and the various manifestations - the people, events and politics that are key to such developments.

The Making of Economic Society

Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy

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A New York Times Notable Book What forms will capitalism take in the twenty-first century? To answer this question, noted economist and social philosopher Robert Heilbroner looks beyond economic theory to the social and political problems of modern economic society. In this sweeping examination of the past, present, and possible future, Heilbroner considers capitalism both as an economic system and a political order. He argues persuasively that, even in an increasingly globalized economy, government remains crucial to a healthy private sector, due to the limited ability of markets to order themselves, let alone make contributions to teh common good such as tackling environmental probelms or providing sufficient educational programs. Heilbroner concludes this penetrating technique by speculating on whether some more participatory forms of capitalism might emerge this century.

Twenty-first Century Capitalism

Adam Smith

Laurence J. Malone

Gathers selections from Smith's economic writings, discusses his theories, and assesses their influence on modern economics

The Essential Adam Smith

Heilbroner's basic premise is stunning in its simplicity. He contends that throughout all of human history there have really only been three distinct ways of looking at the future

The Distant Past, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Visions of the Future

Lester C. Thurow

Explains the nature of economic forces and defines economic terms.

Aaron Singer

This extraordinary text offers a proven combination of scholarship from an insightful economist and a renowned American historian. It recounts the development of capitalism and the age of machines through the voices of business leaders, working people,inventors, and an unusual cast of presidents, generals, and patriots. Unlike other books in the field of economic history, this text tells a story. While not ignoring statistics and percentages, this narrative focuses on the fact that America's economic transformation is an extraordinary drama--a drama that continues today.

1600 to the Present

The Economic Transformation of America

Is there hope for man? That "terrible question" was posed by Robert L. Heilbroner in the original version of An Inquiry into the Human Prospect. In this third edition of a book that has become a classic, Professor Heilbroner leaves the question in place on the first page, believing some twenty years later that that interrogative sounds the themes of the 1990s as well. The main components of the global predicament he described in the first edition are still with us today: runaway populations, obliterative weaponry, and a closing environmental vise. Writing now, in the aftermath of the extraordinary events that caused communism as a challenger to capitalism to vanish "like a puff of smoke," Professor Heilbroner traces out the difficulties that beset those attempting centrally planned economics. He shows how Soviet-style systems became mired in bureaucratic swamps. But he warns that the triumph of profit-driven, market-directed economies will not delay the looming encounter with the ecological barrier. "The absorption capacities of the environment," writes Professor Heilbroner, "whether in terms of the greenhouse effect or the overrunning of other physico-chemical capabilities of the planet" still determine the limits of the economic expansion. Trenchant and unflinching, Professor Heilbroner's look at the sum and substance of our prospects for the remaining years of this century is provocative and indispensable reading for those who prefer not to avert their gaze from the hard realities of our times.

An Inquiry Into the Human Prospect: Looked at Again for the 1990s

"[These essays] are rich in argument, in clear and provocative presentation of complicated issues, and are often delightfully quotable. Behind the Veil of Economics makes instructive, disturbing, and lively reading." —Elizabeth Wolgast, New York Times Book Review What lies behind the veil of economics? Power and ideology, answers Robert Heilbroner—the power of our economic involvement in society to shape the ways we think about it; the visions and values that add unsuspected ideological color to our economic beliefs about it. Most important, Heilbroner shows why economics has become the reigning form of social inquiry and how we might penetrate its mystique.

Behind the Veil of Economics: Essays in the Worldly Philosophy

James K. Galbraith

Thomas M. Beveridge

The Economic Problem

Includes a note on the author, Robert L. Heilbroner, chapter summaries and commentaries, final summary and evaluation of work, and more.

The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers

This text offers a combination of scholarship from an economist and a renowned American historian. It recounts the story of capitalism and the age of machines through the voices of business leaders, working people, inventors and a cast of presidents, generals and patriots.

The Economic Transformation of America Since 1865

This extraordinary text offers a proven combination of scholarship from an insightful economist and a renowned American historian. It recounts the development of capitalism and the age of machines through the voices of business leaders, working people, inventors, and an unusual cast of presidents, generals, and patriots. Unlike other books in the field of economic history, this text tells a story. While not ignoring statistics and percentages, this narrative focuses on the fact that America's economic transformation is an extraordinary drama--a drama that continues today.

Heilbroner sets forth the central elements of Marxist thought, arguing that Marxism not only offers profound insights but also contains limitations that must be recognized by those who have adopted its point of view

Robert L. Heilbroner

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