The Classical School, Callum Williams
The Classical School, Callum Williams
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The Classical School
The Birth of Economics in 20 Enlightened Lives

Author: Callum Williams

Narrator: Sean Patrick Hopkins

Unabridged: 9 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 05/19/2020

Synopsis

A fascinating chronicle of the lives of twenty economists who played major roles in the evolution of global economic thought.

What was Adam Smith really talking about when he mentioned the "invisible hand"? Did Karl Marx really predict the end of capitalism? Did Thomas Malthus (from whose name the word "Malthusian" derives) really believe that famines were desirable?

In The Classical School, Callum Williams debunks popular myths about these great economists, and explains the significance of their ideas in an engaging way. After reading this book, you will know much more about the very famous (Smith, Ricardo, Mill) and the not-quite-so-famous (Bernard de Mandeville, Friedrich Engels, Jean-Baptiste Say). The book offers an assessment of what they wrote, the impact it had, and the worthiness of their ideas. It's far from the final word on any of these people, but a useful way of understanding what they were all about, at a time when understanding these economic giants is perhaps more important than ever.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Stefan on March 28, 2020

I had really high hopes for this book, but I was very disappointed. The book seeks to describe the key thoughts and influences of 20 of the most important classical economists. Firstly, the book comes across as very unstructured. It would have been helpful with a clearer division between their actual......more

Goodreads review by Fraser on November 08, 2020

Williams gives 20 mini-intellectual biographies of various people who influenced the Classical school of economics. My incomplete and disorganized notes: In the year 1000, the countries with the highest GDP (Iran and Iraq) were only ~50% richer than the poorest countries for which there are data (UK......more

Goodreads review by Katie on May 04, 2020

An economic page-turner? Who would have thought it possible! Read in one weekend. So clearly explained and incredibly accessible. Recommended for the amateur economist and the intellectual snob alike.......more

Goodreads review by Nadir on January 16, 2021

A solid start for those interested in the history of political economy and its journey towards economics. I enjoyed the historical approach, though a bit more attention for the connection to modern economics would've been a good finish.......more

Goodreads review by Prathamesh on January 29, 2023

What is political economy? How did we come across the term economics? When did mathematics was considered important in making theories? The classical school is sort of a highlight reel for the various “theories” defining economics over course of 400 years. The book does not champion any one particul......more

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