A lively, inviting account of the history of economics, told through events from ancient to modern times and through the ideas of great thinkers in the field
"A whistle-stop introduction to the great works and thinkers of each age, this is a clear and accessible primer."—Laura Garmeson, Financial Times

What causes poverty? Are economic crises inevitable under capitalism? Is government intervention in

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"Before 1870, humanity lived in dire poverty, with a slow crawl of invention offset by a growing population. Then came a great shift: invention sprinted forward, doubling our technological capabilities each generation and utterly transforming the economy again and again. Our ancestors would have presumed we would have used such powers to build utopia. But it was not so. When 1870-2010 ended, the world instead saw global warming; economic depression,...

"How could General Electric-perhaps America's most iconic corporation-suffer such a swift and sudden fall from grace?"-- Since its founding in 1892, General Electric has been more than just a corporation: it was job security, a solidly safe investment, and an elite business education for top managers. GE electrified America, from lightbulbs to turbines, and became fully integrated into the American societal mindset as few companies ever had. And...

Represents the annual report of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Appendix B contains historical tables (from 1959 or earlier) on aspects of income (national, personal, and corporate), production, prices, employment, investment, taxes and transfers, and money and finance.

"From the author of 1491--the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas--a deeply engaging new history that explores the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs. More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed totally different suites of plants and animals. Columbus's voyages brought them back together--and marked the beginning...

Presents an analysis of the economic crisis of 2009, citing such factors as expanded home ownership and risky derivative elections in the face of increasing shareholder demands and discussing the role of responsible parties in the government, financial, and private sectors.

Back in his broken hometown, LeDuff searches through the ruins for clues to its fate, his family's, and his own. Once the richest city in America, Detroit is now the nation's poorest. It is an eerie and angry place of deserted factories and abandoned homes and forgotten people. LeDuff sets out to uncover what destroyed his city, and shares an unbelievable story of a hard town in a rough time filled with some of the strangest and strongest people our...

"In Ways and Means, journalist Roger Lowenstein reveals the unlikely story of how Abraham Lincoln used the urgency of financing the Civil War to transform a union of states into one united nation. Through a financial lens, he explores how this second American revolution, led by Lincoln, his cabinet, and his congress, changed the direction of the country"-- Provided by publisher.

"In The Founding Fortunes, historian Tom Shachtman offers an in-depth look at a time when money became as vital as guns in securing victory on the Revolutionary War's battlefields, and how some of America's wealthiest men risked their fortunes to aid the new country even as they reaped benefits from its independence. While history teaches that successful revolutions depend on participation by the common man, the establishment of a stable and independent...