How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today

The Great Economists

A Times Best Business Book of 2018 
 
What can the ideas of history's greatest economists tell us about the most important issues of our time? 
 
'The best place to start to learn about the very greatest economists of all time' Professor Tyler Cowen, author of The Complacent Class and The Great Stagnation 
 
Since the days of Adam Smith, economists have grappled with a series of familiar problems - but often their ideas are hard to digest, before we even try to apply them to today's issues. Linda Yueh is renowned for her combination of erudition, as an accomplished economist herself, and accessibility, as a leading writer and broadcaster in this field; and in The Great Economists she explains the key thoughts of history's greatest economists, how their lives and times affected their ideas, how our lives have been influenced by their work, and how they could help with the policy challenges that we face today. 
 
 In the light of current economic problems, and in particular economic growth, Yueh explores the thoughts of economists from Adam Smith and David Ricardo through Joan Robinson and Milton Friedman to Douglass North and Robert Solow. Along the way she asks, for example: what do the ideas of Karl Marx tell us about the likely future for the Chinese economy? How does the work of John Maynard Keynes, who argued for government spending to create full employment, help us think about state investment? And with globalization in trouble, what can we learn about handling Brexit and Trumpism? 
 
In one accessible volume, this expert new voice provides an overarching guide to the biggest questions of our time. 
 
The Great Economists includes: 
Adam Smith 
David Ricardo 
Karl Marx 
Alfred Marshall 
Irving Fisher 
John Maynard Keynes 
Joseph Schumpeter 
Friedrich Hayek 
Joan Robinson 
Milton Friedman 
Douglass North 
Robert Solow 
 
'Economics students, like others, can learn a lot from this book' - Professor Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion 
 
'Not only a great way to learn in an easily readable manner about some of the greatest economic influences of the past, but also a good way to test your own a priori assumptions about some of the big challenges of our time.' - Lord Jim O'Neill, former Chairman at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, former UK Treasury Minister, and author of The Growth Map 
 
'An extremely engaging survey of the lifetimes and ideas of the great thinkers of economic history.' - Professor Kenneth Rogoff, author of The Curse of Cash and co-author of This Time is Different 
 
'This book is a very readable introduction to the lives and thinking of the greats.' - Professor Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and author of I Do What I Do and Fault Lines 
 
'Read it not only to learn about the world's great economists, but also to see how consequential thought innovations can be, and have been.' - Mohamed el-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, former CEO of PIMCO

Are you looking to learn about the very greatest economists of all time? Linda Yueh's book is the best place to start, a modern-day version of Robert Heilbroner's classic The Worldly Philosophers.

Tyler Cowen, the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, and author of The Complacent Class and The Great Stagnation

Economics students are not taught the history of economic thought. They, like others, can learn a lot from this book: some of the great economists of the past had insights that could have saved the subject from its recent embarrassments.

Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University

Not only a great way to learn in an easily readable manner about some of the greatest economic influences of the past, but also a good way to test your own a priori assumptions about some of the big challenges of our time.

Lord Jim O’Neill, former Chairman at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, former UK Treasury Minister, and author of The Growth Map

A fascinating event for anyone interested in economics. For this is a book which, as the title suggests, champions the value of studying the leading economic thinkers of the past ... As an Oxford don and a professor at London Business School, Yueh undoubtedly knows her stuff; and as a former chief business correspondent for the BBC and economics editor at Bloomberg TV, she is a well-known and skilful communicator ... The achievements of modern, scientific economics are significant, and the reader who wants a slick and well-curated tour of its current policy recommendations will profit greatly from Yueh's enjoyable and up-to-date book.

An extremely engaging survey of the lifetimes and ideas of the great thinkers of economic history, woven together with fascinating and useful discussions of how their ideas still shape economic policy today. Yueh's book is reminiscent of Heilbroner's marvellous classic The Wordly Philosophers, but more focused on contemporary debates on inequality, trade and productivity. Although targeted at readers interested in economic issues, this book would also make an excellent supplementary reading for undergraduate courses in economics, politics and social studies.

Kenneth Rogoff, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, author of The Curse of Cash and co-author of This Time is Different

Linda Yueh has had the brilliant idea of, not just describing the theories of each great thinker, but linking each one to a particular problem of today ... I am sure Linda Yueh's original approach will deepen students' understanding of the Great Economists.

Lord Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer

What would the great economists of the past make of today's problems? Linda Yueh takes on this ambitious task in this engaging book, introducing us to the work of each economist and conjecturing how they might have advised us. This book is a very readable introduction to the lives and thinking of the greats, and reminds us that policymakers continue to be, as Keynes wrote, "slaves of some defunct economist".

Raghuram Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and author of I Do What I Do and Fault Lines

To anyone with even a passing interest in the economic problems, large and small, affecting us today, What Would the Great Economists Do? comes at the right time: a highly accessible and acute guide to thinking and learning from the men and woman whose work can inform and ultimately aid us in understanding the great national and global crises we face.

Nouriel Roubini, author of the New York Times bestselling Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance

This well-written book provides more than an engaging discussion of how the "Great Economists" changed the course of economic thinking and history. It links their insights to current economic challenges, assessing how their unique contributions can improve future wellbeing. It concludes by artfully bringing together the economists' individual insights to shed light on the backlash against globalization. Read it not only to learn about the world's great economists, but also to see how consequential thought innovations can be, and have been.

Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, former CEO of PIMCO

Is economics a science in which each new generation's discoveries build on those of the old? Or a humanistic study in which old ideas remain valid and relevant today?  Linda Yueh's account of the thinking of the great economists demonstrates that both perspectives are true.

A highly informative and entertaining introduction to the ideas of some of the great economists.

Robert A. Cord, editor of The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics, co-editor of Milton Friedman: Contributions to Economics and Public Policy, and author of Reinterpreting the Keynesian Revolution

You can see her journalistic training in the way she makes connections between the lives, characters and thinking of her subjects

Crisp pen portraits and introductions to complex ideas have been melded with an assessment of what a particular dead economist might have advised about a contemporary issue ... The portraits are entertainingly crafted and the details of family lives well deployed.

Would [Adam] Smith's view have changed in modern times? Probably yes. Linda Yueh in her brilliant new book, "The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today", argues that due to rapid technological advancements since Smith's time, the tune of the musician, which he regarded as ephemeral, now holds tangible value. Also, since Smith believed in the power of the invisible hand of the markets, he would have derided any move towards introducing market distortions like the Trump tariffs to promote manufacturing.

I certainly wish that [The Great Economists] had been around when I started to study the subject.

The style is engaging and takes the readers through key elements of the economic challenges we currently face, with the support of data and international comparisons ... Readers will certainly enjoy learning about the economists, as many of them lived quite unconventional lives.

As a broad and accessible overview of the lives and ideas of prominent economic thinkers, Yueh's book is a useful addition to the field. Its strongest sections make important connections between historical figures and modern decision-makers, such as the chapter detailing former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke's interest in Irving Fisher's debt-deflation hypothesis.

Readable, informative, and thought-provoking, and deserves a place in all libraries

The book is lucidly written... It offers glimpses into the lives of these influential economists, often laced with interesting nuggets of information.

An accessible and lively evaluation of the global financial crisis . . . [Yueh] has a way of simplifying the arcane and ferreting out good news - of which we need a lot.

Excellent . . . what makes this book special is that it is simple to read and understand . . . extremely engaging and serves a grand five-star buffet

Want to learn about great ideas in economics and the great economists without doing any algebra? Here is an engagingly written book for you by Linda Yueh. She is both a real economist and an experienced journalist, so she knows how and what to write

A great book and Linda Yueh is well worth listening to

Kevin Watkins, former head of the Overseas Development Institute

Yueh's CV - Oxford economics fellow; former editor at Bloomberg TV; ex-advisor to the World Bank - could inspire an inferiority complex in almost anyone. Yet she has written a remarkably accessible primer that profiles 12 of history's greatest economists (from Adam Smith to Joan Robinson), and then asks what they can reveal about the world today. Perhaps its most important lesson is not to take financial advice from economists: many of Yueh's subjects lost fortunes

What can the ideas of history's greatest economists tell us about the most important issues of our time? 
 
Renowned broadcaster and economist Linda Yueh explains, in an insightful yet accessible way, the key thoughts of history's greatest economists, how our lives have been influenced by their ideas and how they could help us with the policy challenges that we face today. Exploring the thoughts of economists from Adam Smith and David Ricardo to contemporary academics Douglass North and Robert Solow, Yueh asks, for example, what do the ideas of Karl Marx tell us about the future of the Chinese economy? What would John Maynard Keynes say about state intervention? And with globalisation in trouble, what can we learn about handling Brexit and Trumpism?

Linda Yueh

The perfect primer on the worst economic disasters of the past 100 years

Engrossing... [one of] the 75 best books for summer 2023

Linda Yueh's new book [is] almost alarmingly timely, as if she were tanking the global economy as the mother of all guerrilla marketing stunts

Best new books on economics: An important book to keep us all on our toes when complacency starts to creep in, again

Linda Yueh's analysis of what past financial crises have in common is an important contribution that can help society anticipate and tackle potential crashes in the future

President of the European Central Bank and former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, 2011-2019

Fascinating, well-written and authoritative

A first point of entry for anybody who wants to learn how the world economy sleep-walked into multiple crashes over the last century

Institute Professor at MIT, and author of Why Nations Fail

An accessible and insightful overview of modern financial crises, incorporating both historical detail and thoughtful analysis

Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund

Linda provides many with a very readable summary of all the great crises, but also more importantly derives the big lessons and how to have a better policy framework to avoid getting caught up in too much " this time it is different" when the next big risks appear

Author of The Growth Map and former Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management

A masterclass in spotting the early signs of a crisis. Linda Yueh expertly shows how we can understand these crashes better when they occur and even prevent them from happening in the future. A accessible yet rich study of our most turbulent economic years

This well-written book draws out the many different ways in which markets can crash and she's willing to chance her arm predicting the next one

author of How to be a Politician and former UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2010-2015

A timely and instructive book on the big financial and economic crashes. It comes in the midst of a global polycrisis that threatens the economic and social well being of all especially the World's poorest citizens. Linda Yueh makes a heroic effort to tease out lessons fundamental to managing future crises. The question is: Will we learn?

Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and former Finance Minister of Nigeria, 2003-2006 and 2011-2015

Troubled times call for a historical perspective and this is the historical perspective we need

author of Radical Uncertainty and former member of the Independent Commission on Banking of the UK Government, 2010-2011

Demonstrates how that old saying - "this time is different" - is both so true and so wrong!

former CEO and Chairman of HSBC and UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, 2011-2013

Crashes are an integral part of the history of capitalism. The last century has seen plenty of them. All crashes begin with debt-fuelled euphoria and end in disappointment. Yet how bad that disappointment turns out to be also depends on where in the economy the crash falls and how determined and credible are the responses. In this lively and blessedly brief book, Linda Yueh does a lovely job of explaining the history and drawing the necessary lessons

Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

This excellent overview identifies the ingredients that are specific to each crisis and common to all. She provides a lucid assessment of the efficacy of policy responses, high-lighting credibility as a necessary condition for successful resolution

former Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury, 2005-2016, and Chairman of C. Hoare & Co.

"Why did nobody notice?" Was the question the Queen asked about the 2008 financial crisis. It was a good question. All financial crises and crashes have their own characteristics but they also often involve certain common features:- Irrational exuberance, Speculative frenzy, Greed and over confidence usually supported by high levels of gearing. 
 
Linda Yueh's new book will be a timely reminder to governments and regulators of the warning signs of future crises

former Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1990-1993

Timely, entertaining and full of useful insights

Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times

Renowned economist Dr Linda Yueh looks at past financial crashes - from the Wall Street Crash to the dot com boom and bust and the Covid pandemic - to explore what we can learn from them in this entertainingly written book.

Entertaining, well-written . . . [Yueh] has come up with a three-step framework to help spot when financial problems are brewing and identifies where the next may occur.

A gifted writer (een begenadigd schrijver)

Lessons from Global Meltdowns and How to Prevent Them

Since America's Wall Street Crash of 1929, the global economy has weathered the most tumultuous century in financial history. From the currency crises of the 1980s, to Japan's housing meltdown, the dot com boom and bust, the global financial crash and the COVID pandemic, crash after crash has sent shockwaves through our world. 
 
The Great Crashes tells the stories of ten of these historic financial events. They serve as a series of cautionary tales, each with their own lessons to be learnt. With clear-eyed analysis, renowned economist Professor Linda Yueh uses these meltdowns to extract a critical three-step framework to help recognise the early signs of a crash, mitigate the effects and even prevent them in the future. There is very little that is certain in economics, except for this: there will be another financial crisis. Combining her in-depth knowledge with her compelling storytelling, The Great Crashes is essential reading that offers urgent lessons for the modern world.

Linda Yueh

Praise for The Great Crashes

The perfect primer on the worst economic disasters of the past 100 years

Engrossing... [one of] the 75 best books for summer 2023

Linda Yueh's new book [is] almost alarmingly timely, as if she were tanking the global economy as the mother of all guerrilla marketing stunts

The perfect primer on the worst economic disasters of the past 100 years

Engrossing... [one of] the 75 best books for summer 2023

Linda Yueh's new book [is] almost alarmingly timely, as if she were tanking the global economy as the mother of all guerrilla marketing stunts

The perfect primer on the worst economic disasters of the past 100 years

Engrossing... [one of] the 75 best books for summer 2023

Linda Yueh's new book [is] almost alarmingly timely, as if she were tanking the global economy as the mother of all guerrilla marketing stunts

Books by Linda Yueh

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