"A Brief History of Economics" illustrates how the ideas of the great economists not only influenced societies but were themselves shaped by their cultural milieu. Understanding the economists' visions - lucidly and vividly unveiled by Canterbery -allows readers to place economics within a broader community of ideas. Magically, the author links Adam Smith to Isaac Newton's idea of an orderly universe, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" to Thornstein Veblen, John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" to the Great Depression, and Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" to Reaganomics. Often humorous, Canterbery's easy style should make the student's first foray into economics lively and relevant. Readers will no longer dare call it the "dismal science".

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In January 1996, Prentice-Hall, Inc. selected E Ray Canterbery for their Hall of Fame Economist Baseball Cards for "significant contributions to the economics discipline," including "developing one of the first complete mathematical theories of foreign exchange; a new theory of the labor market and of personal incomes (vita theory), which later was integrated into international trade theory; independently of Pasinetti, developing a production model of the total value added required in both labor and profits, proving also that profit margins equal price markups; several policy ideas that have become real world economic policies." Active in many economics associations, Canterbery served as President of the Eastern Economics Association in 1986-1987 and President of the International Trade and Finance Association in 1998-1999. He is an elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences. Canterbery was one of the earliest critics of Alan Greenspan's monetary policy. Canterbery wrote of how Greenspan, as the most influential Cheerleader of the "New Economy," helped to hype the American stock market into a giant bubble destined to burst. Canterbery was correct: Greenspan was wrong. Only now have other economists and financial experts jumped on this prescient critic's bandwagon as it now passes before their delayed perceptions! The International Biography Centre in Cambridge, England includes Canterbery among 500 persons worldwide in its Living Legends (2002), among 2000 scholars worldwide in their Outstanding Scholars in the 21st Century, and among the select One Thousand Great Americans (2002). The American Biographical Institute includes Canterbery in its Great Minds of the 21st Century (2003). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.