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Everything you ever needed to know about the fundamental principles of three centuries of modern economic thought, as articulated by thirteen of the world’s greatest economists and thinkers This volume presents an accessible introduction to the lives and works of the most influential economists of modern times. Free from confusing jargon and equations, it describes and discusses key economic concepts—among others, cognitive biases, saving, entrepreneurship, game theory, liberalism, laissez-faire and welfare economics—showing how they have come to shape how we see ourselves and our society today. All of the economists featured—Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall, Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, and Nobel Prize-winners Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, John Forbes Nash Jr, Daniel Kahneman, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz—have had a profound influence on our attitudes towards market intervention and regulation, taxation, trade and monetary policy. Each chapter combines a biographical outline of a single thinker with a critical analysis of their contribution to economic thought.