New Ideas from Dead Economists (4th Edition): The Introduction to Modern Economic Thought

New Ideas from Dead Economists (4th Edition): The Introduction to Modern Economic Thought by Todd G. Buchholz

This book explores economic thought from Adam Smith to the present day. The focus is on the economists and their writings. Many of the economic principles espoused by the economists were put into practice in their lifetime. Marx was perhaps the biggest exception. He did extensive research into economic thought and history. He thought the communist revolution was inevitable after extensive industrialization. He did miss "non-physical" production (i.e. intellectual property). Modern Marxists have taken bits and pieces of Marx's writing and adopted it to fit their political needs. The "Marxists" tended to focus in barely industrialized areas and skipped a lot of the evolution that Marx advocated.

The author spends enough time looking into the economists' personal lives. Most were filled with apparent contradictions. Malthus was concerned about population growth - but still had three kids. Others would advocate for the poor but live the good life or advocate for the rich but live the life of austerity. 

Economic thought gradually evolved. One economist would identify a critical flaw in a previous economist's thoughts and propose a theory that better explained the world. Then a new economist would come along and identify a fault in that theory. It would keep going on. The goal of economists would often be to influence government policy. However, that is always tricky. Results of government intervention are slow to appear. Often they will help "solve" a problem that has already been solved. People also become accustomed to interventions, making them less effective. Regulation may often solve "yesterday's problem" and could just as easily create problems for today. The book has a casual tone and is quickly digestible, even though it is fairly long.