Economic History

Most Americans — and people worldwide — understand that despite our remarkable technological advances, something is deeply wrong with the direction of our country and world.

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries.....

Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist....

Called by H.L. Mencken, "one of the few economists in history who could really write," Henry Hazlitt achieved lasting fame for this brilliant but concise work....

At the dawn of World War I, a young academic named John Maynard Keynes hastily folded his long legs into the sidecar of his brother-in-law’s motorcycle for an odd, frantic journey that would change the course of history....

The "rich and gripping" true story of the first time machines came for human jobs—and how the Luddite uprising explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech and AI today (Naomi Klein)....

As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointing began....

In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from 20 countries, ranging as far back as the 18th century, to uncover key economic and social patterns....

Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans - predictable, error-prone individuals....

In April 1956, a refitted oil tanker carried 58 shipping containers from Newark to Houston....

These Are the Plunderers traces the thirty-year history of corporate takeovers in America and private equity’s increasing dominance....

The Great Contraction, 1929-1933 argues that the Federal Reserve could have stemmed the severity of the Depression....

No institution, government, or country is “too big to fail.” A behind-the-scenes account of what led to the 2008 crisis - and may soon lead to a bigger one....

The epic successor to one of the most important books of the century: at once a retelling of global history, a scathing critique of contemporary politics, and a bold proposal for a new and fairer economic system....

Written by an award-winning economist and the YouTuber responsible for ‘Unlearning Economics’, Why We're Getting Poorer is a thrilling, iconoclastic guide to how the world really works.

In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. This book provides an in-depth account of this era....

Andrew Mellon, one of the most accomplished businessmen of his era, is almost unknown today. To this shy, diffident (but brilliant) man fell the daunting task of collecting the war debts from European governments still devastated by WWI and struggling to recover economically.

When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for "a new Bretton Woods" to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict....

The history and evolution of land ownership is a fascinating chronicle in the history of civilization, offering unexpected insights about how various forms of democracy and capitalism developed....

This is the 2024 edition of Dishonest Money. It has been lightly rewritten and contains a new chapter (Chapter Zero), that describes the danger of CBDCs and the benefits of Bitcoin.

An extraordinary mythology has grown up around the Third Reich that hovers over political and moral debate even today. Adam Tooze's controversial book challenges the conventional economic interpretations of that period....

Economist Richard Holden examines how three modern forces have redefined what "money" means, who controls it, and what the future of finance looks like....

In the graveyard of economic ideology, dead ideas still stalk the land....

The classic introduction to economic thought, now updated in time for the publication of New Ideas from Dead CEOs....

In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past.

Branko Milanovic is best known as one of the world's leading experts on global inequality. But he is also an unusually wide-ranging and penetrating commentator on subjects across economics and beyond, in politics, history, and culture. This book brings together his most searching, provocative, and entertaining articles of recent years, providing an abundance of vital insights into the evolution and dynamics of the world under capitalism.

In Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India, Saurabh Mukherjea and Nandita Rajhansa provide a gripping picture of how 1.5 billion Indians are combining to spectacular effect to create a range of social and economic outcomes which have no precedent in any emerging economy. For example, India now has as many chess grandmasters as the United States, and the expertise of its scientists has guided India's space modules to the dark side of the moon, a feat no other country has achieved.

How did India, a newly independent nation in 1947, transform into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies? India’s Economic Odyssey: Post Independence Milestones takes you on a captivating journey through the pivotal moments, policies, and innovations that shaped India’s economic landscape. From the ambitious First Five-Year Plan to the sweeping liberalization of 1991, the rise of the IT and telecom revolutions, and the challenges of globalization and crises, this series explores how India navigated its path to progress.

Accountability after Economic Crisis reconstructs the captivating story of how different nations responded to the 2008 economic crisis, one of the most challenging economic downturns in modern history. The book focuses on puzzling cross-country variations in policies of accountability.

The US racial wealth gap is large, and it's compounding. It's time to close it. Minding the Wealth Gap shines a light on people doing this important work and explores how you can get involved too. Generations of public and private practices have left Black households $15 trillion and 400 years behind white households. Minding the Wealth Gap is both a powerful catalyst and a call to arms, urging America's entrepreneurs, executives, government officials, and other leaders to join these efforts and take meaningful steps toward a more equitable future for all.