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.....

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

If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, no one would say the Federal Reserve. For most of its history, the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press....

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)....

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....

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....

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

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.

For the past 50 years, the business world has been dominated by the Milton Friedman financial capitalism economic model....

From the Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author of Mao's Great Famine comes a timely and compelling account of China in the wake of Chairman Mao....

More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals....

Whether you’re looking to deepen your knowledge of complex banking practices or simply learn more about central banking as it relates to your everyday life, this book will give you a comprehensive introduction and solid foundation for future study....

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....

Pacific Gas and Electric was a legacy company built by innovators and visionaries, establishing California as a desirable home and economic powerhouse. In California Burning, Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer finalist Katherine Blunt examines how that legacy fell apart....

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity....

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....

The English East India Company was the mother of the modern multinational....

Milton Friedman on Economics: Selected Papers collects a variety of Friedman's papers on topics in economics that were originally published in the Journal of Political Economy....

From Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, to Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes, to the top economic thought leaders of today, The Economics Book is the essential audio reference for students and anyone else with an interest in how economies 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....

For most of history, humans did without refined sugar. Granulated sugar was first produced in India around the sixth century BC, yet for almost 2,500 years afterward sugar remained marginal in the diets of most people. Then, suddenly, it was everywhere....

This book is the first comprehensive account of how Australia attained the world's highest living standards within a few decades of European settlement....

In The End of Alchemy, Mervyn King offers us an essential work about the history and future of money and banking, the keys to modern finance....

In the twelfth-century, Pisa was a thriving metropolis, a powerhouse of global trade, and a city that stood at the centre of Mediaeval Europe. But Pisa had a problem. It was running out of coins. In the face of financial crisis, it was here that the foundations of modern banking were born.

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.

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.

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.

A journey through the ideas that shaped the global economy What differentiates mercantilism from physiocracy? How did the theories of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes revolutionize economic thought? And what challenges do artificial intelligence, inequality, and climate change pose to modern economies? In this work, we explore the evolution of economic ideas from Antiquity to the challenges of the 21st century.

From ancient Sumerian grain tablets to Roman coins, paper bills, digital wallets, and blockchain—What Is Money? is the clearest, most explosive breakdown of the one system we all live inside… and almost never question. This book doesn’t just explain money. It exposes it. Inside, you’ll discover: Why gold was never about value—it was about worship. How paper promises replaced vaults of truth. The role of kings, gods, banks, and empires in shaping what we spend. Why fiat currency is a magic trick—powered by belief. How credit, code, and crypto are rewriting the entire game.