The power of economic thinking can be explained by seven core principles, which are accountability, investments, economy, incentive, freedom of choice, nondiscrimination, and one price. By understanding and incorporating these principles, better decisions will be made on individual, corporate, and government levels.

To explain this thesis, the author offers analyses of key economists who have changed their views over time, an examination of major domestic and international issues, and an explanation of how economists can predict which politicians will be successful.

Mark Skousen has built his impressive reputation as one of the industry’s best-known investment advisors by consistently beating the market year after year. Now, he passes along his entire investment philosophy, based on his decades of experience, in a single, one-lesson book.

Investing in One Lesson first unravels the intricacies of Wall Street, explaining in layman’s terms why financial markets frequently behave in seemingly irrational ways. Then Skousen reveals his surprisingly simple strategy for making money in the stock market and shows why his approach stands the test of time and the scrutiny of skeptics.

Including personal anecdotes from Skousen’s career, Investing in One Lesson is an indispensable guide for beginning investors or those seeking to increase their returns.

... Read more

The Big Three in Economics reveals the battle of ideas among the three most influential economists in world history: Adam Smith, representing laissez faire; Karl Marx, reflecting the radical socialist model; and John Maynard Keynes, symbolizing big government and the welfare state. History comes alive in this fascinating story of opposing views that continue to play a fundamental role in today’s politics and economics. In the twenty-first century, Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” model has gained the upper hand, and capitalism has ultimately won the ideological battle over socialism and interventionism. But even in the era of globalization and privatization, Keynesian and Marxist ideas continue to play a significant role in economic policy in the public and private sectors.

This bold history of economics tells the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built a rigorous social science without peer. Unlike other economics histories, Skousen’s book provides a running plot with a singular heroic figure, Adam Smith, at the center of the discipline. Skousen unites the great thinkers by ranking them for or against Adam Smith and his “system of natural liberty.” He shows how Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, and even laissez-faire disciples Robert Malthus and David Ricardo detracted from Adam Smith’s classical model of democratic capitalism, while Alfred Marshall, Irving Fisher, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman, among others, remodeled and improved upon Smithian economics. Highlights include humorous anecdotes and exciting new revelations about the lives of the great economists.

The Making of Modern Economics presents a bold and engaging history of economics–the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today’s rigorous social science.

This comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the major economic philosophers begins with Adam Smith and continues through to the present day. It examines the contributions each one made to our understanding of the role of the economist, the science of economics, and economic theory. Each chapter highlights little-known and entertaining facts about the economists’ personal lives that had an influence on their work.

The fourth edition adds coverage of modern monetary theory, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, minimum wage debates, Schumpeter and socialism, Malthus and immigration, and more.

The Making of Modern Economics is a valuable, engaging text for courses in the history of economic thought and political economy.

Here is a bold, updated history of economics, the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today’s rigorous social science. Noted financial writer and economist Mark Skousen has revised this popular work to provide more on Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Joseph Stiglitz and on “imperfect” markets and behavioral economics.

This comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to the major economic philosophers of the past 225 years begins with Adam Smith and continues to the present day, examining the contributions made by each individual to our understanding of the role of the economist, the science of economics, and economic theory. Included are highlights of little known facts about the economists’ personal lives that affected their work.