A Look at the Landscape
This chapter discusses the history of economics and the events that shaped that history. It first considers the nature and content of economics, taking into account questions related to the theory of value and the theory of distribution, the institutions involved in economic activity, and the larger political and social framework in which economic life proceeds. It views economics as a reflection of the world in which specific economic ideas have developed, such as those associated with Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. It argues that economic ideas are not very important when and where there is no economy. Change in economics has been reluctant and reluctantly accepted, especially by those who benefit from the status quo and economists who have a vested interest in what has always been taught and believed.