This book presents a comprehensive overview of the development of various schools of economic thought. Written for students of economics and anyone interested in the history of economics, it introduces the economic thinking of major economists, including Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes, and explains how classical economics and modern schools of economic thought evolved also in relation to the social conditions and real economic problems they were trying to address. It covers topics such as the evolution of classical economics, the marginal revolution, the theory of capital and the Cambridge controversies, Keynes's General Theory, the neoclassical synthesis, and the history of macroeconomics. The author also reflects on the contemporary influence of various schools of economic thought and what answers they offer to present-day problems.

The second edition is completely updated and offers two new chapters, one on the methodology of economics and another on economic growth. The final chapter presents and critically evaluates developments in macroeconomics in the years after the "Great Recession."