This book could be called “The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Economics.” The title expresses Duncan Foley’s belief that economics at its most abstract and interesting level is a speculative philosophical discourse, not a deductive or inductive science.

Preface 1. Adam"s Vision The Division of Labor The Theory of Value Capital Accumulation The Invisible Hand and the State Smith's Theory of Money Adam's Fallacy Revisited 2. Gloomy Science Second Thoughts Malthus and Population The Context of Malthus's Essay Malthus's Postulates Malthusian Logic Population and Food since Malthus's Time Ricardo and the Limits to Growth Ricardo's Labor Theory of Value Accumulation and the Stationary State Ricardo's Views on Machinery The Political Economy of Poverty 3. The Severest Critic Historical Materialism The Commodity and the Theory of Value Capitalist Exploitation Accumulation and the Falling Rate of Profit Primitive Accumulation The Transition to Socialism Marx and Proletarian Revolution Marxist Theory and Social Change 4. On the Margins Adam's Fallacy Needs New Shoes Marginalism Where Do Prices Come From? Marginalism and Social Welfare Marginalism and Time Veblen and Conspicuous Consumption 5. Voices in the Air John Maynard Keynes World Capitalism in Keynes's Time Say's Law and Laissez-Faire Labor Markets and Unemployment Expectations and Money The Fate of Capitalism Complexity vs. Collectivism The Prophet of Technology 6. Grand Illusions Looking in the Mirror Two-Armed Economists Escaping Adam's Fallacy Face to Face with Adam's Curse Reading Further Appendix Demographic Equilibrium Theories of Money and Prices Ricardo's Theory of Rent and Accumulation Decomposition of the Value of Commodities The Working Day Index

Duncan Foley has written a fair-minded and very well-written history of economic thinking organized by the theme announced in his title. He contends that economic thinking has been dominated by fallacious attempts to separate positive analysis from moral judgment. This leitmotif has enabled him to create a unified presentation, which will be very useful to the general reader.

Duncan Foley has written a fair-minded and very well-written history of economic thinking organized by the theme announced in his title. He contends that economic thinking has been dominated by fallacious attempts to separate positive analysis from moral judgment. This leitmotif has enabled him to create a unified presentation, which will be very useful to the general reader. -- Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University This learned and lively book reconnects economics to the complexities and conflicts of politics and society, and powerfully reminds us that there are no fixed, necessary, or inevitable laws that govern markets. By tracing the history of economic thinking as a form of engagement with values and policies, it also thoughtfully beckons us to grasp together the twin challenges of scientific understanding and moral reasoning. -- Ira Katznelson, Columbia University Adam's Fallacy is a stimulating tour d'horizon of the ideas of the great economists. In clear, accessible prose, Duncan Foley, a noted theorist himself, describes what they wrote and what their work means today, providing an insightful and thought-provoking critique of economics. -- Stanley Engerman, University of Rochester