Economic ideas and trends play a crucial yet little-understood role in the development of the world in which we live and are therefore vital to understanding our society today. From mercantilists through Keynesians to modern economic thought, this handbook covers 50 of the greatest minds and 10 core theories. Including Hume, Smith, Marx, and von Mises, succinct biographies reach behind the personalities and reveal the outstanding contribution each has made to this internationally important and pervasive discipline. The essential concepts and themes have been expertly selected and the complex issues clearly explained within a social, political, and cultural context, allowing the rich history of economic thought to be told and the motivations behind its phenomenal global development to be understood.