Economics in Perspective

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was one of the most influential economists of the twentieth century. He was professor of economics at Harvard University and served as U.S. ambassador to India during the Kennedy administration. He wrote more than fifty books, including American Capitalism, The Affluent Society, and The New Industrial State (Princeton).

Foreword ix

Richard Parker

To Acknowledge xix

1 A Look at the Landscape 1

2 After Adam 10

3 The Enduring Interim 23

4 The Merchants and the State 35

5 The French Design 51

6 The New World of Adam Smith 63

7 Refinement, Affirmation-and the Seeds of Revolt 80

8 The Great Classical Tradition, 1: Around the Margins 98

9 The Great Classical Tradition, 2: The Mainstream 113

10 The Great Classical Tradition, 3: The Defense of the Faith 124

11 The Grand Assault 139

12 The Separate Personality of Money 154

13 American Concerns: Trade and Trusts; Enriched and the Rich 170

14 Completion and Criticism 195

15 The Primal Force of the Great Depression 211

16 The Birth of the Welfare State 229

17 John Maynard Keynes 241

18 Affirmation by Mars 259

19 High Noon 274

20 Twilight and Evening Bell 290

21 The Present as the Future, 1 307

22 The Present as the Future, 2 318

Index 327