Sylvia Nasar, the author of "A Beautiful Mind" has written a history of the men, women and ideas that have shaped our economic world.
I enjoyed this book for both its biographical profiles as well as its articulation of the economic ideas that have shaped the last 150 + years and still dominate our world today.
After reading this book, one may watch the talking heads on cable news, and observes the occupy Wall St protesters, and know that capitalism has struggled with very similar debates in the past.
In the book one is remnded that prior to the 1850's the idea that the poor could be helped, that the economy could be "engineered", was an unthought of concept. Furthermore, we learn that capitalism has lifted many humans out of poverty and in the paraphrased words of Joseph Schumpeter: capitalism creates an economy where its not just the queen who can wear stockings, but also the working girl.
Today we live in a richer world thanks to many of the ideas that Nasar explores. Lets hope that our current leaders and thinkers solve todays problems and continue to refine the system and not throw the baby out with the bath water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io7Yuol8kd8
