Is economics the key to everything or does the recent financial crisis show that
it has failed? This book provides an assessment of modern economics that cuts
through the confusion and controversy over this question. Case studies of the
creation of new markets, the Russian transition to capitalism, globalization, and
money and finance establish that economics has been very successful where
problems have been well defined and where the world can be changed to fit the
theory, but that it has been less successful in tackling bigger problems. The book
then offers a historical perspective on how, since the Second World War, economists
have tried to make their subject scientific. It explores the evolving relationship
between science and ideology and investigates the place of heterodoxy and
dissent within the discipline. It is argued that, though there are problems with
the discipline, economics is needed to combat the myths that abound concerning
economic problems.

Cambridge University Press, 2010