How to Think Like an Economist

How to Think Like an Economist: Great Economists Who Shaped the World and What They Can Teach Us is an accessible introduction to economic ideas through the people who developed them. Rather than teaching economics mainly through equations or textbook definitions, Robbie Mochrie uses short biographical sketches to show how influential thinkers responded to the problems of their times—and why their ideas still shape debates about poverty, markets, inequality, public policy, climate change, and economic growth. The book ranges from Aristotle’s concerns about consumption and moral life to Adam Smith’s arguments about markets and moral character, Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism, John Maynard Keynes’s thinking on government intervention, Friedrich Hayek’s defence of decentralised knowledge and markets, and Esther Duflo’s evidence-based work on reducing global poverty. It also highlights women’s contributions to economic thought, including thinkers who faced barriers to formal recognition and academic participation. Published by Bloomsbury Continuum in 2024, the book is 288 pages and is designed for general readers, students, and anyone who wants to understand economics as a way of thinking about real human choices—not simply a subject about money.