Publisher's Synopsis
Isaiah Berlin, in his famous essay, identified the chasm that exists between those thinkers or ?hedgehogs?, who relate everything to a single system, and ?foxes? who see the world as too complex to be captured by any single universal absolute. The emphasis in 20th-century economics on technical virtuosity in manipulating mathematics tended to turn students into such ?hedgehogs?. To be effective, economics must take into consideration the complexity of human beings and the contextual, institutional, social and historical factors at play in the economy. Like the fox, today?s economist must be resourceful and intuitive. - - This book greatly increases the range of tools at the economist?s disposal. It draws extensively on the knowledge and experience of other disciplines, providing the current generation with unprecedented flexibility in the practical application of their study. -
