The Puzzle of Modern Economics

Roger E. Backhouse is Professor of the History and Philosophy of Economics at the University of Birmingham, where he has taught since 1980, and at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 2007 he was Ludwig Lachmann Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. In 1998–2000 he held a British Academy Research Readership. He has also taught at University College London, Keele University, the University of Bristol, the University of Buckingham, and the University of Oporto. Professor Backhouse is the co-editor of The History of the Social Sciences since 1945 (with Philippe Fontaine, Cambridge University Press, 2010), No Wealth But Life: Welfare Economics and the Welfare State in Britain 1880–1945 (with Tamotso Nishizawa, Cambridge University Press, 2010), and The Unsocial Social Science? Economics and Neighboring Disciplines Since 1945 (forthcoming). He also coedited The Cambridge Companion to Keynes (with Bradley W. Bateman, Cambridge University Press, 2006). Professor Backhouse is also author of The Ordinary Business of Life and The Penguin History of Economics. He has written for a number of journals, including Economica, Journal of Economic Perspectives, History of Political Economy, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and Journal of Economic Methodology. He has been review editor of the Economic Journal, editor of the Journal of Economic Methodology, and associate editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought.

• 1. Introduction; Part I. Economics in Action: 2. Creating new markets; 3. Creating a market economy; 4. Globalization and welfare; 5. Money and finance; Part II. Historical Perspectives: 6. Creating a 'scientific' economics; 7. The quest for rigorous macroeconomics; 8. Science and ideology; 9. Heterodoxy and dissent; Part III. Evaluation: 10. Economic science and economic myth; Supplementary note on the literature.

'This perceptive guide to the state of conventional economics in the aftermath of the financial crisis shows the subject is neither as flawed as its critics claim nor as powerful as its defenders say. Importantly, Roger Backhouse helps us understand when we can rely on the standard tools of economics. In clearly defined situations, economic models - applied with good judgment - do help tackle real-world problems, but economic techniques are less useful in addressing more complex problems. This is a wise book, one both economists and their critics would do well to read.' Diane Coyle, author of The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters