In its fourth edition, "Economics Explained" continues its announced purpose -- to explain that mysterious thing called economics. But there is a new urgency to the book. It is announced in the first sentence of the introduction: "Just in case the reader-to-be hasn't noticed, disturbing things are going on in the American economy these days."This new edition is about these disturbing things: a trend toward inequality of incomes, the appearance of a new "globalized" capitalism, the "specter" of inflation. As before, Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow treat these problems in language that seeks to make clear their causes and treatments. In this straightforward, highly accessible reference, Heilbroner and Thurow -- two of America's most respected and articulate economists -- offer all the economics essential for becoming an effective investor, a savvy business decision maker, or simply an informed member of society.

Heilbroner and Thurow are two of today's better-known economists, their commentary more likely to appear in the New Yorker or Newsweek than as a piece in the American Economic Review. This is the substantially revised and updated third edition of their primer on economics. Well written and readable, it successfully targets those with little or no background in the subject, clearly explaining concepts such as the GNP, deficit spending, and price systems. It also provides an overview of the history of economic thought by contrasting the theories of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. While economic theories are often likely to be colored by political or moral values, the authors readily identify opinions or statements that may be controversial. David Rouse

萊斯特•瑟羅

哈佛大學經濟學博士。曾在約翰遜總統經濟顧問委員會工作11年，但絕大部分時間都是在哈佛大學、麻省理工學院等院校任教。知名經濟學傢保羅•剋魯格曼（Paul Krugman）稱頌瑟羅是“將經濟觀念詮釋得簡單清楚的經濟學傢”。

瑟羅教授的主要作品包括：《知識經濟時代》《危險的趨勢：經濟學的現狀》《零和社會解決方案：建設國際水平的美國經濟》《資本主義的未來》等。

羅伯特•海爾布羅納

美國製度經濟學的傑齣代錶人物之一。畢業於哈佛大學，先後任教於耶魯大學、哈佛大學、普林斯頓大學、芝加哥大學、賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院等名校。

海爾布羅納在其職業生涯中，先後齣版瞭20餘本著作，包括：《世俗哲人——幾位著名經濟思想傢的生平、時代和思想》（1953，再版6次，被轉譯為24種文字，發行量達300萬冊）、《作為曆史的未來》（1960，被轉譯為5種文字）、《看得懂的經濟學》（1982，已齣第4版）等。