Why this book?
- It introduces lesser-known figures in the history of economic thought.
- It rereads common accounts of Adam Smith, Marx, and Keynes.
- It shows the links between economics, philosophy, religion, and intellectual history.
- It serves as a guide for beginning a more serious study of the history of economic thought.
- Its essayistic prose makes economic debates easier to follow.
About the book
“Economics, Told Otherwise” is a collection of essays by Mousa Ghaninejad, first published between ۱۳۸۳ and ۱۳۸۷ in the monthly analytical supplement of Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper. The shared aim of these pieces is to introduce and reread the economic ideas of thinkers, some of whom were professional economists, while others came to economic questions through theology, philosophy, or commerce.
The book begins historically in the Middle Ages and reaches the contemporary period. Along the way, Ghaninejad discusses thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Cantillon, Samuel Bailey, Bastiat, Adam Smith, Marx, Keynes, and Gary North, showing that economic thought has always taken shape within larger questions about justice, value, price, freedom, and social order.
The book’s place in Ghaninejad’s intellectual work can be seen as part of his enduring concern with the market economy, individual freedom, and the critique of official accounts of economics. Rather than writing a systematic academic history of economic thought, he opens windows onto different viewpoints and schools, inviting the reader to rethink familiar assumptions.
The book is suitable for economics students, readers interested in political philosophy, and anyone who wants to understand the intellectual roots of economic concepts. It is also useful for those who want to move beyond linear and clichéd accounts of economic history.