A shortcut to the most important ideas on capitalism, finance, and the global economy. Economics drives the modern world and shapes our lives, but few of us feel we have time to engage with the breadth of ideas in the subject. This book is the smart person's guide to two centuries of discussion of finance, capitalism and the global economy. From Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations to Thomas Piketty's bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century, here are the great reads, seminal ideas and famous texts clarified and illuminated for all.