ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at economists as selfinterested maximizers. It extends the analysis in the Garbageman essay and emphasizes the point. The book considers the economics profession directly and explains why economists do what they do. It discusses the broad evolution of macroeconomic thinking from the 1940s to today and argues that the evolution neatly fits the economic theory of the philosophy of science. The book presents the keynote address at the 1988 Pennsylvania Economic Association meetings. It also discusses John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the twentieth-century's most important critics of economics. The book suggests that there is a serious question whether critics want to tear down mainstream economics. It reflects on mainstream economics and the critics and provides a summary judgment of where the author stands on the economics profession and what its likely future is.
