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Economics was a practical as well as an analytical science. From the left, Beatrice Potter Webb argued that mass destitution could be cured by “the household state”. Fisher showed that good management of the money supply could contribute to stability. Keynes insisted that crises could be prevented if the government could act as the spender of last resort, just as the central bank was lender of last resort.
“Grand Pursuit” peters out at the end. It is easy to see why Ms Nasar thought Amartya Sen might be the right terminus for her train. He is an economic genius who has devoted his life to thinking about the elimination of the most dramatic form of want: famine. But it is, nevertheless, odd to end a history of economics without discussing the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the furious arguments it has engendered within the economics profession. Surely the likes of Paul Krugman and Lawrence Summers should have had at least a walk-on role at the close of the story. But that is a blemish in what is generally a wonderful book. “Grand Pursuit” deserves a place not only in every economist’s study but also on every serious reader’s bedside table.

A. 어휘
practical 실용적인. analytical 분석적인. destitution 궁핍, 극빈.
household state 가족국가. last resort 최후 수단(최후로 의지할 곳).
peters out (물줄기/광맥) 점차 가늘어지다, 점차 소멸하다.
terminus 종착역. elimination 除去(제거). famine 饑饉(기근).
engender 발생시키다. likes 同類(동류), 동배.
walk-on role 端役(단역), 통행인 역. blemish 결점, 흠.