Economics as Ideology: Keynes, Laski, Hayek and the Creation of Contemporary Politics explores the lives and thought of three powerful theorists who shaped the foundations of the center, left, and right of the political spectrum in the 20th century. Noted scholar Kenneth R. Hoover examines how each thinker developed their ideas, looks at why and how their views evolved into ideologies, and draws connections between these ideologies and our contemporary political situation. Similar in age, colleagues in academic life, and participants in the century's defining political events, the story of Keynes, Laski, and Hayek is also the story of how we in the west came to define politics as the choice between government and the market, between regulation and freedom, and between the classes and the masses.

"In this well-written and amply researched and documented volume, Hoover analyzes the lives and motives of three giants on the world stage in the last century: John Maynard Keynes, Harold Laski, and Frederick Hayek. Hoover deftly examines the contrasting ideologies of these major 20th-century figures and the essence of their contributions and impact on contemporary politics and economics. Highly recommended." - CHOICE

"A rich portrait of the politics and intellectual life of Great Britain (and to a lesser extent, the United States) during the formative events of the century, and these chapters serve as a good general introduction to the ideas of these three men. A useful read for historians of economics and economic thought, as well as those with an interest in the development of political thought in the twentieth century." - H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

"Economics as Ideology is, in short, popular intellectual history at a high level. For those seeking both an engaging review of the economic ideas that shaped much of the history of the twentieth century and short biographies of three principals in formulating and advancing these ideas, it is an enlightening and illuminating work." - Journal of Markets & Morality

"This is a valuable book, the subject of which is the grand sweep of twentieth-century British economic ideology from the standpoint of its crucial historical and biographical contexts. It will have particular significance for social scientists studying this subject or period in British history." - Journal of British Studies