In the Long Run We’re All Dead: The Lives and Deaths of Great Economists by Björn Frank

This book begins with: “I am especially grateful for the encouragement from those who couldn’t care less about economics and wouldn’t read about it otherwise. This book is written for them.”

I am well disposed to this approach. Behind the thickets of the technical language of economics exist powerful concepts that deeply matter to our standard of living and to the prosperity of society.

All efforts to demystify economics should be welcomed. Our secondary school curriculum already recognises this, with the teaching of economic theory now rooted in practical experience. Recent books such as How Economics Can Save the World and Good Economics for Hard Times are wonderful introductions to a science that is anything but dismal.

So any book that is subtitled The Lives and Deaths of Great Economists, written specifically for a reader that is not interested in economics, immediately attracts my interest and support.

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This support is not immediately justified. A difficulty is the choice of thinkers that are deemed “great”. Economists such as Smith and Marx and Friedman are not included. Figures such as Alexander Chayanov and Friedrich List are likely to be obscure to even the informed reader.

Efforts to identify quirks in the lives and deaths of the selected economists are a little odd. The effect that the “full lips” of a famous Austrian thinker had on his sensuality hardly deepen interest in his theory of entrepreneurship.

However, this collection is far more than a folly.

John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist. He is best known for his contribution to nuclear physics. The delightful essay in this collection reminds the reader of his contribution to economic theory.

Before reading this work, I did not know what happened to the corpse of Jeremy Bentham, the English economist, or of his interest in prison reform. After reading about both, he is now a more interesting figure in economic history.

This book is unlikely to meet the needs of a reader looking to take the first step in understanding the history and nature of economics. The breadth of essays and their originality of tone will make this book of interest to the reader already on that exciting journey.

Paschal Donohoe is the Minister for Public Expenditure and President of the Eurogroup