The 2 greatest economists of all-time.

 Adam Smith (1723-1790) -   A key figure of the Scottish enlightenment, Smith is the giant on whose shoulders subsequent economists stood. He is best known for The Wealth Of Nations, his 1776 treatise on economics, published at the dawn of the industrial revolution - and was even consulted on economic matters by Pitt The Elder, the wig politician and prime minister of the day.
His arguments for free trade, market competition and the morality of private Enterprise remain as fresh and influential as when written over 200 years ago. He saw government's sole job as to establish law and justice, and provide for the nation's education and basic infrastructure.


John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) - The greatest economic thinker of the 20th century, Keynes challenged fundamentally the idea that market economies will automatically adjust to create full employment. In the 1920s he developed radical plans for dealing with unemployment through deficit financing and state intervention. His insistence on the central role that uncertainty play in economic decisions foreshadows much of the current interest in behavioural economics. The present economic crisis has led to some revival in Keynesian thinking, and his insights into how international imbalances should be tackled remain highly relevant.


Patrick Chike (Editor)


(attribution - from Vince Cable's list of 10)

Micro News: (1) Declining Sterling (£), (2) The 3 richest women in the world.

The gradual devaluation of the sterling (£) to many people is not manifest, but to the discerning traveller the
depreciation is evident. In 2007, the average British tourist would get more than 1.35 euros per £, but today some tourist hotels are offering an exchange rate of less than one euro to the £. Serious!



The 3 richest women in the world are:
1st - Christy Walton, worth $26.5 billion. She is the widow of JohnWalton, the Walmat heir.

2nd - Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal heiress, she is worth $23.5 billion.

3rd - Alice Walton. She is the sister-in-law of Christy Walton and the daughter and neice repectively of the Walmat founders, Sam and James Walton. She is worth $22 billion.

Patrick Chike   (Editor)