From America's first celebrated economist comes this 1912 textbook with a succinct yet highly informative introduction to economics as it was understood and practiced in the early 20th century. Fisher provides in-depth discussions of basic topics including:. wealth, property, and income. credit and debt. currency, prices, and monetary systems. supply and demand, capital and labor. poverty. and more.American economist IRVING FISHER (1867-1947) was professor of political economy at Yale University. Among his many books are The Rate of Interest (1907), Why Is the Dollar Shrinking? A Study in the High Cost of Living (1914), and Booms and Depressions (1932).