Sumitra Shah has some interesting comments on the relevancy of mainstream economics. In my opinion, economics has become an arcane discipline for quite a long time. A review of the classical tradition from the French Physiocrats, Adam Smith, RIcardo, Mill and Marx would certainly seem in order for academics and "scholars" in economics or political economy as the discipline was referred to thru most of the 19th century. Also, Henry George deserves more than a paragraph or footnote in any history of economic thought.
Roy Davidson