Maybe i overread it but The Fable of the Bees is from Bernard Mandeville. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fable_of_the_Bees

My two takes for a good historic understanding of economics are this Books: Economics of Good and Evil, Tomáš Sedláček https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Good-Evil-Economic-Gilgames...

and Schwarzbuch Kapitalismus, Robert Kurz (could't find a English Version) https://www.amazon.com/Schwarzbuch-Kapitalismus-Ein-Abgesang...