Many readers have requested that I provide a reading list of economics texts. The books are listed in no particular order.
1. Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman.– A must read for anyone interested in economics.
2. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford.– Very useful information and especially recommended for those who have limited knowledge of economics.
3. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner– Although this book has been the topic of controversy, it demonstrates that economics is useful beyond measuring GDP.
4. The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg– A unique perspective to understanding anything remotely related to economics.
5. Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell– A great introduction to economic theory.
6. Applied Economics by Thomas Sowell– The follow-up to Basic Economics.
7. The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek– Must read.
8. Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
9. Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman– An excellent analysis of the relationship between economics and freedom.
10. Individualism and Economic Order by F.A. Hayek– One cannot truly appreciate and understand free markets and the free market process without reading Hayek.
11. Liberty and Property by Ludwig von Mises.
12. On Classical Economics by Thomas Sowell– This is an excellent book on the philosophies of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and their contemporaries. A must read for anyone who wants to study economics.
13. The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan
14. The Baseball Economist by J.C. Bradbury– Another “outside the box” book that applies economic theory to America’s great pastime.
15. The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb– This is not really an economics text, but it does provide a great deal of insight that is applicable to the discipline.
16. “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen” by Frederic Bastiat
17. Radicals for Capitalism by Brian Doherty
18. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes
19. A Treatise on Probability by John Maynard Keynes
20. Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle by F.A. Hayek
21. Information and Coordination by Axel Leijonhufvud
22. Understanding the Process of Economic Change by Doug North
More to come . . .
4 responses so far ↓
A New Pitch Man « The Everyday Economist // September 22, 2006 at 9:42 am
[...] It is a shame he wasn’t peddling one of these. [...]
dcollson // March 7, 2007 at 11:27 pm
You should add Keyenes’ General Theory to the list.
eric herrick // May 28, 2008 at 5:27 pm
For non-economists….The Birth of Plenty, How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created, by William J. Bertnstein (2004) and put out by McGraw-Hill has a low “turgidity coefficient.” Fun.
Politics In Moderation // June 9, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Do you have any recommendations for books specifically having to do with the trickle down economic theory?
Leave a Comment