3 ms·

I'd recommend textbooks or corsera rather than pop econ books. Mostly Harmless Econometrics - Angrist and Krueger Principles of microeconomics - Mankiw (begin

by oli5679 10y ago

I'd recommend textbooks or corsera rather than pop econ books. Mostly Harmless Econometrics - Angrist and Krueger Principles of microeconomics - Mankiw (beginner) Intermediate microeconomics - Varian (intermediate) You also want to cover finance and time series - I don't know what would be good there.

riffraff 10y ago
I second the suggestion of mankiw's book, covers a lot, it's well written and mixes both interesting anecdotes and actual "theory".
- chestervonwinch 10y ago
  How would compare Mankiw's Principles of Micro / Macro separately vs. his single, Principles of Economics text? Some background: I'm a graduate student with little time, but this election cycle has motivated me to learn some basic economics / history in my spare time.
  - oli5679 10y ago
    They are similar, with a lot of overlapping material. I would recommend focusing on micro to start with because to me its basic ideas, models and techniques have the most value for life/business.
tvanantwerp 10y ago
For someone coming from a totally different field, I'd actually recommend the opposite approach: start with pop-econ to actually develop an interest, then move on to more serious academic works. Starting from zero, a textbook risks being far too boring to stick with. Best to generate an interest first, then dive deeper once you've got a context and hunger to know more.
- oli5679 10y ago
  Yeah, I think the best econ and finance journalists are more captivating than a textbook. I'd recommend Matt Levine, Tim Hartford, anything in the Economist magazine Paul Krugman's early essays (before he became a political columnist) as well as the Freakonomics and econtalk podcasts as a general introduction.
xapata 10y ago
Mankiw's text is decent, but heavily influenced by his politics. Regardless of who you read, it's good to be skeptical and consider their personal agenda.

by oli5679 10y ago

riffraff 10y ago

I second the suggestion of mankiw's book, covers a lot, it's well written and mixes both interesting anecdotes and actual "theory".

chestervonwinch 10y ago
How would compare Mankiw's Principles of Micro / Macro separately vs. his single, Principles of Economics text? Some background: I'm a graduate student with little time, but this election cycle has motivated me to learn some basic economics / history in my spare time.
- oli5679 10y ago
  They are similar, with a lot of overlapping material. I would recommend focusing on micro to start with because to me its basic ideas, models and techniques have the most value for life/business.

tvanantwerp 10y ago

For someone coming from a totally different field, I'd actually recommend the opposite approach: start with pop-econ to actually develop an interest, then move on to more serious academic works. Starting from zero, a textbook risks being far too boring to stick with. Best to generate an interest first, then dive deeper once you've got a context and hunger to know more.

oli5679 10y ago
Yeah, I think the best econ and finance journalists are more captivating than a textbook. I'd recommend Matt Levine, Tim Hartford, anything in the Economist magazine Paul Krugman's early essays (before he became a political columnist) as well as the Freakonomics and econtalk podcasts as a general introduction.

xapata 10y ago

Mankiw's text is decent, but heavily influenced by his politics. Regardless of who you read, it's good to be skeptical and consider their personal agenda.