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Ask HN: Best Books on Economics

3 points by maguay 16y ago

I'm wanting to learn more practical information on economics, and wondered if anyone had any good suggestions on books that you've found uniquely useful in learning economics. Most college textbooks unfortunately let the dismal science keep its name and seem to make it more confusing at best. But, there must be better books/resources to make economics make sense and actually be useful. Some books I've seen recommended on HN and elsewhere include: - Economics in One Lesson - SuperFreakonomics (or the original Freakonomics) - Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science If you had to purchase just one economics book, which would you find most useful and why? Any suggestions are appreciated ... eBooks/Kindle edition are best. Thanks!

chrismealy 16y ago
A lot of econ books are really just political screeds dressed up as social science. You have to watch out for that. But to answer your question, the best by far is Bowles's "Microeconomics: Behavior, Institutions, and Evolution." Here's an excellent summary: http://stevereads.com/weblog/2007/05/21/nearly-done-bowless-microeconomics/ http://stevereads.com/weblog/2007/05/21/nearly-done-bowless-... And here's an tiny excerpt: Like the overnight train that left me in an empty field some distance from the settlement, the process of economic development has for the most part bypassed the two hundred or so families that make up the village of Palanpur. They have remained poor, even by Indian standards: less than a third of the adults are literate, and most have endured the loss of a child to malnutrition or to illnesses that are long forgotten in other parts of the world. But for the occasional wristwatch, bicycle, or irrigation pump, Palanpur appears to be a timeless backwater, untouched by India’s cutting edge software industry and booming agricultural regions. Seeking to understand why, I approached a sharecropper and his three daughters weeding a small plot. The conversation eventually turned to the fact that Palanpur farmers sow their winter crops several weeks after the date at which yields would be maximized. The farmers do not doubt that earlier planting would give them larger harvests, but no one the farmer explained, is willing to be the first to plant, as the seeds on any lone plot would be quickly eaten by birds. I asked if a large group of farmers, perhaps relatives, had ever agreed to sow earlier, all planting on the same day to minimize losses. “If we knew how to do that,” he said, looking up from his hoe at me, “we would not be poor.”
anigbrowl 16y ago
"New Ideas from Dead Economists" by Todf Buckholz is an accessible but informative overview of the field, and free of ideology.

3 points by maguay 16y ago

chrismealy 16y ago

A lot of econ books are really just political screeds dressed up as social science. You have to watch out for that. But to answer your question, the best by far is Bowles's "Microeconomics: Behavior, Institutions, and Evolution." Here's an excellent summary: http://stevereads.com/weblog/2007/05/21/nearly-done-bowless-microeconomics/ http://stevereads.com/weblog/2007/05/21/nearly-done-bowless-... And here's an tiny excerpt: Like the overnight train that left me in an empty field some distance from the settlement, the process of economic development has for the most part bypassed the two hundred or so families that make up the village of Palanpur. They have remained poor, even by Indian standards: less than a third of the adults are literate, and most have endured the loss of a child to malnutrition or to illnesses that are long forgotten in other parts of the world. But for the occasional wristwatch, bicycle, or irrigation pump, Palanpur appears to be a timeless backwater, untouched by India’s cutting edge software industry and booming agricultural regions. Seeking to understand why, I approached a sharecropper and his three daughters weeding a small plot. The conversation eventually turned to the fact that Palanpur farmers sow their winter crops several weeks after the date at which yields would be maximized. The farmers do not doubt that earlier planting would give them larger harvests, but no one the farmer explained, is willing to be the first to plant, as the seeds on any lone plot would be quickly eaten by birds. I asked if a large group of farmers, perhaps relatives, had ever agreed to sow earlier, all planting on the same day to minimize losses. “If we knew how to do that,” he said, looking up from his hoe at me, “we would not be poor.”

anigbrowl 16y ago

"New Ideas from Dead Economists" by Todf Buckholz is an accessible but informative overview of the field, and free of ideology.