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Economics books

I've gained an interest in Economics and i'm wondering what the ideal books are for beginners? I remember some stuff from High School and i'm using Khanacademy to fill in the rest of the blanks.

Reply 1

jellyman330

The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford is a good read.
Puts economics into life situations, a good read :biggrin:

Reply 2

King_Blumpkins

OP

2

I'm reading the first chapter on Amazon at the moment, and it looks interesting, i'll check to see if my local watestones have it next week.

Reply 3

The Young Economist

There's a sticky on this :smile:

Reply 4

.ACS.

19

As above, there's a stick on this.

As for another suggestion, give Capitalism and Freedom a go by Milton Friedman. It's a bit more heavy, but a great read nonetheless.

Reply 5

Mincan

where?

i can't find it!

Reply 6

Mincan

i've found it now :smile:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=951848

Reply 7

Focus08

16

SuperFreakonomics :awesome:

Reply 8

EconAtUni

King_Blumpkins

I'm reading the first chapter on Amazon at the moment, and it looks interesting, i'll check to see if my local watestones have it next week.

If you're enjoying The Undercover Economist, check out the other books on this list.

Reply 9

King_Blumpkins

OP

2

Focus08

SuperFreakonomics :awesome:

Is Freakonomics actually good? I'd assume because it's popular it doesn't offer anything insightfull.

Reply 10

Focus08

16

King_Blumpkins

Is Freakonomics actually good? I'd assume because it's popular it doesn't offer anything insightfull.

The new one is called SuperFreakonomics. It's a fun read, but isn't too heavy on the terminology.

Reply 11

King_Blumpkins

OP

2

Focus08

The new one is called SuperFreakonomics. It's a fun read, but isn't too heavy on the terminology.

So would you suggest getting Superfreakonomics along with The Undercover Economist?

Reply 12

Focus08

16

King_Blumpkins

So would you suggest getting Superfreakonomics along with The Undercover Economist?

Dunno, they're both pretty similar in style and there are loads of books of that type out. It's kind of like a few years back when many fiction books written tried to resemble the da Vinci code. The original Freakonomics was the break-through. SF and UE are both really casual reads. At the end of the day, I would go for UE in your position and if you like that type of book go for Freakonomics/SuperFreak later.

Reply 13

danny111

3

Capitalism and Freedom.

Join the Friedman side. Join the true side.

Reply 14

Amit92

14

When I was interested in Economics for long-term degree..I read a few chapters from Freakonomics, Thr Truth about Markets, Undercover Economist.

Reply 15

yoyo462001

16

danny111

Capitalism and Freedom.

Join the Friedman side. Join the true side.

Focus08

Hayek, von Mises>> Friedman

Be real son :plz2:

Reply 16

MagicNMedicine

20

Personally I'm not a big fan of these books like Freakonomics, or the Undercover economist, if you want to read them as leisure reading then great but I wouldn't mark them down as 'must reads' because every wannabe Economics applicant reads them and writes it on their UCAS form. I bet half the Admissions tutors think these books are crap anyway.

I think for a 6th former who wants to study economics, you are better reading economists blogs online. Some of the top economists blogs will be a bit over your head because they are are basically academics blogging for the target audience of the economics community (ie other academics and postgrad level students) so their stuff presupposes knowledge. Start with stuff like Faisal Islam the Channel 4 economics editor, Stephanie Flanders blog on the BBC, Edmund Conways blog on the Daily Telegraph website, Paul Krugman does a very good blog which is accessible to the a non-economics specialist audience, various blogs on the F.T. website. If you just maybe follow two or three of these blogs and try to read them every day or so, you will get an awareness of the current economic issues and you will start to understand some general macroeconomic concepts.

If you want to have a textbook to refer to so you can read up on anything you don't understand, then I recommend buying Greg Mankiw's book on Macroeconomics, or John Sloman's big (and probably expensive) economics text. Sloman is probably the most comprehensive of the 1st year level UG economics textbooks, it doesn't go to too advanced a level but it covers a heck of a lot in there so is a really good point of reference. Mankiw and Sloman will both be really useful books when you get to uni, they will get you through 1st year.

Reply 17

danny111

3

Focus08

How many people do you think put down Stiglitz's books on their PS?

How many did it in a convincing manner?

I would think that writing the same book as say 100 others and writing about it in say the 90th percentile (in terms of quality) is better than writing about a book that only 5 others mentioned but yours is the worst.

This is all very hypothetical, but they don't look for the most exotic applicant. They look for skill and if his book(s) can help you show potential that is all that matters.

Not that I am saying write about it - just write about what truly interests you and then automatically you will write something useful.

Reply 18

Focus08

16

danny111

How many did it in a convincing manner?

I would think that writing the same book as say 100 others and writing about it in say the 90th percentile (in terms of quality) is better than writing about a book that only 5 others mentioned but yours is the worst.

This is all very hypothetical, but they don't look for the most exotic applicant. They look for skill and if his book(s) can help you show potential that is all that matters.

Not that I am saying write about it - just write about what truly interests you and then automatically you will write something useful.