Things I can do for economics course at uni without doing at a level

I never did economics at A-level but im doing it at Uni, is there anything that I can do now to prepare for the economics course in advance so im not just like in the dark? Anything helps!

It's funny that you say that. I do know of a list of books that I would recommend reading, but they tend to be for the undergrad level.

Whilst you can always read the material for A Level economics, the fact that a lot of the material at uni level would likely involve mathematical models and graphs a notch above A Level economics standard.

Depending on what specific books you would be using at degree level, I would recommend the following:


There are more mathematical books that you can look into, but you won't likely need them unless you're doing mathematical economics as a degree or module.

There are essentially 3 key areas of study/modules in any economics degree: macroeconomics (the economy), microeconomics (individual/firm level), and econometrics. Macroeconomics is something you are most likely going to comea cross the most often in the news, and it's not that particularly demanding. Microeconomics on the other hand is not mentioned as much, so it's worth reading up more on.

I unfortunately don't have any good recommendations for microeconomics, so my best guess would be to have look at the Schaum's Outlines or A Level economics books. What the uni teaches in microeconomics can vary a lot, but the macro can be pretty consistent from what I have seen.

Having said the above, they wouldn't really be expecting you to know much about economics in the first year and they would take you through the material from the group up. It's just the learning curve can be a bit steep. The above should help though; just make sure you're not buying books that you need to get different editions of when you're at uni.

If instead you want a list of books on economics for casual reading, let me know.

Wow, thank you sm! If possible do you think you could recommend books for casual reading for economics if thats okay? Also, do you think I'll be at a disadvantage because I didnt do economics at A-level? Thank you

do you think you could recommend books for casual reading for economics if thats okay?

Highly recommended books I have yet to read but I will get to eventually
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky - talks about decision making in economics
The Armchair Economist by Steven E. Landsburg - similar to the Undercover Economist
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nissim Nocholas Taleb - about improbable events; something that can come up in game theory and financial economics
Banerjee, A. & Duflo, E. (2011). Poor economics. Penguin - development economics
Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, Charles Wheelan - broad overview of economics
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, Richard H. Thaler - talks about behavioural economics/game theory
Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman - I'm not a fan of Friedman, but this is an iconic book
The Return of Depression Economics and Crisis of 2008 – Paul Krugman - about the financial crisis
The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L Heilbroner - talks about the economic thinkers throughout history
Rise and Fall of Nations: Ten Rules of Change in the Post-Crisis World (Richir Sharma) - the title alone is enough to captivate you
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes - a dated book, but it's one of the books that set off modern economics and has many of the theories that you would be studying
Stabilizing an Unstable Economy by Hyman Minsky - more on finance and an idea of what's causing booms and busts
Principles by Ray Dalio - a book on the economy and how you can use it for investing

Other books
Whilst it's not exactly a recommended read, The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is one of the key books to modern economics. We refer to many of the ideas and principles mentioned in this book by other terms now. It can impress some lecturers, but it's not going to help you that much in terms of your studies.
The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan - an autobiography of a former US central banker; about half of the book is about economics, and half about his life and career

If you want other recommendations, you can google for "recommended reading list university economics"

Of course, the above is quite a long list and it would take you more than several months to go through all of it (assuming you study like crazy nonstop). I would pick and choose depending on what you like the sound of the most.
Freakonomics would be my go to followed by Undercover Economist.

Also, do you think I'll be at a disadvantage because I didnt do economics at A-level?
You might be at a slight disadvantage, but I don't think it's by that much.
I didn't do economics at A Level and I did fine. On the other hand, I know of someone who did and went onto do an economics degree course, where he came across a number of students who struggled in their first year because of how new the concepts are.
I think it comes down to the individual.

Personal recommendation: a casual read of the subject at A Level standard (don't need to cover the GCSE stuff if you don't want to) would be of benefit, but it's not strictly a must. If you can handle mathematical models and enjoy theoretical debates, then you should be fine in most cases.