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I love reading about investing so, I thought I'd start a thread on books for economics and/or investing.  Your two favorite books and why?

I'll start with my two favorites I've read in the past few years:

1.) Financial Shenanigans - This book is the basics for many when it comes to reading balance sheets however, it covers a lot of way companies manipulate.  I may not have learned the most from it however, for anyone investing in stocks I think it is a must read.  Especially if you don't know how to properly decipher balance sheets.

http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Shenanigans-Accounting-Gimmicks-Reports/dp/0071386262/

2.) Rule #1 Investing - This is also a book for basics on investing in companies.  It explains how to do a proper evaluation and mostly has proven pretty accurate for me.  As someone who didn't study this stuff at a college I found both these books very helpful for reading balance sheets, looking for problems, and in determining value.

http://www.amazon.com/Rule-Strategy-Successful-Investing-Minutes/dp/0307336840/

I'm sorry to say I don't have favorites for economics because most of my study has just been learning the theories of macro-economics from the internet.  If anyone has great macro-economic books they can suggest I'd love to read some.

Essentials of Economics - a brief survey of principles and policies
by Faustino Ballvé

Free PDF! http://mises.org/books/ballve.pdf

and of course
The Road to Serfdom
by Friedrich A. Hayek

Also Free PDF! http://mises.org/document/2402/The-Road-to-Serfdom

Disclaimer: there's no such thing as a free book!  ;)

I highly recommend Man, Economy and State by Murray Rothbard: http://mises.org/rothbard/mes.asp (PDF, Epub, HTML)

It includes everything Mises was teaching on economics, but it is much easier to read and it has detailed description of production structure.

The Natural Economic Order by Silvio Gesell

https://www.community-exchange.org/docs/Gesell/en/neo/index.htm

Excellent topic OP.

Globalization and The Welfare State by Ramesh Mishra

More on the political-economy side; excellent and very informative.  Specifically, I liked the book because it discusses across three different counties the many affects of [financial] globalization: trade/investment flows, interest rates, fiscal policies, liberalization policies, labor policy and the changing social demands.  Don't let the 152 pages fool you, it's perhaps the most densely packed book I've come across.

http://books.google.com/books/about/Globalization_and_the_Welfare_State.html?id=2HWLhocyJikC

The Asian financial crisis: crisis, reform and recovery by Shalendra D. Sharma

On the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.  It's definitive.  Liked it because of the topics: debt crsis, exchange rates, trade policy, dangers of currency pegs and interest rate fluctuations, austerity.  It's very...prescient.  Extremely relevant now.

http://books.google.com/books?id=c9_tAAAAMAAJ&q=1997+asian+financial+crisis&dq=1997+asian+financial+crisis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lRhwUcf6D6bB4APc7oCYBw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg

I'm going to have to go with one that was given to me by a friend of my family who was a millionaire.  I've read it a few times over the years & it's really good & short. 

The Richest Man in Babylon
http://www.amazon.com/The-Richest-Man-Babylon-Bestselling/dp/1615890343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366301629&sr=8-1&keywords=richest+man+in+babylon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Richest-Man-Babylon-Bestselling/dp/1615890343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366301629&sr=8-1&keywords=richest+man+in+babylon)

Where Does Money Come From.

http://www.positivemoney.org/shop/where-does-money-come-from/

A concise, accurate, textbook account of money creation in the UK.

Well written and not just another ream of opinion on 'bankers creating money out of thin air' but fully explains the technical processes involved and the relationality between government, banks, and large corporations and of course the Bank of England. Obvious, this book will only be of interest to those residing in the UK.



Debt. The First 5000 years.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Debt-The-First-000-Years/dp/1612191819/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

The author of this book, David Graeber, is not an economist, but an anthropologist whose understanding of how primitive 'economies' function, leads him to question the very basis of modern mainstream and alternative economic thought. This book is not going to give you any clues on the best way to invest or secure your assets, or even provide a solid understanding of how the modern day financial system works, but if you fancy a complete paradigm shift, then this book is a must.

What the hell, why isn't "The intelligent investor" (Benjamin Graham) at the very top?

Secondly I would recommend "Margin of safety" (Seth Klarman).

For a simple free-market perspective (very thought provoking if you support big government; in other words you'll realize why you are wrong) try Economics in One Lesson.

I, Pencil.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

Economics:

Harry Browne's - 99% of Everything you Need to Know About Money. - When I found this gem a few years ago it wasn't very accessible, but now it's in Kindle format! Very short and easy to understand, but absolutely outstanding!
 
Murray Rothbard - What has Government Done to Our Money
Murray Rothbard - The Mystery of Banking
Henry Hazlitt - Economic in One Lesson
Gene Callahan - Economics for Real People
Peter Schiff - How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes

My all time favorite is Trading for Living by Alexander Elder.

The Global Minotaur: America, The True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy- by Yanis Varoufakis.

Just read it recently. Good light reading. I've never read any investing books though. I'm mostly interested in macro-economics.

I second this recommendation!

Liar's Poker.   easy read and if you start researching the people you will see that these people created something that allowed a LOT of american's to raise their standard of living.   they did something great.   and if you look at how ranieri really became rich after the savings and loan crash, it will destroy your belief of "an efficient market".   Way better than Den of Thieves, although one could argue milken did more for american standard of living by inventing junk bonds (I would argue that the mortgage securitization market development benefitting far more americans though.

We the Living.     Easiest read of the rand books.   you have to marvel at WHEN it was written and at how accurate it was describing what happens when the "let's be fair" people take over.

I second this!  This book was an eye opener!

You can read the entire thing online for free:

http://mises.org/money.asp

Book #2: Time Will Run Back, by Henry Hazlitt.  A dystopian novel, in the vein of 1984.
http://mises.org/document/3060/

Bonus: America's Great Depression, by Murray Rothbard

Milton Friedman [Rose Friedman] - Free to Choose

Benjamin Graham - The Intelligent Investor

Edwin Lefèvre - Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

The Hobbit. Smaug hoarded bitcoins and other valuables.

Outstanding post.  Man do I have some reading to do.  Keep them coming.

+ Ayn Rand. 

Thanks for sharing.