What books do you recommend for economics?

[MNbag]

I just want to ask you all what books do you read for economics?

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Are you looking for books on purely economics or are you including things like trading and business in your query?

There are some great books I've read about crazy business things, like The Smartest Guys in the Room (the Enron story) and When Genius Failed (about the LTCM debacle that nearly crashed the economy back in 1998).  They're great reads, even if they're about very specific events and not about general economics.

Books about stock trading, bubbles, and whatnot that I've read are The Intelligent Investor, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (or anything about or written by Jesse Livermore), The Snowball (about Warren Buffett), Origins of the Crash (Roger Lowenstein is an excellent author on economic topics), Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds, and Tulipomania : The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused.

If you really want to learn about general economics, I'd suggest picking up a textbook on it from Amazon or wherever.  I took a few econ courses in college, and they were very interesting.  If you have an opportunity to take a course in that area, I'd highly suggest doing so.

[Hydrogen]

Economists pay no price for making inaccurate predictions. Their livelihood doesn't depend on competence or knowledge in their area of expertise. They know some of the basic principles and fundamentals in the way that armchair philosophers argue ideology. But are never in a position to apply their book knowledge in real world application. As a result, economists and textbooks are usually not the best source for learning about markets or finance.

The best way to learn is to follow someone who applies economic principles in real world application on the daily. Someone who tests and questions textbook knowledge enough to know what is real. What works. And what doesn't. Basic steps most economists will never take.

Investors/traders like Larry Williams who turned $10,000 into more than $1 million dollars in trading competitions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_R._Williams
https://www.ireallytrade.com/

[hugeblack]

I am not a book hobby, I mostly listen to lectures on YouTube for some good Youtubers but the only book I have read and I advise everyone named "rich dad and poor dad" is considered the basis, but who wants to learn about investment and economics and then you can read other books such as Think and grow Rich and others

[AicecreaME]

I have three books recommendation for you about economics. First would be Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner and second one would be Economics in One Lesson by Hazzlit last one would be Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahneman. All are worth the money if ever you'll buy them. You will learn so many lessons, ways, strategies, concepts, market approaches, and thinking style of famous and successful personalities.

In Freakonomics, you will learn more about the everyday scenarios and questions that most people have on their minds typically. The non-typical questions are involved too. Those questions you don't know you have to know the answers to and that it actually matters if you'll think about it on a deeper level.

In Economics in One Lesson, it tackles about the in depth analysis of the market approaches and the economic theory. It also talks about the importance of the free market in our society where the privately owned businesses and establishments competition are of important to determine the price value of a product or services.

In Thinking Fast and Slow, it showcases the two areas of a human mind has which are the fast and slow. Both areas of the human mind has the ability to dictate what would be our decision in every aspect of our lives. It is responsible for our way of thinking and decision making. This book also mention about the moments we should trust our gut feel and when not to. It explains how to make an educational guess out of something and make an outcome look good. In addition, it also talks about the strategies on how to avoid as much as possible the common failures of the beginners and to not dig our very own grave when making an important judgement.

[palle11]

Most that economic books will be talking about is based on theories. After reading most of them, they don't find their bearing in the physical economy of changing life and creating wealth. The government economic department employ the best of economic professors but you see economy not improving like it suppose to be. No economic textbook discusses corruption, lobbying in politics and party influence to the economy as a topic or whatever and it is suppose to be included , they affect world economy.

[Coyster]

Most that economic books will be talking about is based on theories. After reading most of them, they don't find their bearing in the physical economy of changing life and creating wealth.

Isn't that how all books are, it's definitely up to the reader to assimilate the content of the book and apply it in their daily life, that's the same thing with economic books, it is not meant to be a passport to wealth creation or a better life, it is just a printed material published to give the reader necessary economic knowledge and if applied correctly could be beneficial to the individual economically.

The government economic department employ the best of economic professors but you see economy not improving like it suppose to be.

I don't think that argument is too valid in this context, the economy of a country is on a very large scale, and it can't always be rosy for a country economically, there are quite a lot of factors that decides that, but that said, I'm pretty sure without these expert economists/financial decision makers in various countries, their economic situation would be a whole lot worse than you think it is at the moment.

[paxmao]

Economics is an immense subject and something that sometimes is confused with investing, which is just a tiny little part of the picture. When speaking about Economics academically, it is mostly about economic theories and philosophies. The classics such as Adam Smith, Carl Marx, ... should give you a view of the history behind, while if you read the newer guys such as Piketty you will get a glimpse of the latest tendencies.

You may also wish to learn about technical models for macro and micro economics, accounting, financial theory,...

So I have to send the question back to you: What would you like to learn about?

[Hydrogen]

Freakonomics

Freakonomics did a good piece on abortion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6gOeggViw

Freakonomics also did a good piece on the pay scaling and status quo of dealing drugs that was showcased on ted talks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UGC2nLnaes

There was another good piece they did on the effect of naming conventions on people that I can remember. They mentioned a case where a man had two sons. One son was named winner. The other son was named loser. The son named winner wound up a career criminal in prison. While the other son named loser went to college and had a legitimate career. There were other case studies mentioned. It was an interesting topic.

Freakonomics might be considered investigative journalism, moreso than economics.

I for one definitely can appreciate the quality work they've done over the years.  

[LUCKMCFLY]

If you want to understand the movements of the market from the Stock Market, I recommend that you read "A Random Walk through Wall Street" by Malkiel Burton, there you will take a huge tour of how the economy originates from its biggest scams to how to determine a good project, where you will review and learn everything about diversification, the bad thing is that it is an updated book until 1970, but if you understand everything up to there, it will be very easy for you to determine what has happened from there to our times.

[BenLaw]

Most recently, I was writing material in college for a very interesting economics book. There were collected various scams, as well as punishments for various crimes. Of course, I haven't read it myself, but from the examples on the https://eduzaurus.com/free-essay-samples/law/ project, I found a lot of interesting things, where I happened to work with it, and learn a lot of interesting things. There are excellent schemes, as if I had watched a movie, and I was just shocked how people think of this. I advise you to look in and select some cool books, this directly makes the brain work and think.

[DrBeer]

Rich dad, poor dad
The book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a philosophical and practical treatise on obtaining financial knowledge, and the author very reasonably argues that this knowledge is needed by our children from the earliest grades of school, for the formation of "financial literacy". In addition to purely financial knowledge, the second, and maybe the first part is that it is not correct to form a model of behavior in children and the ideal "to be rich you have to work hard."
Kiyosaki is a renowned author of motivational books on finance and personal development. The book was written based on the personal experience and observations of the author. I highly recommend reading!

[paxmao]

Rich dad, poor dad
The book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a philosophical and practical treatise on obtaining financial knowledge, and the author very reasonably argues that this knowledge is needed by our children from the earliest grades of school, for the formation of "financial literacy". In addition to purely financial knowledge, the second, and maybe the first part is that it is not correct to form a model of behavior in children and the ideal "to be rich you have to work hard."
Kiyosaki is a renowned author of motivational books on finance and personal development. The book was written based on the personal experience and observations of the author. I highly recommend reading!

Agree in general, but please, do not read or believe anything about real state on any of kyosaky's books. He is just heating up and hyping on that.

These books are not really about economics and even the story is sticky, they can be resumed in just a few sentences. I reckon nobody would pay to read or go to a chat with just that, but that is really how it is:

a) Do not spend more that you earn. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
b) Try to have different sources of income.
c) Do not get into a mortgage that you may not be able to pay. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
d) Avoid credit card or similar debts.
e) Use debt when it is right to do so.

not much more in the books really... just the very basics to avoid the rat race.

[habebe]

I have no interest in reading books but one day I read about economics books there are many titles but I like to read books of capital ,,, I'll really touch because of the line of saying this how can we do business without capital  soo one way direction to need more income for you to achieve this event a crypto currency really helps, need to learn more about trading and save bitcoin and someday we will reach what we needed.

[TheNineClub]

I know the question is about books on economics, so I apologize for the derailment, but the YT channel Economics Explained helped me a ton when it comes to understanding the finer details of the subject. It's easily digestible so that anyone can understand it and it covers a wide range of topics. Perfect for anyone on the go because you don't need to watch it, just listen.

[Ucy]

If you asking for recommendation in order to pass exam, I honestly don't know. But if you are asking to apply it in your daily life & be successful, I would simply recommend you stick to things that work well for you. For example, create a unique way to save money that you can't learn anywhere else. You must not follow what the economic books recommend.    
If you want to know how economics work on National scale, you can scale it down to family or small community level and study how members activities affect the family/community economy. Lessons learned could be applied on National or larger scale

[Gozie51]

   
If you want to know how economics work on National scale, you can scale it down to family or small community level and study how members activities affect the family/community economy. Lessons learned could be applied on National or larger scale

Really ? On a large scale may not work in a local scale likewise the principle of medium scale business and large scale business don't work same way. The ingredients are not same like large scale requires loans , larger space, increase labour, and expertise entrepreneurship but these are absent in small businesses likewise running of homes or families won't be measured with the national scale. The economic books are not really the facts of buying and selling in real terms.

[mich]

I highly recommend Freakonomics. It’s one of those books you can keep picking up from time to time and still be blown away. There is a bit of speculation presented as fact that can be a bit of a distraction for a cynical reader such as myself but that doesn’t take away it’s brilliance.

[bitzizzix]

It's a good idea to read the economics books that you think are the best available in the country where you live and in your language, because reading books in your own language will be easier for you to understand and apply.
and besides that the contents in international or national books in my opinion will not be much different from the story, depending on how great you can store the contents of the book in your brain so that you can apply it well and be disciplined in doing it and also be consistent.
If there is a best economics book in your country why should you read a foreign book in another language, because it will confuse you?

[DrBeer]

...
Agree in general, but please, do not read or believe anything about real state on any of kyosaky's books. He is just heating up and hyping on that.
These books are not really about economics and even the story is sticky, they can be resumed in just a few sentences. I reckon nobody would pay to read or go to a chat with just that, but that is really how it is:
a) Do not spend more that you earn. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
b) Try to have different sources of income.
c) Do not get into a mortgage that you may not be able to pay. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
d) Avoid credit card or similar debts.
e) Use debt when it is right to do so.
not much more in the books really... just the very basics to avoid the rat race.

Thanks for your feedback and observation! Interesting position, I will listen
Regarding the above points, I almost completely agree. Although, for example, with a "cash gap", it is convenient to use a convenient interest-free loan. Unfortunately, sometimes this happens, and it is urgent to raise money. For example, I made repairs in a new apartment, changed the design concept - and the budget of the event changed, but the savings are not ready for this An interest-free loan is a solution to the problem, it is convenient. And here's the rest, good rules!