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Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

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Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#11

Post by profquail »

"When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" is a pretty good one, though the books main focus is the people involved in the situation, not the technology they were using.

More info from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Genius_Failed:_The_Rise_an...

Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#14

Post by LucaDuval »

samt wrote: post #4

Guns, Germs and Steel is worth reading.

I agree wholeheartedly. I read it ten years ago and it answered a few questions I had been asking myself for many years. It is (in a healthy way) humbling for a western citizen as it implies that our (declining?) dominant position in the modern world is mainly a matter of luck.

Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#15

Post by rah »

1. The Lever of Riches, by Joel Mokyr 2. Guns Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond 3. A Farewell to Alms, by Gregory Clark 4. Power and Prosperity, by Mancur Olsen 5. Carnage and Culture, Victor Davis Hanson 6. Capital Ideas, by Peter Bernstein 7. The Geodesic Network, by Peter Huber

Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#16

Post by ashnyc »

ryanelkins wrote: post #2

I really like "The Worldly Philosophers" by Robert L. Heilbroner. I don't know if it's as focused on technology as you're looking for but it does a good job of showing how economics and economic theory evolved over time and the circumstances the people driving it were in that would have helped shape their thoughts. It has a short chapter covering the time before "modern" economics and then covers many of the major ec…

yes, this is a great book. wish i had read it before starting college. good foundation book,

Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#17

Post by TrevorBurnham »

"Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations" by David Warsh (2007). It's really two books: It shows how the academic field of Economics works today, and covers much of the field's history; and it also examines Paul Romer's theory of economic growth, which (succinctly) states that technological advancement is the key factor. Talk to any economist about growth these days, and they'll talk about Romer.

It's a very readable book, and I highly recommend it to a wide audience.

Re: Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?

#19

Post by ptn »

ryanelkins wrote: post #2

I really like "The Worldly Philosophers" by Robert L. Heilbroner. I don't know if it's as focused on technology as you're looking for but it does a good job of showing how economics and economic theory evolved over time and the circumstances the people driving it were in that would have helped shape their thoughts. It has a short chapter covering the time before "modern" economics and then covers many of the major ec…

Another great recommendation, from what my economist of a dad tells me.
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