Debt: the First 5,000 Years by David Graeber is a controversial but rather important recent publication. I haven't seen it mentioned yet, so I wanted to recommend it.
Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
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Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#62The following list will introduce you to Western Economic Philosophy as it relates to modern history specifically. This list is weighted heavily toward neo-classical economics and does not get into computational model based economics - specifically microeconomics, which comprises the bulk of economics education today: Schumpeter - History of economic analysis Adam Smith - Theory of Moral Sentiments Kaynes - The Gener…
All of those are very dated and you won't learn much about modern economic thought from them. Many of those people (Keynes, Marx, Graham, etc...) are like reading Freud. Very little of what Freud wrote has made into modern psychological though. It is more of his methodical approach that brought psychology into the modern age. The same can be said of many on that list. They brought a rigor of thought to economics that…
I respectfully disagree - would you be able to provide some more contemporary options?
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#63The following list will introduce you to Western Economic Philosophy as it relates to modern history specifically. This list is weighted heavily toward neo-classical economics and does not get into computational model based economics - specifically microeconomics, which comprises the bulk of economics education today: Schumpeter - History of economic analysis Adam Smith - Theory of Moral Sentiments Kaynes - The Gener…
All of those are very dated and you won't learn much about modern economic thought from them. Many of those people (Keynes, Marx, Graham, etc...) are like reading Freud. Very little of what Freud wrote has made into modern psychological though. It is more of his methodical approach that brought psychology into the modern age. The same can be said of many on that list. They brought a rigor of thought to economics that…
This reading list probably isn't a good starting point.
But it's a good thing to do right after the starting point. Understanding the major influential figures, what their ideas were, and how those ideas were justified is important context. Each of the people on this list continue to reverberate through political economics in the most significant ways imaginable.
So it's up to OP if s/he wants to take the "classical works" route. But I'll just mention that if s/he does, this is a good list. Both in terms of the people selected and the books selected for each person.
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Excellent list. This is basically an undergraduate Econ degree here. I would also add Veblin to this list of authors. Also, one of my favorite overviews of economists is The Worldy Philosophers.
Thorstein Veblen? Also, may be off center or not, but, Peter Bernstein "Against the Gods".
Not OP, but yes, Thorstein Veblen.
I'm not familiar with Bernstein.
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#65I read Dubner and Levitt's Freakonomics in 2005. It's lame to say that a pop-science book changed my life, but since then I've thought about economics every day. I would recommend some pop-econ to become familiar with a stylized version of how economists think. I'd recommend Tim Harford's The Undercover Economist Strikes Back and The Logic of Life and Robert Frank's The Economic Naturalist . (Dubner's and Levitt's bo…
Can you give me some examples of the academic econ blogs? I'm looking to get into it
See Mark Thoma's "Economist's View" for a broad sampling.
I personally enjoy Marginal Revolution (Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen), Confessions of a Supply-Side Liberal (Miles Kimball), and The Money Illusion (Scott Sumner).
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#66Road to Serfdom, by F.A. Hayek?
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Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#67I read Dubner and Levitt's Freakonomics in 2005. It's lame to say that a pop-science book changed my life, but since then I've thought about economics every day. I would recommend some pop-econ to become familiar with a stylized version of how economists think. I'd recommend Tim Harford's The Undercover Economist Strikes Back and The Logic of Life and Robert Frank's The Economic Naturalist . (Dubner's and Levitt's bo…
I second EconTalk. High quality, accessible, and interesting.
I didn't think Freakonomics was great, but some people love it, and as long as it gets people to enjoy economics, I'm happy.
My first foray into an economic way of thinking was just reading The Economist every week — it's news, but seen through the lens of economics and business. Now I'm a doctoral student in economics at MIT.
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#68IMO start with a recent book that spells out useful pointers to give the classics a critical read:
"Debunking Economics", by Steve Keen.
Keen gave a talk at Google a few years back that was a pretty good summary of what's in the book's first version.
If you're into stats and finance also check out the author's finance classes on youtube. Besides a bunch of videos that cover what's in his book, there are quite a few on financial modeling, and at least one video in there that delves into power laws and financial markets.
Also, try to throw in a few history books to your mix: history of the world, of science, and of ideas. History helps contextualize and make sense of what was going on in the mind of contemporaries as economic theories matured.
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#69This one was recommended by the former head of NYMEX to me when I started my career in trading. Written about Jesse Livermore who made and lost his fortune multiple times. He was often blamed for rigging the market, but his lesson is simple: you basically can't rig the market; it will destroy you way more easily. Take what the market gives you and be happy it even decided to give you that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…
Good call on the Hull recommendation - How do you feel about Natenberg's Option Volatility and Pricing?
What do you trade, out of curiosity?
(Career software engineer and fledgling options trader here, these were recommended to me when I first started learning. Still looking to make an industry change.)
Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?
#70All must reads in my opinion
Fooled By Randomness - Taleb
The Black Swan - Taleb
Antifragile - Taleb
When Genius Failed - Lowenstein
Liars Poker - Lewis
The Big Short - Lewis
Flash Boys - Lewis
Too Big To Fail - Sorkin
Against the Gods - Bernstein
One Up On Wallstreet - Lynch
The Intelligent Investor - Graham