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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?

#131

Post by dredmorbius »

mitchelldeacon9 wrote: post #10

Here is my short list of favorite books on finance and economics: FINANCIAL SECURITIES / BANKING / VENTURE CAPITAL Bruck, Connie (1988) Predator's Ball: Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and Rise of Junk Bond Raiders Draper, William (2011) Startup Game Graham, Benjamin and Jason Zweig (2006) Intelligent Investor, revised ed. _________ and David Dodd (2008) Security Analysis, 6E Greenblatt, Joel (1999) You Can Be a Stock…

Good list. You hadd me at Yeergin (I started reading from the bottom)

I'm exploring a set of related topics at https://reddit.com/r/dredmorbius

I'm setting up some small and quiet broader forums at https://reddit.com/r/MKaTS

Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?

#133

Post by dredmorbius »

hga wrote: post #126
ob wrote: post #42

I still think one of the best textbooks on economics is Paul Samuelson's Economics. Assuming you mean macro-economics that is.

Samuelson got the Soviet Union so horribly wrong that I can't recommend it on that detail alone, for it either meant he was a True Believer, Useful Idiot, or the tenor of the times meant he had to publish words he knew were false, which then throws the rest into question, for how much of it was also fashion vs. what he thought to be true?

How did Samuelson get the USSR wrong specifically? I'm curious.

Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?

#134

Post by samselikoff »

bennesvig wrote: post #11

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell is the book that got me interested in economics. It's a large but easy to understand read.

Wanted to second Sowell's works, surprised to see him mentioned only once here. He's very accessible and values simplicity and clarity above all else in his writing. As he says,

"If academic writings were difficult because of the deep thoughts involved, that might be understandable, even if frustrating. Seldom is that the case, however. Jaw-breaking words often cover up very sloppy thinking. It is not uncommon in academic writings to read about people “living below subsistence.” The academic writers I edited seemed to have great difficulty accepting my novel and controversial literary doctrine that the whole purpose of writing is so that people can read the stuff later on and know what you are trying to say. These professors seemed to feel that, once they put their priceless contributions to mankind on paper, a sacred obligation fell upon the reader to do his damndest to try to figure out what they could possibly mean."

http://www.tsowell.com/About_Writing.html

Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?

#137

Post by thanatropism »

blobbers wrote: post #58
kevinburke wrote: post #25

(Economics major and longtime econ book/paper reader here) I very much enjoyed The Cartoon Introduction to Economics as an introduction to microeconomic concepts: http://standupeconomist.com/cartoon-intro-microeconomics/ It's extremely readable and funny and covers most of the situations in real life where you can apply economic concepts to understand why something is the way it is. Understanding why countries and ec…

This is a common misunderstanding. Buffett Partnership Ltd., Buffett's initial hedge fund, was very much was guided by the cigar butt style investment principles of Graham. When Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway a few years after closing the partnership, his investment philosophy had changed. Your best bet to understand his investing is to simply read his letters. He may come across as a bit folksy or country bumpkin…

I mean, much of Graham's "investment philosophy" has been thoroughly invalidated by the Modigliani-Miller theorem published in the 1960s. But like Deepak Chopra, he's still around!

Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?

#138

Post by hga »

dredmorbius wrote: post #133
hga wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samuelson got the Soviet Union so horribly wrong that I can't recommend it on that detail alone, for it either meant he was a True Believer, Useful Idiot, or the tenor of the times meant he had to publish words he knew were false, which then throws the rest into question, for how much of it was also fashion vs. what he thought to be true?

How did Samuelson get the USSR wrong specifically? I'm curious.

The successive editions of his books show a steady backing off of how wonderful their economy was as more and more facts about it couldn't be ignored.

At the very least he believed their BS statistics; it's been so long since I looked at this in detail (like the '80s), I'd have to re-do the research, but you should be able to find something on the net about it. But it was utterly disqualifying, at least if you have a policy of avoiding Gell Mann Amnesia: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gel...

Especially given how horribly difficult the topic of macroeconomics is, if you want to have a chance of getting it right there's no room at all for fundamental mistakes like his.

Re: Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?

#140

Post by lujim »

If you're looking for the nuts and bolts on how capital markets around the world work this book is hands down the best there is.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Quantitative-Professionals-M...

Equities, Futures, Rate Swaps, Options, Credit, Treasury, Corporate, Municipal, Mortgage and Agency Bonds. Then the technology that supports it all.

It is not only a fantastic high level view, but it get granular enough to explain things like how US Treasuries prices quoted in 32nds of a dollar or how fixed income securities are identified by something called a CUSIP or what a strike price is for an option. Granular enough to explain practical day to day concepts that would help you at your first job in a financial firm.

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