Books on economics

Can someone recommend a book or books on global economics?

Preferably as broad as possible, something that addresses the global economy as it is, different theories etc.

Is there some sort of standard work?

I've watched a few documentaries on quants and high frequency trading which piqued my interest and realized I know next to nothing about how global economics and the stock markets work.

Oh, I've absolutely no interest in participating in the stock market or anything so there's no need for get rich books or anything.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-History-Economics-Roger-Backhouse/dp/0140260420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300392389&sr=8-1

History of economics. I read that. It's okay. I can't remember much and it's nothing to shout about. Bit too technical at times I guess. Well, spoke about things I only had a light grasp of.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Worldly-Philosophers-Economic-Thinkers-Business/dp/0140290060/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300392574&sr=1-1

History of economics again. That's suppose to be amazing. Non-technical and beautiful to read apparently.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-Take-Hindmost-Financial-Speculation/dp/0452281806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300392613&sr=1-1

Read that, and it's great. Not so much about economics, but more about how markets fuck up completely due the madness of crowds. Highly recommended and non-technical

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Extraordinary-Popular-Delusions-Wordsworth-Reference/dp/1853263494/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300392661&sr=1-1

That's the classic on how markets fuck up. You can read it online if that's your thing. It's victorian, so the style is quite flowery. But non-technical. It did teach me about how a Scot called John Law introduced paper money into France and later caused a financial crisis. That was the only chapter I read.

No books, but I see a documentary missing in your list: The ascent of money, by Niall Ferguson. It's more of a high level 101 from roughly the beginning of banking 'till the current crisis. Which is even more interesting because there's no inherent moral judgement like you get with the zeitgeist, or capitalism: a love story docus. Even better, Niall can be said to be more of a right winged nutcase (if I've got my facts straight), without adding the usual bias. Or spin, if you will.

Added tip, but not so much economics per se, is a series by Niall again about the last 2 world wars (although he'd argue the third has already taken place -> the cold war) from a historical/economical point of view. So basically, whenever there were underlying economical triggers or relations during those events, Niall explains them in detail. Which is more than the average historical docu shows. It's called The war of the world, btw.

same here, i'm almost totally oblivious to how economics really works, which is silly since my industry is so acutely dependent on the prices of various metals. i lived with an economics student though, and he told me that it was "all a huge load of shit" lol

Also, when learning about economics you should probably be aware of micro and macro economics. You kind of need to know about both to a degree, but it's good to know what you're learning about. At the risk of patronising you: micro economics is what happens at the level closest to you, me and businesses. Supply and demand, here, relate to this in that you and I are going to pay more for something in short supply, like gold, but pay very little for something readily available, like bread. Macro-economics deals with how the entire economy works. Unemployment, inflation, GDP, etc. If I were going to go about learning it, I think I'd probably read economics for dummies or something like that. I've come to really like those books recently. Accessibility, innit.

Thanks guys!

Ordering some books tomorrow, most likely the Wordly Philosophers and Devil take the hindmost.

And found the documentary on the pbs site and I can even watch it despite having a dirty foreign IP address!

BTW I'm more than willing to believe that most theories on economics are BS and that models to predict movements in the market are mere guesses but I'd like to get a more solid understanding of the framework these theories are placed in and the paradigms predictions are based on.

Why would you order books for initial study? All you need to know is online.

Start with Wikipedia - use the khanacademy and go from there. There is a wealth of information on the topic to be found without paying a cent.

Learn micro first, macro theories developed off a micro foundation.

The problem with economic models is not that they are BS, because they do work very well for situations where they're applicable. The problem is more economists, who think the models are infallible.

There is one book you should read though, which is Nicholas Taleb's "Black Swan".

Niall Ferguson is a decent historian, but he is somewhat nostalgic for empire...

I thought Black Swan, although interesting to read, had very little content, except for his opinion that a lot of economic models--or all I think--are rubbish simply because of their mathematical basis. I really didn't come away with that much after reading that book. I mean, it was really interesting, and had loads of ideas--but there were very few solid arguments I thought.

The one thing I did like about the History of Economics (Penguin) is that it demonstrated how economic theories have gone from more of a philosophical founding--Adam Smith was a moral philosopher etc-- to a mathematical one, i.e. econometrics etc. Although there's now behavioural economics coming to the fore a bit, mainly because it tries to explain market crashes by looking at human behaviour.

I think the philosophy is still there, it's just been refined and backed up somewhat with numbers.

Keynes isn't famour for his math - he's famous for his ideas - which are ridiculously simple.

Also the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is considered to be just as influential as Adam Smith...

I will admit though that in the present day, mathematicians rule the roost of economics...

  On 3/19/2011 at 8:13 PM, chenGOD said:

Why would you order books for initial study? All you need to know is online.

Start with Wikipedia - use the khanacademy and go from there. There is a wealth of information on the topic to be found without paying a cent.

 

Learn micro first, macro theories developed off a micro foundation.

 

The problem with economic models is not that they are BS, because they do work very well for situations where they're applicable. The problem is more economists, who think the models are infallible.

There is one book you should read though, which is Nicholas Taleb's "Black Swan".

 

Niall Ferguson is a decent historian, but he is somewhat nostalgic for empire...

I just prefer books, plus who prints out wikipedia articles they've read and puts them in their bookcase to impress visitors?

It's cost me hundreds of euros in toner and paper so far.

Joseph Schumpeter is good too.

i second devil take the hindmost. really an excellent read.

an astounding explanation of world history and how important schumpeterian growth really is: lever of riches by joel mokyr

and a fairly dry but thorough explanation of why europe not china: the great divergence by Kenneth Pomeranz

Yes Schumpeter is important to read as well.

For an interesting companion to "The Great Divergence", try Andre Gunder Frank's "Re:Orient: Global Economy in the Asian Age".

And although it's not an economic book, Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel" is a great read, and fairly easy going reading too.

277: - I just meant economic textbooks - don't bother with buying those. You can learn about all the theories and models online.