Recommend me resources for self-teaching economics on undergrad level | Hacker News Reader

Recommend me resources for self-teaching economics on undergrad level

8 pointsmkiisa9 comments

Can you recommend me books and online classes that give a quick yet comprehensive understanding of the economics? I'm interested mainly in microeconomics, game theory, finance, behavioural economics.

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I'm not sure that it is exactly what you're looking for, but the Econtalk podcast (https://www.econtalk.org/) covers a wide variety of economics-related topics. If you listen to it, over time you will come to understand the economic way of thinking.

Also, I don't believe it's possible to get a "quick but comprehensive understanding" of fields as involved and varied as microeconomics, game theory, finance and so on. That's a lot of ground to cover, and it's unlikely that you can do anything other than get a sense of some of the basic ideas in these disciplines in a short amount of time.

Just a heads up, Robert Shiller's new course in "Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral And Drive Major Economic Events" goes live on Coursera early 2020 ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLsG4R8FFOc

If you have quantitative skills, I think an alternative to delving into classical econ theory would be to take a data science approach. A lot of non-parametric stats texts use econ/fin examples. And there is an abundance of datasets available via FRED

https://www.federalreserve.gov/conferences/nontraditional-da...

Best of luck ;)

I really enjoyed Thomas Sowell’s _Basic Economics_. It’s a fun read that covers a variety of economic concepts with logical analyses in a narrative format.

I agree, this is a great book. Just about anything by Sowell is worth reading, but _Basic Economics_ and _Economic Facts and Fallacies_ are good starting points.

Also consider _Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics _ by Henry Hazlitt. It's coming from a strong Austrian school perspective, which some object to, but at a minimum by reading it you will be presented with ideas that are worth considering and debating.

Additional recommendation: _Talking to my daughter about the economy_, by Yanis Varoufakis. It’s a slender, engaging read that explores the history of economics and works its way to some modern day questions. In general, while learning I think it’s important to keep things fun, and I thought this was a fun read. Once these books get you warmed up with some concepts and footing you can take that fun curiosity and apply it to digging deeper.

I "audited" one of the Coursera Econ classes on Pricing Strategy, and it was pretty good. I noticed (but did not take) their basic macro / micro courses. I would be willing to bet they're pretty decent.

I love the Freakonomics podcast for their extensive discussions on the limits of traditional economics and how viewing econ through a behavioural lens is sometimes warranted.

I just read "The Worldly Philosophers" by Robert Heilbroner and I can recommend that. I now have a tab with Marx's "Capital" open and I'm about half way through Joseph Schumpeter's "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy."

For finance, reading the Market Wizards series by Jack Schwager is a great idea because you get really personal and in-depth insights into how successful traders think.

I also recently read "Commodity Conversations" by Jonathan Kingsman which is similar to Market Wizards, but tailored to commodities and I can recommend that as well.

"The Secrets of Economic Indicators" by Bernard Baumohl is also an interesting overview to macro indicators.

I have no idea what constitutes an undergrad level of economics education, I don't recall my economics class being nearly as stimulating as everything I've just listed.

Good luck!

Thank you all for the recommendations!

Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is absolutely fundamental. Another book I found fascinating is Capitalism without Capital.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Capitalism-without-Capital-Intangib...

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