Ask HN: What is the best Economics read? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is the best Economics read?

5 pointsuast2313 comments

Which books/online lectures etc would you recommend to understand detailed Economics like how it works locally/globally, GDP, debt, govt bonds etc

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It really depends on what level of Economics understanding you currently possess. For a complete newbie to economics, I would definitely recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Economics-N-Gregory-Mankiw/...

It is a solid book, and you cannot go wrong with it. However, if you want a more thorough understanding of economics, with the mathematics laid out etc. then there are other more advanced economics text for that. Also, I think, given the topics you highlighted, you want to understand more about Macroeconomics, as such these MIT lectures might help:

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/

Also, remember is Economics, like in any subject, there is wide diversity of viewpoints. The best way to choose a side, I feel, is to really look deep into the a topic, delve a bit into the math and make informed decisions as to what gels with your point of view. Ping me if you need any more resources

Oh yes, the MIT lectures. I should have known that. Thanks for the link.

I think it is Economics in one lesson you should begin with. Its available for free here: http://mises.org/books/economics_in_one_lesson_hazlitt.pdf

It's a classic and easy to read.

Pretty small text :). Going to begin with it.

I highly recommend a commonly ignored part of economics and that is the economics of goods with zero marginal cost of production. The two key texts in this area are:

Yochai Benkler's "The Wealth of Networks" -- This text is a bit dated (2005) and the first two chapters couldn't be more dry and boring, but after that the economic discussion in the book about how economics changes when the marginal cost of product reaches zero or near-zero is fascinating.

Hal Varian's "Information Rules" -- This book covers the same ground at Yochai's book, but is less academic in tone. FYI, Varian is Google's chief economist.

You totally sold your FYI. Noted down in the list. Once I am done with some basics, this book is definitely going to be read.

Investopedia has tutorials, including a small handful on economics. A quick way to get oriented before studying further and deeper.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/

Not sure if you're into it, but an entry level economics class at your local college / university. You'll learn how to draw supply and demand curves, different ways of calculating GDP, how oligopolies and monopolies curves look, etc.

Not at this point. I am a developer and I run a consultancy with one more guy, so I am generally short of hours. But I will see how much I can grasp on my own and then may be consider something.

The Economist magazine.

How far does one have to dig down in the archive to understand the basics?

A year's subscription is probably enough.

Hm, but wouldn't that be specific to the current happenings rather than the basics, even if you go for an years subscription. It will definitely give a lot of insights. I don't follow 'The Economist', so you can correct me.

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