Well, the title says it all - I’m nowhere when it comes to Economics, and I’d like to start learning. I’m particularly concerned to find something unbiased and international. Econ for Dummies? Oxford Very Short Introduction? Something else? Please chime in.
The best introductory textbook I know of is Landsburg’s “Price Theory”. It’s not cheap and it will require some pretty serious study, as well as comfort with basic algebra, but if you work your way through it you will know a thing or two.
I have heard very good things about Mankiw’s Intro to Econ book. It is a textbook, so it might be expensive.
I used to recommend From Here to Economy by Todd Buchholz. It might be a bit dated now, unless he updated it recently.
I have semi-fond memories of this book in college.
Since the Samuelson book was just mentioned, I"ll add the James Gwartney introductory work is also a standard in college classes. Samuelson is considered to lean left and Gwartney right.
If we are talking about textbooks, I have a few opinions–I kinda fell into teaching AP Macroeconomics last year when I didn’t know anything about it, so I got up every morning and read every textbook I owned (which is quite a few) I really like Krugman and Wells. Krugman himself leans left, of course, but I don’t think it’s that overwhelming in the text, and it is very readable. McConnell-Grue is much more comprehensive, but it is also much slower going. Bade-Parkin has the best graphs and is very readable. I didn’t like Mankiw.
I actually would recommend the “teaching Macroeconomics” method. I learned more than my kids! (though I met the national average in terms of pass rate, some how). One of my students is at Harvard now, in Mankiw’s economics class. So while I don’t like Mankiw’s book, he probably KNOWS I’m a lousy econ teacher. Looking back at it, I am not sure what all I said in the first few months.
Many thanks, all! Between the Toronto Public Library and the U of T library, I’m pretty much set up.
I was amused to be looking at Landsburg’s Price Theory on e-Bay for $2.50 and finding myself thinking “Yes, it’s the cheapest edition available, but for that price it’s gotta have more highlighter than text.” I’m sure there must be an economic rule for a price that’s too good to be true…
It’s a matter of opinion but I think I’d learn micro-economics before jumping into macro-economics.
Micro seems to be based on small ideas and theories like the basic supply & demand curves and appears to be the foundation for larger epic macro ideas like international trade balance.
If you can wrap your head around the small ideas the bigger ones make more sense.
I’ll second Mankiw and throw in Richard Bilas, Microeconomic Theory: a Graphical Analysis.