# Favorite books on economics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218 "2008-03-05T18:56:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/1 "2008-03-05T18:56:07Z")
I’ve asked a similar question already, but I’ve changed it. I just want to know what anyone’s favorite books on economics are. They can be fiction or non-fiction, micro- or macroeconomics, general economics to specific principles. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/2 "2008-03-05T18:57:44Z")
[Alongside Night](http://www.pulpless.com/1203.html) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/3 "2008-03-05T19:02:36Z")
“The Intelligent Investor” by Graham. “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” by Malkiel. And, sort of about economics (or business), “The Informant” by Kurt Eichenwald, about a whistle blower at Archer Daniels Midland. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/4 "2008-03-05T19:10:05Z")
If you read only one book on economics in your whole life (which is probably one more than most people), make it [_Economics Explained,_](http://www.amazon.com/Economics-Explained-Everything-About-Economy/dp/0684846411) by Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/5 "2008-03-05T20:16:52Z")
Check out Bob Rubin’s _In an Uncertain World_. Rubin was a bigwig at Goldman Sachs and later Clinton’s secretary of the treasury. It’s worth listening to what he has to say about markets, economies and decision making. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/6 "2008-03-05T20:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] And, sort of about economics (or business), “The Informant” by Kurt Eichenwald, about a whistle blower at Archer Daniels Midland. [/QUOTE] That was a wild one - what happens when your informant is a complete nutjob? IMHO Eichenwald’s Enron book, [Conspiracy of Fools](http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Fools-Story-Kurt-Eichenwald/dp/0767911792/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204748817&sr=1-1), was better, however. [Bull!](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006056413X) is an entertaining read on recent US economic history. So is [When Genius Failed](http://www.amazon.com/When-Genius-Failed-Long-Term-Management/dp/0375758259/ref=pd_sim_b_title_33), about the Long Term Capital Management fiasco. Actually, When Genius Failed and [Liars Poker](http://www.amazon.com/Liars-Poker-Rising-Through-Wreckage/dp/0140143459/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204748746&sr=1-1) make good companion reads as they deal with many of the same people, albeit at different points in their career. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/7 "2008-03-05T21:16:48Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] That was a wild one - what happens when your informant is a complete nutjob? IMHO Eichenwald’s Enron book, [Conspiracy of Fools](http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Fools-Story-Kurt-Eichenwald/dp/0767911792/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204748817&sr=1-1), was better, however. [/QUOTE] I concur. Both books are excellent, but _Conspiracy_ is life-changing. The idea that that few people could ruin that many lives that easily is simply staggering, and Eichenwald tells it perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/8 "2008-03-05T23:53:12Z")
Have any of you read Naked Economics? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/9 "2008-03-06T03:25:33Z")
May I suggest a web site? I am a big fan of [Marginal Revolution](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/), from economics professor Tyler Cowen. This is also handy because he often reviews new books on economics. ---
**Author:** ![loewgam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@loewgam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loewgam)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/10 "2008-03-06T03:44:00Z")
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Malkiel is my love ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/11 "2008-03-06T04:47:19Z")
**How to Lose $100,000,000 and Other Valuable Advice** by Royal Little is an entertaining read, although a bit out of date (it was published in 1979). Little was the founder of Textron, and the book is a half-autobiography, half-advice book, detailing everything wrong turn he took along the way. His reasoning was that plenty of books and articles had written about what he’d succeeded in doing, but the mistakes were more educational. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-books-on-economics/440218/12 "2008-03-06T05:21:31Z")
“Free to Choose” by Milton Friedman is my favorite ‘pop’ economics book. “Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman is also good. “Human Action” by Ludwig Von Mises. You can read it [online](http://www.mises.org/resources/3250).