# Recommend a good book (non-textbook) on economics, please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432 "2006-04-05T17:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/1 "2006-04-05T17:16:39Z")
I’d like to become less ignorant about economics, and have a good read while I’m at it. Could someone suggest a book or two, aimed at the generally educated citizen, that are not only authoritative but well written? Some well-known experts in other fields have a snappy writing style: [ul] [li]Stephen Jay Gould was good at explaining evolution.[/li][li]John McWhorter is good at explaining linguistics.[/li][li]John Allen Paulos is good at explaining math.[/li][/ul] Do these writers have counterparts in economics? Someone who can explain the basics of microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, etc. as a way of illuminating more complex or timely topics? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/2 "2006-04-05T17:23:53Z")
Well, I enjoyed “Freakonomics,” but I’m not sure that’s what you had in mind; it’s a quirkier look at the subject than I imagine you were wanting. I think one of the authors is Stephen Leavitt (sp?), I forgot the other. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/3 "2006-04-05T17:37:44Z")
Not purely Economics, but I liked the two Gladwell books, _Tipping Point_ and _Blink_. He tries to show interrelation between different disciplines, and does so entertainingly. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/4 "2006-04-05T19:12:14Z")
I heartily recommend **Naked Economics** by Charles Wheelan. I was looking for just the same introduction to the subject that you are, and came across it in a bookstore. No math, no graphs, just concise and entertaining chapters on a number of different topics. Amazon link: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393324869/ref=sib\_rdr\_dp/002-3917270-4184814?\_encoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393324869/ref=sib_rdr_dp/002-3917270-4184814?%5Fencoding=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&no=283155&st=books&n=283155) ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/5 "2006-04-05T19:45:44Z")
_Hidden Order_, by David Friedman. Very well-written and entertaining, and covers a broad range of subjects from micro- to macro-economics, including an economic perspective on some subjects you don’t normally think of in that context, such as a cost/benefit analysis of human dating and mating. Fair warning, though: Friedman is a libertarian and a pretty hard-code free-market advocate, and he makes no attempts to hide that fact. Most of the examples in the book are about how government intervention (almost) always leads to worse outcomes than leaving everything up to the market, about how protectionism is bad, etc. People who don’t share that outlook may be less impressed by the book. However, his view is a legitimate and popular one so you may as well expose yourself to it if you want to learn about economics, and he covers most of the usual talking points in the course of the book. You can read his book _[Price theory](http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_ToC.html)_ on-line, which covers pretty much the same subjects and has the same writing style, so it should give you a good idea of what to expect. _Price theory_ is a bit heavier on maths and graphs than _Hidden Order_, but the latter still contains examples of the most central formulas and graphs you’d expect to encounter in an Econ 101 course. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/6 "2006-04-06T16:07:01Z")
_The World Is Flat, A Brief History Of The Twenty-first Century_ by Thomas Friedman. It speaks of massive, radical changes in the way the world does business in the last few years. Some places have jumped from the oxcart to the internet, bypassing all the steps in between. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/7 "2006-04-06T16:12:57Z")
Hmm, David Friedman and Thomas Friedman. What about Uncle Miltie? 🙂 I’ve read _The Tipping Point_ and some of Gladwell’s New Yorker stuff. A very clever fellow and he certainly meets my good-writing criterion, though I’m now looking for a more general introduction to the field of economics. Thanks, all, for the suggestions so far. Based on these, I’ll probably start with Wheelan and D. Friedman and go from there. Always open to a longer reading list, though. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/8 "2006-04-06T16:32:20Z")
_Economics in One Lesson_, by Henry Hazlitt, is an excellent book that gives a good overview of economics and is easy to read. Of course, it’s very libertarian and skewed towards the free market. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-book-non-textbook-on-economics-please/351432/9 "2006-04-06T16:53:25Z")
I’ve considered buying [The Undercover Economist](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195189779/ref=wl_it_dp/102-4179936-3952959?%5Fencoding=UTF8&colid=5YGCDCL7644Q&coliid=I3VGVTBQPODJCK&v=glance&n=283155) by Tim Harford. It looks interesting; anybody know if it’s any good?