17 best books on economics
Reading books on economics is the best way to raise your own level of awareness in areas such as business, finance, politics, and management. Today it is fashionable to read Karl Marx, Adam Smith and Gregory Manquel. After all, having the appropriate education, it becomes much easier to understand both the contemporary realities of various business areas, as well as your own actions and motivations. Expertex expert.bigbadmole.com/en/.ru ranked the best books on economics, many of which are on the world bestseller lists and are required to study in European universities.
Rating the best books on economics
"A study on the nature and causes of the wealth of nations" Adam Smith
Rating: 4.9
Opens the ranking of the best books on economics basic treatise on the scientific, classical economics, which was written in the framework of the Scottish Enlightenment, more than 200 years ago. The philosopher and economist of the 18th century, Adam Smith, who had a great influence on the development of the world economy, presented his work to the general public, for which he had been alienated for 9 years. But, nevertheless, 2 years after the book was published, in 1778 the author received a solid post of customs commissioner in Edinburgh, which allowed him to live comfortably until old age.
In essence, in the treatise A. Smith prepared the society for free market economy, without adjustment by the state. He was sure that the egoism of a person who would strive to multiply his own wealth would play for the benefit of the whole society. But, according to some historians, this theory primarily represented the interests of the commercial bourgeoisie, which had been struggling with the state and religion for many decades, which restrained the growth of usury and commerce.
At first, the book was banned by the Inquisition, but soon became a popular scientific tool that formed the basis for the economic development of many states, including Europe and Russia.
“Superfriconics” by Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Rating: 4.9
If the author of the last folio, released more than 200 years ago, was confident that selfishness and personal gain are the engines of commerce, the authors of the book “Superfriconomy”, located on the second line of our rating, are very doubtful of this. Dubner and Levitt believe that people make purchases, guided by completely different incentives. And only Mrs. statistics can help to understand this difficult question.
After the success of the first book "Frikononomika", which became a sensational bestseller, the authors decided not to give up the position of success and continued their research, trying to understand the intricacies of the human psyche. There are no conclusions in the book, but it is replete with multiple facts provided by stubborn statistics.
Some readers are disappointed that there is practically no word in the book about economics, in its classical sense. But in it there is humor, observation of the environment and non-standard approach. It tells about behavioral motives, external special effects that stimulate demand, ways to combat fraud. And even when talking on seemingly abstract topics, such as climate warming and sea level rise, Dabner and Levit find this economic justification. We definitely recommend reading this manual on a non-standard economy, if you want to get a new picture of the world that is different from what is shown to us from blue screens.
“How the economy works” by Ha-Jun Chang
Rating: 4.8
Why aren't many people interested in economics? Maybe because they consider this science boring, difficult and inaccessible? Or is this opinion formed by someone specifically? At the third stage of our economic rating, we placed the popular science book by the Cambridge University professor of economics Ha-Jun Chang, who took on the role of popularizing economic theory for teapots.
The book is divided into two parts. The first reveals the essence of economics, as a science, and describes its history, and also gives an understanding of how we came to the current economic situation, and who has a direct impact on it. The second part tells about economic schools and their role in the lives of ordinary people. This includes such topics as corruption, unemployment, lobbying interests, crises.
The key idea of this manual is that in economic theory there is little objective truth and a multitude of evaluative opinions, which are often imposed through the media, as the ultimate truth. The goal that the author has set himself to teach ordinary people to understand economic events and to have their own, independent opinion. Ha-Jun Chang leads to the understanding that this discipline should not be afraid, on the contrary, it is important to include your own critical thinking, because 90% of economic theory is a simple and logical truth that is framed in a complex mathematical form using formulas and words. For those who are familiar with the basics of economics, this book may seem too simple and even naive, but for understanding the big picture - it is quite suitable.
"Capital" of Karl Marx
Rating: 4.8
September 14, 1867 in the Hamburg printing house saw the light of the first and only volume of the book, which affected the entire world economy. Karl Marx’s “capital” was honorably placed on the fourth stage of our rating. In his work, Marx criticized the capitalist system through the prism of already existing economic theories in the context of social relations of the historical period in which he lived. “Capital” formed the basis of most modern economic concepts, and so far Karl Marx is one of the most cited thinkers of the century.
It is interesting that the first language into which this economic volume was translated was Russian.But, if later in the USSR the book was printed in millions of copies, then at home in Marx, in Germany, it was actually destroyed, and for a long time it was on the forbidden list of references.
“Capital” is an entire scientific work consisting of four parts. In his first book, Marx sought to describe in detail the nature of capitalism as a way of social interaction between people. The second and third volumes of Capital were published according to the author's drafts by his closest associate, Friedrich Engels. The fourth edition was published under the publication of the Marxist Karl Kautsky after the death of the author.
Karl Marx created a fundamental work that not only reveals the criticism of capitalism as a social system based on the exploitation of the majority of people by a small group of so-called capitalists and politicians, but also justifies this from a scientific point of view. Deciphering the "Capital" to this day are engaged in whole scientific institutions. Moreover, each of this folio tends to take what fits into the concept of the existing political system.
Is it worth reading Karl Marx in the original? Definitely. At least in order to independently understand what is happening in our society over the past 150 years, and what this may lead to tomorrow.
“Why are some countries rich and others poor. The Origin of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty ”Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
Rating: 4.8
The 2011 book “Why Nations Fail” by Ajemoglu and Robinson, which actually became a textbook of economic disciplines and added to the lists of new-fashioned bestsellers, is in fifth place in our ranking. This publication is recognized as an important milestone in the history of the modern economy.
On its pages, the reader will be able to get acquainted in detail with the question that has worried all economists, political scientists and philosophers for centuries: why is wealth so unevenly distributed between different powers and even directly within the country? The authors try to search for answers at the interface of political science, history, economics, generously seasoning their searches with scientific information and historical facts. This makes the book a kind of historical and economic encyclopedia.
WNF is a theoretical work accessible to economists and the general public, from which one can learn a lot about politics, history and economics. But after reading it, the reader will have at least one question: the knowledge is gained, the problem is clear, but what to do about it now? And again, as in the economic writings of their predecessors, Ajemoglu and Robinson are trying to theoretically substantiate the problem, examining it from different sides. However, they do not give any recipes and even attempts to get out of this situation.
“Anti-fragility. How to benefit from the chaos "Taleb Nassim Nicholas
Rating: 4.8
The sixth place remains for the popular science work, called “Anti-fragility”, in which economist, professor and trader Taleb Nassim Nicholas reveals the idea of human and system stability before the pressure of chance and the ability to take advantage of failures.
A plane crash can make the entire airline industry safer by improving control over the health of aircraft. A virus that infects one makes the rest of humanity stronger. Regular exercise is associated with permanent micrograsses, but in general they temper the body and make it anti-brittle.
But how to achieve a similar state, how to overcome its fragility to a person, an organization, a state? Unfortunately, the author is traditionally for the economy does not give ready-made answers. The style of the narrative is quite assertive and sometimes aggressive, but very logical.
"Confessions of an Economic Killer" by John Perkins
Rating: 4.7
John Perkins’s acclaimed book Confessions of an Economic Killer, published in 2004 in the USA and instantly becoming a bestseller, ranked seventh in our ranking.John Perkins is now an activist and American writer, and in the past he is an employee of the super-secret consulting Boston company Chas. T. Main, which provides services for the "economic destruction" of countries and states. In the book, he tells a true story about what in reality such companies were engaged in, having an army of "economic killers".
Washington's reaction to such revelations of the former "economic killer" was lightning: Perkins was accused of insanity and put his confession into question. But these attempts to discredit failed miserably. The book quickly became popular in the US and abroad. Perkins may not have “discovered America” in his book, but he definitely answered the question “Why some countries are rich and others are poor” and who benefits from it.
“Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman
Rating: 4.7
The book of one of the most famous economists of our time and the Nobel Prize winner in 1976 in economics, Milton Friedman, is in eighth position in our ranking. "Capitalism and freedom" is one of the important political and economic works of the 20th century. It expressed the ideas of so-called economic freedom, which at one time operated on Adam Smith. The first edition was first published in 1962.
The main support of Friedman's theory is that economic and political freedom are interconnected. Therefore, limiting the influence of the state on the economy and stimulating a competitive free market will lead to an improvement in the life of society as a whole. Much at the moment in the book "Capitalism and Freedom" is outdated, but, nevertheless, it is still on the list of must-read bestsellers for economists and political observers.
“An Economic Way of Thinking” by Paul Heine, Peter Bottke, and David Prititko
Rating: 4.7
One of the most famous courses in economics theory is in our ranking at the ninth level. The book "Economic thinking" reveals the main economic bases on simple and clear to everyone examples. The textbook was originally published under the authorship of Paul Heine, in which the author, without using any formulas, showed how to apply economic analysis to each surrounding phenomenon. In the 90s. the textbook was produced in decent print runs, so the original can still be found in libraries.
After the death of the professor, Heine, his admirers and followers P. Bouttka and D. Prititko took it upon themselves to continue his great work and reprinted the book, making their edits. Beginning with the 10th reprint, 3 authors have already appeared on the cover of the book. However, many experts recommend reading the book in the original, since the edits almost completely changed the original meaning of the whole course.
“The path to the great goal. The history of one economic idea ", Sylvia Nazar
Rating: 4.6
The second book of Sylvia Nazar, released after the sensational bestseller "Mind Games", falls into the tenth position in the rating. The Path to the Great Goal reveals the development of economic ideas from Marx and Engels to Robinson and Sen.
The author tried to show how various theories and trends influenced the economic realities of today. The book covers a period of more than 100 years and focuses on thinkers in the United States and Western Europe. Apparently, Sylvia, inspired by the success of her first book, wanted to display something similar in the fragments of the interweaving of biographical information and theories put forward by specific personalities. Did she manage it? On the pages of the book is just the most lacking consistency of narration. The divisions into chapters are fairly arbitrary, and the story is inconsistent and can jump from the biography of Friedrich Hayek to the description of the works of Keynes. Although for fans of this style, this book can be a very detailed guide to the world of practical economics.
Principles of Economics Nicholas Gregory Manquiu
Rating: 4.6
Mankew’s “Principles of Economics” book in our ranking occupies the eleventh stage, because it is a good guide from which you can begin your acquaintance with the materiel of the economy. The author easily explains the terminology, practically without resorting to formulas. Since 1996, the book has been reprinted more than 5 times and is still very popular.
According to Manchoe, the economy is very closely intertwined with ordinary life and the study of its basic tenets will make it easier and faster to know the world around it. How does Brad Pitt earn so much? Why real estate in New York is estimated so expensive? Why do airlines regularly make discounts to their customers? Why in some countries, prices for goods are stable, while others are buried in constant inflation? The book will provide answers to a variety of questions.
"Capitalism. Stranger ideal "Ayn Rand
Rating: 4.5
The twelfth line of our ranking goes to the book of Ayn Rand, a popular American writer and author of world-famous bestsellers. Readers believe that the best thing in Rand’s books is that economics and politics are based on moral and ethical issues that are firmly tied to reason, personality, and morality. Capitalism in its philosophy is a human rights-based system that embodies the ideals of equality and freedom. At the same time, the author did not invent anything - her arguments are based on a whole heap of illustrative examples, supported by political speeches, newspaper articles and real stories. And this evidence is enough.
Rand capitalism is not at all a concept that today is associated with greed, selfishness, powerlessness and impunity of individuals. It is a free society in which everyone manages his own life, and the state does not interfere in private life and the economy, but follows exclusively the implementation of laws.
"Capitalism. The unfamiliar ideal "is a selection of articles that were written at different times, but are still relevant today and amaze with their persuasiveness, reality and urgency. Using different aspects of economic, political and public life, the author substantiates his own philosophy: capitalism interests of the individual, can make society happy and free.
"Microeconomics" Robert Pindyke, Daniel Rabinfeld
Rating: 4.5
The first published, abridged translation of the textbook "Macroeconomics", published in 1992, caused a great and stable demand from readers. Today the book has already withstood 5 reprints and is still a popular guide. In our ranking, the book by Robert Pindyke and Daniel Rabinfeld is in the thirteenth position.
The book discusses the principles of microeconomic theory and enough examples from practice, illustrations and graphs. Due to the fact that in theory there are no complex mathematical formulas - it is much easier to perceive the material. In short, this textbook is recommended for study in almost all universities of the country and, most likely, more than one generation will be studying it in the difficult truths of microeconomics.
"The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" by John Maynard Keynes
Rating: 4.5
The scientific work of John Maynard Keynes, first published in 1936 and making a huge contribution to the development of the economy, as a science, in our rating takes the fourteenth position. The book became the basis for the formation of terminology of modern macroeconomics. Keynes is a significant figure, so this work is of great interest to those who really want to understand the intricacies of economic theory. The author set himself the task of pointing out the fallacy of the postulates of classical theory and making a revolution, which later went down in history as “Keynesian”.
The theories of Keynes went far beyond the limits of unemployment in England - a problem originally caused by the author, on the basis of which he was worth his own theory.In fact, in his book, Kane gave a rationale for market relations and updated economic theory, and also provided new methods for its analysis. By the way, the publication of the book was a pretext for the “Keynesian revolution”, which had a real impact on many political and economic events of the 20th century.
Macroeconomics, Olivier Blanchard
Rating: 4.4
A textbook on macroeconomics, popular in Western universities, claims to be the fifteenth ranking position. The book has gone through several editions and is included in the lists recommended for study in schools and universities of Europe. The book covers the main topics of macroeconomics; The chapters are clearly structured — a core is singled out, followed by theory expansion and addition. Blanchard applies an innovative approach using different types of analysis.
Reviews on the first two editions of the book, published in the United States and other countries of the world, have shown that the textbook is of particular interest and useful to the widest circle of readers. Certain changes and improvements have been made to the publication. Today the book is being republished for the third time.
“Positive irrationality. How to benefit from their illogical actions ", Dan Arieli
Rating: 4.3
An interesting book on the behavioral economics and irrationality of our brain is on the sixteenth position of the rating. Dan Ariely explains with humor and personal examples that neither intuition nor logic can give 100% result when making decisions. Often a person acts irrationally.
The author gives the results of his own research related to his personal life and work. And looking for the answer to the main question: why does the brain cause us to do stupid things in these areas? In each chapter, he asks a new question and tries to investigate a particular phenomenon. For example, the author is looking for an answer, how reward affects productivity, whether people are inclined to revenge, why by doing something on their own, people value it more. In the book, a lot of research and experimentation, they slightly drag out the outline of the presentation, but due to the easy presentation, the book is very readable.
“Sonin.ru: Economic Lessons”, Konstantin Sonin
Rating: 4.2
“Sonin.ru: Economic Lessons” closes our rating. The book is waving the myth that economics is a pretense that has no connection with ordinary life. It turns out that this science can also be interesting, and economists can answer the most interesting questions: why the goalkeeper throws the ball at a penalty not into a corner; Is “Solomon's wisdom” really so great? how the war led to the creation of port; who needed to build a gas pipeline without gas.
After reading “Sonin.ru”, the reader will find out that economists are not at all such boring as they appear. Each chapter is the analysis of a particular topic. The structure of the book is very comfortable for perception: small chapters — lessons contain answers to various economic questions. The author often provides an opportunity for the reader to independently understand and analyze the information received.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
