Categories:
Economic Education
An economist friend of mine at a conservative “think tank” in Washington, D.C. asked me to recommend 5 to 10 free-market oriented economics books that he could recommend to interns so as to “expand their universes.” I quickly came up with 5, but I don’t want to bias the discussion.
So please make your recommendations. You could recommend any number of books between 1 and 15. I’ll treat it as a Chinese menu before I make my recommendations to him.
UPDATE: The response has been tremendous. Thank you all. Don’t let that stop you if you have not commented yet and have something to add. I will send a link to my friend, as well as my own picks. Some of them will be from your lists below.
READER COMMENTS
Steve Reilly
Jan 7 2014 at 12:35pm
Armchair Economist – Steven Landsburg
Hidden Order – David Friedman
Basic Economics – Thomas Sowell
Economic Sophisms – Frédéric Bastiat
raja_r
Jan 7 2014 at 12:52pm
Not sure if this qualifies as an economics book, but “The rational optimist by Matt Ridley” is one that “expanded my universe”
dave smith
Jan 7 2014 at 12:54pm
Armchair Economist
The Choice by Russ Roberts
The Not So Wild Wild West
John Alcorn
Jan 7 2014 at 12:58pm
John Meadowcroft, The Ethics of the Market (Palgrave, 2006).
Ian
Jan 7 2014 at 1:05pm
Capitalism and Freedom – Milton Friedman
drobviousso
Jan 7 2014 at 1:19pm
I’d suggest Chasing Rainbows: Economic Myths, Environmental Facts by occasional Econlog commentor Tim Worstall. Very digestible overview of how economic thinking could be applied to mitigate environmental problems that most people think are pretty intractable.
Brian
Jan 7 2014 at 1:36pm
A few other suggestions people might not think of-
Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell
Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Invisible Hook by Pete Leeson
Econopower by Mark Skousen
Milton Recht
Jan 7 2014 at 1:53pm
The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity by Russell Roberts
SG
Jan 7 2014 at 2:06pm
Alfred D. Chandler, The Visible Hand: the Managerial Revolution in American Business
Heavy on practical detail and light on economic theory, but it’s a really well-done examination of how modern corporations came to dominate American capitalism. I tend to be more theoretical in my thinking (loved my college economics class so much) and I appreciated how this book forced me to think more deeply about the theory and how it relates to reality. I think it won a pulitzer, too.
Tomasz Kłosiński
Jan 7 2014 at 2:07pm
Anthony de Jasay, The State
Randall M.
Jan 7 2014 at 2:16pm
Any/all works by Bastiat
Economics in One Lesson – Henry Hazlitt
The Machinery of Freedom – David Friedman
These have the virtue of being clear and easy to digest in ways that, say, Human Action and Individualism and Economic Order are not. DDF’s book has the added virtue that economic principles can take you in a lot of directions most people never think about, whether you buy into libertarian anarchism or not.
James Dunn
Jan 7 2014 at 2:21pm
Three I recommend, all by Thomas Sowell, as well as why they should be read in this order:
1. Economic Facts and Fallacies
2. Conflict of Visions
3. Basic Economics
Now the reasons for each:
#1) It exposed me to just the tip of the iceberg of economic fallacies that exist out there. And because of the ease of which these fallacies can be perpetuated, I resolved to learn more about economics.
#2) Dr. Sowell clearly outlines the role of facts, “Facts do not speak for themselves. They speak for or against competing theories. Facts divorced from theories or visions are mere isolated curiosities”, as well as the competing visions of the constrained and unconstrained man. Because a lot of economic discussions revolve around factual numbers this booked helped me be able to think of the theory or vision that drive the conclusions that a given commentator is drawing.
#3) After #1 & #2, I felt prepared to dive into the theory of economics.
Jonathan Finegold
Jan 7 2014 at 2:22pm
Hayek’s Individualism and Economic Freedom and, as a similar book, Mises’ Economic Freedom and Interventionism. A little bit technical, but Buchanan’s and Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent helps explain that there can be a healthy relationship between institutions of governance and institutions of the market.
Dan S
Jan 7 2014 at 2:24pm
I would spice things up by possibly including some of these:
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David Landes
The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon
Bourgeois Dignity by Deirdre McCloskey (have not read this one actually)
The point of these is to not give them yet another “yay markets! deregulate stuff!” book (presumably there’s one in there already) but to give them one that suggests markets exist along a spectrum and are very historically contextual.
Also Krugman’s The Return of Depression Economics is very informative and easy to read in my opinion. Those students will probably want to understand financial crises. I know that’s not really conservative but it’s still good.
c141nav
Jan 7 2014 at 2:33pm
The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution
by Barry Asmus and Wayne Grudem
Alberto Mingardi
Jan 7 2014 at 2:40pm
I would add to the many brilliant suggestions two other classics:
O’Driscoll-Rizzo, The Economics of Time and Ignorance
Buchanan-Wagner, Democracy in Deficit
I think Larry White’s The Clash of Economic Ideas is a very lively introduction to the history of economic thought in the 20th century – that may be valuable for interns/students. And to “expand their universe”, I think Ronald Coase and Ning Wang’s “How China Became Capitalist” would be very good.
Arnold Kling
Jan 7 2014 at 2:55pm
Eamonn Butler, The Best Book on the Market
Vuk Vukovic
Jan 7 2014 at 3:48pm
The classics:
Hazelit, Economics in One Lesson
Buchanan and Tullock, Calculus of Consent
Hayek, Constitution of Liberty, Road to Serfdom
Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
Sowell, Basic Economics
some new, good ones (and not yet mentioned):
Pennington, Robust Political Economy
Tomasi, Free Market Fairness
Friedman and Kraus, Engineering the Financial Crisis (best one on the fin crisis)
Woodrow
Jan 7 2014 at 3:50pm
I would suggest:
Common Law and Common Sense for the Environment by Bruce Yandle
Patrick R. Sullivan
Jan 7 2014 at 3:59pm
James Rolph Edwards: Painful Birth: How Chile Became a Free and Prosperous Society
Jorge Edwards: Persona non Grata: A Memoir of Disenchantment with the Cuban Revolution
Georgie Anne Geyer: Buying the Night Flight (two chapters, Old Cuba, New Cuba and Chile: Reform and Despair)
Richard O. Hammer
Jan 7 2014 at 4:43pm
The State by Franz Oppenheimer, challenges the common opinion that the state was established because it was needed.
The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State, by Bruce Benson, convinced me that law can exist without the state.
mickey
Jan 7 2014 at 4:47pm
These may or may not be free markets economics but I think even if not they “expand your universe” in a related way and may be of value to it still:
Economics In One Lesson by Hazlitt
The Rational Optimist by Ridley
Launching the Innovation Renaissance by Tabarrok
Economics for Real People by Callahan
Defending the Undefendable by Block
Walk Away by French
Why American History Is Not What They Say by Riggenbach
Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls by Butler
Against Intellectual Property by Kinsella
Politically Impossible by Hutt
The Theory of Idle Resources by Hutt
Uhh…
Bob Murphy
Jan 7 2014 at 5:01pm
At first I hesitated to recommend my own, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism,” but then again that’s why I wrote the book–to fulfill just this purpose.
Paul Craddick
Jan 7 2014 at 5:28pm
I find these always repay (re)readings:
Economics of the Free Society by Wilhelm Roepke
Principles of Economics by Carl Menger
Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter
Ross Levatter
Jan 7 2014 at 6:34pm
There are some excellent choices above. One not yet mentioned, perhaps because it is not an econ book per se and certainly not an INTRO book, but which I recommend nonetheless because it is well written, shows a brilliant application of the economic way of thinking, and introduces think-tank interns to Public Choice, is Bryan Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter.
Don Boudreaux
Jan 7 2014 at 7:18pm
Several worthy books have been mentioned. Here’s another:
Common Sense Economics, by James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, & Dwight R. Lee:
http://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Economics-Everyone-Prosperity/dp/B005ZO6UGY
Monte
Jan 7 2014 at 9:41pm
Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics (in depth and advanced, but a 360 treatment of free markets and favorably reviewed by a well-known research fellow at the Hoover Institution)
John Levendis
Jan 7 2014 at 11:37pm
Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlett
Defending the Undefendable, by Walter Block
The Machinery of Freedom, by David Friedman
Cost and Choice, by Buchanan
Sinclair Davidson
Jan 8 2014 at 12:41am
Steven Kates – Free Market Economics: An Introduction for the General Reader.
jure
Jan 8 2014 at 4:58am
capitalism: a treatise on economics, George Reisman. The most thorough research on philosophy of capitalism and economics. It is actually a ”bible” of free market economics, political theory and philosophy.
Basic Ecoonmics, Thomas Sowell. The most comprehensive and eloquent explanation from best writer
EclectEcon
Jan 8 2014 at 8:39am
The Economic Way of Thinking by Paul Heyne and Pete Boetke
Free to Choose
Magusj
Jan 8 2014 at 11:06am
Robert Murphy’s Lessons for the Young Economist is a great introductory course, very didactic.
It’s also available free online:
Blakeney
Jan 8 2014 at 11:17am
Here are a couple that I don’t think have been mentioned:
Syed Ahsan
Jan 8 2014 at 11:53am
Thanks for sharing it Prof. But I am unable to get the source of some of these books. Would appreciate if we can also get the links to these books. Thanks
Tim C
Jan 8 2014 at 1:33pm
-Capitalism the Creator by Carl Snyder
-Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
-Time Will Run Back by Henry Hazlitt
-Money and the Mechanism of Exchange by William Stanley Jevons
Although some of these are not exactly econ books they should be required reading.
Troy Camplin
Jan 8 2014 at 3:42pm
The books that have brought me along have been:
Poverty and Wealth — Ronald Nash
Free to Choose — Milton and Rose Friedman
The State Against Blacks — Walter Williams
Bionomics — Michael Rothschild
The Origins of Order — Stuart Kauffman (not technically economics, but important in my thinking on economics — as were many other books on complexity and chaos and bios theories)
Butterfly Economics — Paul Ormerod
Complex Adaptive Sytems — John H. Miller and Scott E. Page
The Economy of Love and Fear — Kenneth Boulding
Shakespeare’s 21st Century Economics — Frederick Turner
Individualism and Economic Order – Hayek
The Fatal Conceit — Hayek
Law, Legislation, and Liberty — Hayek
Human Action — Mises
The Self-Organizing Economy — Paul Krugman
Competition and Entrepreneurship — Israel Kirzner
emerich
Jan 8 2014 at 7:15pm
One more that has not been mentioned, which I found compelling years ago:
The Incredible Bread Machine, by R. W. Grant.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Incredible-Bread-Machine-Capitalism/dp/0930073312
L'Bryan Eek
Jan 9 2014 at 2:02am
Undercover Economist by Tim Harford, or his Logic of Life.
Steve Reilly
Jan 9 2014 at 9:59am
So, David, what were your picks?
Tomasz Kłosiński
Jan 9 2014 at 12:06pm
A list of books on political economy from the UFM’s mural:
http://klosinski.na.liberte.pl/ekonomia-polityczna/
Beginning is my comment in Polish, but later on the list of books (and links to ebooks) is in English.
c141nav
Jan 9 2014 at 4:31pm
I was in a hurry with my initial post for:
The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution
by Barry Asmus and Wayne Grudem
please give it a second look.
This book synthesizes Acemoglu & Robinson’s Why Nation’s Fail , Bastiat’s Economic Harmonies, Don Boudreaux, Victor Claar, Paul Collier, Dinesh D’Souza, William Easterly, Niall Ferguson, Milton Friedman, George Gilder, Friedrich Hayek, David Henderson, Arthur Laffer, David Landes’ The Wealth of Nations, John Locke, Gregory Mankiw, John Mauldin, Stephen Moore, Charles Murray, Leonard Read, Matt Ridley, Murray Rothbard, Thomas Sowell, Ludwig von Mises, and many others with The Bible.
It deserved more than a second look.
Mike Everett
Jan 9 2014 at 4:56pm
Three more –
The Power of Productivity, by William W. Lewis
The Force of Finance, by Reuven Brenner
The Way the World Works, by Jude Wanniski
Brad Petersen
Jan 9 2014 at 7:06pm
Let us not forget The Joy of Freedom by none other than David Henderson. Another great book.
http://amzn.com/0130621129
genauer
Jan 10 2014 at 3:43pm
Wilhelm Röpke “Krise und Konjunktur”
available as english pdf as well
Walter Eucken “Ordnungspolitik”
“Grundsätze der Wirtschaftspolitik”, recommmended by Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank, for every politician to have it under his pillow : – )
The english versions come at a price of 89 $ or
Foundations of Economics by Eucken, Walter. (Springer,2011) [Paperback] $302.09 used (3 offers)
Speedmaster
Jan 11 2014 at 8:11am
I’ll go with these.
Capitalism and Freedom: by Milton Friedman
Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
The Law by Frederic Bastiat
The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism by F. A. Hayek
Dr. Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions
Economic Facts and Fallacies: Second Edition by Thomas Sowell
The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton Folsom
The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon
Giorgio
Jan 12 2014 at 4:13pm
I can’t disagree with any of the above suggestions; all great readings. I would add a completely different perspective
Ron Smith, Military Economics: The interaction of power and money.
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