Post: #1

I just can't find the time to go through every piece of literature on free market economics.
Here is a list of books that I've already read.
Wealth of Nations-Adam Smith
Basic economics-Thomas Sowell
The road to serfdom- Friedrich Von Hayek
Economics in one lesson- Henry Hazlitt

Anything else?

Post: #2

Depends. What is your goal, and what are you interested in?

Personally I find it more interesting to read research papers by economists in academia than to read long texts. It's nice to see a hypothesis tested on a modern problem with real data.

Post: #3

I particularly liked 'The Price of Everything' by Eduardo Porter.

It's economics applied to relationships, labour, water, food, i.e. all the stuff we take for granted and how market forces affect them. The discussion on the sexual market is particularly illuminating, and the slavery section was very interesting (why is there no slavery anymore in the American south? Because Mexican workers are cheaper than slaves!)

Post: #4

(04-19-2013 10:23 PM)polymath Wrote:  Depends. What is your goal, and what are you interested in?

Personally I find it more interesting to read research papers by economists in academia than to read long texts. It's nice to see a hypothesis tested on a modern problem with real data.

Just enough economic literacy requirements for the average voter, that's all.

Post: #5

Have you ever subscribed to The Economist? A year of reading their weekly issues will make you one of the most informed people you know.

Post: #6

Man, Economy, and State - Murray Rothbard
Economic Sophisms - Frederic Bastiat
Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth - Ludwig von Mises

Post: #7

Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

Post: #8

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt.

Short overview that destroys most mainstream economic thinking.

Here are some quotes to give you a feel for the piece:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2...mpted=true


“This is perhaps as good a place as any to point out that what distinguishes many reformers from those who cannot accept their proposals is not their greater philanthropy, but their greater impatience. The question is not whether we wish to see everybody as well off as possible. Among men of good will such an aim can be taken for granted. The real question concerns the proper means of achieving it. And in trying to answer this we must never lose sight of a few elementary truisms. We cannot distribute more wealth than is created. We cannot in the long run pay labor as a whole more than it produces.”

Post: #9

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

Post: #10

Capital - Karl Marx
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money - John Maynard Keynes

It's good to round out any classical or neo-classical economics education with some old school left-wing and social democratic economics.

Post: #11

A Farewell to Alms

Superfreakonomics & Freakonomics (although the latter is too played out, and an alleged coding error plagues the results of the abortion section)

Predictably Irrational

Post: #12

(04-19-2013 10:57 PM)Therapsid Wrote:  Capital - Karl Marx
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money - John Maynard Keynes

It's good to round out any classical or neo-classical economics education with some old school left-wing and social democratic economics.

Will look more into Keynes' work, Marx?, no thanks.
He is as much an authority on economics as Rick Perry is on evolutionary biology.

Post: #13

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

He also got us into a lot of debt, that will be pretty difficult to pay back, when the boomers retire.

Post: #14

(04-19-2013 11:03 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:57 PM)Therapsid Wrote:  Capital - Karl Marx
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money - John Maynard Keynes

It's good to round out any classical or neo-classical economics education with some old school left-wing and social democratic economics.

Will look more into Keynes' work, Marx?, no thanks.
He is as much an authority on economics as Rick Perry is on evolutionary biology.

Marx is more about reading the early history of capitalism than it is about economics per se. But I still say it's worth it. He actually had more respect for capitalism than you'd expect based upon his ideological descendants. It's no surprise that many conservatives went through a phase of reading Marx.

Post: #15

If you're looking for books that address the recent financial crisis, a really good one is Robert Scheer's "The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street." As the title suggests, the book blames both parties for the crisis and spares pretty much no one in government.

Another interesting read is Douglas Rushkoff's "Life Inc: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back." He's a lefty, but an "old labor" leftist, not a modern day politically correct liberal.

Post: #16

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

In what way? The unemployment rate is still lackluster. Labor force participation has been trending linearly downwards since late 2008, with no sign of abatement. Food stamp usage keeps setting new records. The U.S. debt continues its clockwork parabolic march upward. The U.S. financial sector remains bloated, and in bed with government.

Equities are doing well, but that's propped up by permanent open market operations--as both retail and institutional investors are reaching for yield while interest rates are pressed low.

I believe Obama and Bernanke are faring quite poorly, but I also say the jury is still out on this one. We haven't reached the long run yet, so they very well could be vindicated. However, I doubt they will, and by then it may be too late.

Post: #17

(04-19-2013 11:12 PM)Kabal Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

In what way? The unemployment rate is still lackluster. Labor force participation has been trending linearly downwards since late 2008, with no sign of abatement. Food stamp usage keeps setting new records. The U.S. debt continues its clockwork parabolic march upward. The U.S. financial sector remains bloated, and in bed with government.

Equities are doing well, but that's propped up by permanent open market operations--as both retail and institutional investors are reaching for yield while interest rates are pressed low.

I believe Obama and Bernanke are faring quite poorly, but I also say the jury is still out on this one. We haven't reached the long run yet, so they very well could be vindicated. However, I doubt they will, and by then it may be too late.

I think, more than anything, spreading basic economic literacy should be the Mises institute's number 1 priority.
Most people still have a very binary view on economics, heck, even libertarians have different schools, the Neoclassical and the Austrians.
I think the electorate needs to know at least, the fundamentals differences.
The stimulus spending was an interventionist idea, quite distinct from what libertarians were advocating, and if it does fail, and when we do get into a depression, the Social Democrats should own up to their shit.
Unlike in Europe, where these retards are advocating a greater union.




If Obama fucks up, he should own up and let the economy restructure.

Post: #18

This...great book

(04-19-2013 10:55 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt.

Short overview that destroys most mainstream economic thinking.

Here are some quotes to give you a feel for the piece:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2...mpted=true


“This is perhaps as good a place as any to point out that what distinguishes many reformers from those who cannot accept their proposals is not their greater philanthropy, but their greater impatience. The question is not whether we wish to see everybody as well off as possible. Among men of good will such an aim can be taken for granted. The real question concerns the proper means of achieving it. And in trying to answer this we must never lose sight of a few elementary truisms. We cannot distribute more wealth than is created. We cannot in the long run pay labor as a whole more than it produces.”

Post: #19

Capital - Karl Marx

Will look more into Keynes' work, Marx?, no thanks.
He is as much an authority on economics as Rick Perry is on evolutionary biology."


Karl Marx is a MUST.

If you have any hope of understanding modern politics and economics, you must be versed in and understand MARX!!!!.

Although nearly 100% wrong, he is by far the most influential thinker on politics and socio-economics this century.

Post: #20

(04-19-2013 11:25 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 11:12 PM)Kabal Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

In what way? The unemployment rate is still lackluster. Labor force participation has been trending linearly downwards since late 2008, with no sign of abatement. Food stamp usage keeps setting new records. The U.S. debt continues its clockwork parabolic march upward. The U.S. financial sector remains bloated, and in bed with government.

Equities are doing well, but that's propped up by permanent open market operations--as both retail and institutional investors are reaching for yield while interest rates are pressed low.

I believe Obama and Bernanke are faring quite poorly, but I also say the jury is still out on this one. We haven't reached the long run yet, so they very well could be vindicated. However, I doubt they will, and by then it may be too late.

I think, more than anything, spreading basic economic literacy should be the Mises institute's number 1 priority.
Most people still have a very binary view on economics, heck, even libertarians have different schools, the Neoclassical and the Austrians.
I think the electorate needs to know at least, the fundamentals differences.
The stimulus spending was an interventionist idea, quite distinct from what libertarians were advocating, and if it does fail, and when we do get into a depression, the Social Democrats should own up to their shit.
Unlike in Europe, where these retards are advocating a greater union.

If Obama fucks up, he should own up and let the economy restructure.

It's not an issue of education--for most people, politics and economics are more like Seinfeldian rooting for laundry than a venue for critical thought.

Economics requires some ability for abstract thought. Most people just don't have the aptitude or the inclination for it. Think about how dumb the average person is. Than recall that half the populace is even dumber.

For most people, the peak of intellectual thought is contemplating who will win American Idol, ruminating over Justin Bieber's latest tweet, or scrutinizing who Taylor Swift is dating.

They simply can't grasp and/or aren't interested in things like supply and demand curves, yield curves, or Phillips curves. That's boring, yucky stuff.

Kardashian curves? Oooohhh, now we're talking!

Post: #21

This.

All you lefties out there -- and you know who you are -- your principles are the road to serfdom.

Think Obamacare...or socialized medicine...as you read this. Boldfaced mine.

Quote:“The state should confine itself to establishing rules applying to general types of situations and should allow the individuals freedom in everything which depends on the circumstances of time and place, because only the individuals concerned in each instance can fully know these circumstances and adapt their actions to them. If the individuals are able to use their knowledge effectively in making plans, they must be able to predict actions of the state which may affect these plans. But if the actions of the state are to be predictable, they must be determined by rules fixed independently of the concrete circumstances which can be neither foreseen nor taken into account beforehand; and the particular effects of such actions will be unpredictable. If, on the other hand, the state were to direct the individual’s actions so as the achieve particular ends, its actions would have to be decided on the basis of the full circumstances of the moment and would therefore be unpredictable. Hence the familiar fact that the more the state “plans”, the more difficult planning becomes for the individual.”

Post: #22

(04-19-2013 11:12 PM)Kabal Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

In what way? The unemployment rate is still lackluster. Labor force participation has been trending linearly downwards since late 2008, with no sign of abatement. Food stamp usage keeps setting new records. The U.S. debt continues its clockwork parabolic march upward. The U.S. financial sector remains bloated, and in bed with government.

Equities are doing well, but that's propped up by permanent open market operations--as both retail and institutional investors are reaching for yield while interest rates are pressed low.

I believe Obama and Bernanke are faring quite poorly, but I also say the jury is still out on this one. We haven't reached the long run yet, so they very well could be vindicated. However, I doubt they will, and by then it may be too late.

First, Austerity policies have now, even more than before the crisis, proven themselves to be failed polices. Second, it's clear that the stimulus saved a lot of jobs that otherwise would have been lost. Third, the effect of the stimulus would had an even bigger effect if it had not be undermined partly by cuts at the state level. Fourth, there is no reason why the stimulus should not have been larger. Certainly, there is no evidence that increases in debt necessarily lead to an increase in borrowing costs (when you have your own currency). Also, US debt is headed downward, and austerity polices increase a country's debt (they are, it now seems clear, self-defeating).

Post: #23

(04-19-2013 11:43 PM)Kabal Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 11:25 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 11:12 PM)Kabal Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:56 PM)More and more Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 10:51 PM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote:  Those guys were endorsing Obama in 2008 and in 2012, look what happened.

What happened? The Keynesian policies Obama tried to pursue have been vindicated. Obama should have done more of what he tried to do.

In what way? The unemployment rate is still lackluster. Labor force participation has been trending linearly downwards since late 2008, with no sign of abatement. Food stamp usage keeps setting new records. The U.S. debt continues its clockwork parabolic march upward. The U.S. financial sector remains bloated, and in bed with government.

Equities are doing well, but that's propped up by permanent open market operations--as both retail and institutional investors are reaching for yield while interest rates are pressed low.

I believe Obama and Bernanke are faring quite poorly, but I also say the jury is still out on this one. We haven't reached the long run yet, so they very well could be vindicated. However, I doubt they will, and by then it may be too late.

I think, more than anything, spreading basic economic literacy should be the Mises institute's number 1 priority.
Most people still have a very binary view on economics, heck, even libertarians have different schools, the Neoclassical and the Austrians.
I think the electorate needs to know at least, the fundamentals differences.
The stimulus spending was an interventionist idea, quite distinct from what libertarians were advocating, and if it does fail, and when we do get into a depression, the Social Democrats should own up to their shit.
Unlike in Europe, where these retards are advocating a greater union.

If Obama fucks up, he should own up and let the economy restructure.

It's not an issue of education--for most people, politics and economics are more like Seinfeldian rooting for laundry than a venue for critical thought.

Economics requires some ability for abstract thought. Most people just don't have the aptitude or the inclination for it. Think about how dumb the average person is. Than recall that half the populace is even dumber.

For most people, the peak of intellectual thought is contemplating who will win American Idol, ruminating over Justin Bieber's latest tweet, or scrutinizing who Taylor Swift is dating.

They simply can't grasp and/or aren't interested in things like supply and demand curves, yield curves, or Phillips curves. That's boring, yucky stuff.

Kardashian curves? Oooohhh, now we're talking!

This is the reason why I detest democracy, I mean, really hate it.
The only way to find out who the best authority on economics, is simple, allow states to secede, and then compare economic performances for states with the same demographics.
I mean, heck, when the USAF held a competition for the Fifth Gen fighter, they didn't hold a debate, in front of a live audience, because the average viewer can't comprehend the engineering for each fighter, they test it out, and award contracts to the most suitable contender.

And you don't need an IQ above 132 to comprehend the basic differences.
Marxian economy-No private ownership of capital, centrally planned.
Keynesian Social democrat-Private ownership, Government interventionism, Central planning, fiat currency.
Libertarians- Private ownership, decentralized planning, Gold standard.

Post: #24

(04-19-2013 11:46 PM)More and more Wrote:  Second, it's clear that the stimulus saved a lot of jobs that otherwise would have been lost.

Prove it.

Post: #25

Murray Rothbard- The Mystery of Banking
Milton Friedman- Free To Choose
Uncle Eric Book Series