Getting back into Economics

CaptainPendulum

Hi,

I graduated 14 years ago (Economics major in Arts) and have since worked in IT. Have an on-going interest in economics matters in general and read the business pages and keep upto date. I'd like however to rekindle my passion for economics and was wondering if there are any good books out there that might help. Not really interested in the typical, theory under-grad Economics 101 books, but rather books that map real-world examples to the theory. Have read The Undercover Economist recently and liked it. I realise there are many different areas in Economics to specialise in, but I would like to concentrate on the Macro end and perhaps international economics as I didn't take this subject.

Thanks!

Flamed Diving

Do you want a fun to read book, or a textbook? Plus, the 'economic resources' thread might be of interest.

CaptainPendulum

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Do you want a fun to read book, or a textbook? Plus, the 'economic resources' thread might be of interest.

I think a fun book would whet the appetite and I could then progress to the "heavy" stuff again. I'll check out the thread you mentioned too, tx

Flamed Diving

The most recent fun Macro-related read I had was Krugman's "Depressions Economics" book. I'm doing an MA in Economics right now, so I don't get to read much fun economics these days...

I'm sure some of the guys will have good suggestions.

nesf

I'd second "Depression Economics". Other books mentioned on the resources thread: "The Soulful Science", "Reinventing the Bazaar" etc.

Économiste Monétaire

For the 'heavy stuff' the best path to take, in my opinion, is:

Greg Mankiw's Principles of Economics

moving to:

Mankiw's [Intermediate] Macro and Varian's Intermediate Micro.

You don't need to read pop-economics books to understand the textbooks I've linked above, and you could probably skip the principles book given that you have a background in economics. Krugman's book is a good read. Some others that may be of interest: Galbraith's A History of Economics and The Great Crash 1929; Heilbroner's The Worldy Philosophers. Freakanomics and Superfreakanomics might interest you; they're quite similar in style to Tim Harford's book.

BESman

A lot of people knock David McWilliams' "The Pope's Children" (myself included) but it is nonetheless an interesting analysis of modern Ireland (or at least what it used to be). Particularly interesting in today's context to see the culture in the time it was written, i.e. over spending and reliance on credit.

You should also read the works of the earliest economists like Adam Smith, Karl Mark, etc. Can be a heavy but valuable reading experience.

nesf

"The Accidental Theorist" by Paul Krugman is another good one.