What are the best books on economics?
Best Books on Business Economics
THE LIST:
1 – The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money | By John Maynard Keynes
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
John Maynard Keynes perpetually changed the scope of macroeconomics with this excellent yet debatable text amidst the Great Depression in the year 1936. The content of this book is about his strenuous argument for an eager endeavor of the government to make sure that the lavishness of laissez-faire capitalism is put to correction. There are experts who think that during the start of the 1970s, a lot of the book’s teaching vanished from the common awareness as the economy of neoclassicism vastly scattered. Some may find his words to be heavy and perplexing, but some parts are not difficult to understand and the reader will like to read the words. When talking about meaningful and powerful quotes, you will be able to find a lot in this text.
Quotes from the book;
“I have called my theory a general theory…concerned with the behavior of the economic system as a whole.”
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else.”
“A substantial government transfer tax on all transactions might prove to be the most serviceable reform available…with a view to mitigating the predominance of speculation over the enterprise.”
“Ancient Egypt…possessed two activities, namely, pyramid-building as well as the search for precious metals, the fruits of which, since they could not serve the needs of man by being consumed, did not stale with abundance.”
“The marginal efficiency of capital is of fundamental importance because it is mainly through this factor (much more than through the rate of interest) that the expectation of the future influences the present.”
2 – Utopia for Realists | By Rutger Bregman
Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World
The perception of Rutger Bregman about utopia is full of life and interesting. In this text, he creates a visual picture of the present condition of the world. With it is his explanation of what is righteous and what is fallacious. Written in this text is his presentation of notable modifications to turn this global society into a world with higher quality, conducting analyses from a lot of nations and era, and also waving away our typical and superstitious beliefs. Bregman’s descriptions of the possible favorable outcome of comprehensive fundamental earnings may pique someone’s curiosity, although his account of how individuals reject its prosperity for an ethical basis is discouraging. The author willfully presents more queries than he solves.
Quotes from the book;
“The past was certainly a harsh place, and so it’s only logical that people dreamed of a day when things would be better.”
“Borders are the single biggest cause of discrimination in all of world history. Inequality gaps between people living in the same country are nothing in comparison to those between separated global citizenries.”
“The time has come to put paid to what Duflo calls the three I’s of development aid: Ideology, Ignorance and Inertia.”
“We live in a world where the going rule seems to be that the more vital your occupation (cleaning, nursing, teaching), the lower you rate in the GDP.”
“Political scientists have established that how people vote is determined less by their perceptions about their own lives than by their conceptions of society.”
3 – Free to Choose | By Milton Friedman
Friedman was a great communicator, able to influence politicians, economists, and readers of his books on his economic and political theories. Decades after its release to the public, Free to Choose: A Personal Statement, written with his wife, also economist Rose Friedman, serves as an exceptional book for those on the political right. Friedman’s criticism of the Fed in the 80s would insist that he would favor easing in principle, but how much quantitative easing would he approve? Friedman’s thoughts consist that the blame of the Great Depression was due to the Federal Reserve’s failure to act, thereby, not addressing the drop in the number of dollars circulating in the economy.
The book further discusses deflation in the 1930s; the Great Depression and the failure of government; inflation in the 1970s and government’s price and wage controls; special interest and the fact that groups’ interest can weaken the political system; big government and its impact on the economy; the market is the best protection; and desirable solutions to these problems.
Quotes from the book;
“Conventional wisdom may have changed, but the conventional practice has not…[Politicians] know the words, but they have not learned the tune.”
“Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom.”
“The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom and … will end up in the hands of the people who use it to promote their own interests.”
“The system not only had a legislative mandate to prevent the [1930s] monetary collapse but could have done so if it had used wisely the powers that had been granted to it in the Federal Reserve Act.”
“We rail against special interests except when the special interest happens to be our own. Each of us knows that what is good for him is good for the country – so our special interest is different.”
4 – Law, Legislation and Liberty | By F.A. Hayek
Nobel recipient Friedrich A. Hayek is the founding father of the Austrian School in economics and also known as one of the greatly influential thinkers of the economy of the modern age. He brought out his peaking text about the political economy during the 1970s. At first, he presented it in three issues which gave an explanation of his thoughts on how countries can stabilize personal freedom with bureaucratic balance and his systematic structure for a ‘Great Society’. He is convinced that what the markets require to gain powerful federal states is a committed promotion of free markets. Hayek’s ways are educational and at times twisting, which means that this satisfyingly tests our analytical thinking.
Quotes from the book;
“Although we can endeavor to improve a spontaneous order…we cannot improve the results by specific commands that deprive its members of the possibility of using their knowledge for their purposes.”
“It is…a real dilemma to what extent we ought to encourage in the young the belief that when they really try they will succeed, or should [we] rather emphasize that inevitably some unworthy will succeed and some worthy fail.”
“The law does not prohibit the setting up of a new business even…in the expectation that it will lead to the failure of another.”
“Against this threat we can protect ourselves only by subjecting even our dearest dreams of a better world to a ruthless rational dissection.”
“Capitalism…suggests a system which mainly benefits the capitalists, while in fact it is a system which imposes upon enterprise a discipline under which…managers chafe and which each endeavors to escape.”
5 – The Myth of Capitalism | By Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn
The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition
Jonathan Tepper and Denise Hearn enlighten us in this analysis of 21st Century economics as they introduce a conceivably coordinated thought that as it has been emphasized in the present times, riches and imbalance of monetary earnings is but a manifestation of the failure of capitalism instead of being the source of its own infirmity. Tepper and Hearn pointed out a convincing argument that centralized the conflict on authority suppression in the economy and contributes to the discrepancy – something that was supported by their claim that the true reason why all of those is happening is because of the inability to be competitive. The educational work made with easy-to-understand style and systematic order provide fair and well-informed statements included with enlightening thoughts and wisdom. This also provides the readers as well as the professionals a perceptive and new outlook on popular and significant topics on the economy.
Quotes from the book;
“Titans with disproportionate influence over markets can use their power and wealth to dominate industries and rig the rules in their favor.”
“Capitalism and invention stagnate without competition.”
“Bork argued that a very high market share by a particular company was probably due to economies of scale and greater efficiencies by large firms.”
“One thing that can make a monopoly permanent is government, because only government can prevent the sort of innovation and competition that undermines every corporate giant.”
“Highly concentrated industries with common ownership invest less and spend a disproportionate amount of cash on share buybacks.”
6 – Goddess of the Market | Jennifer Burns
Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right
Jennifer Burns tells about the known Russian Jewish author Ayn Rand’s peculiar private life. In this text, she attempts to harmonize a newfound ideology, an unorthodox passionate reverie, and the sentimental mayhem she brought into existence. She writes about Rand who has thoughts about rationality, personal being, liberty, and the significance of a free market molded and keeps on developing modern conservatism. Ayn Rand expressed a protagonist role for anyone in her two popular novels. These motivated businessmen in higher positions because of her disdain for the public-spirited acts and prioritizing a group, which means she commends individualism. Like her novel’s main characters, she was also eccentric and was rarely siding to Libertarians and Republicans. This is a captivating life story that effectively helps you grasp where the truth obtains its certainties.
Quotes from the book;
“Like a Hollywood star, she wanted a new, streamlined name that would be memorable on the marquee. The one she ultimately chose, Ayn Rand, freed her from her gender, her religion, her past. It was the perfect name for a child of destiny.”
“The American way of life…‘has always been based on the Rights of Man, upon individual freedom and upon respect for each individual human personality’.”
“The Fountainhead made a familiar argument that humanitarianism is simply a guise for those who seek power.”
“Under Rand’s tutelage [Alan Greenspan] began to look beyond a strictly empirical, numbers-based approach to economics, now thinking about ‘human beings, their values, how they work, what they do and why they do it, and how they think and why they think’.”
“Atlas Shrugged… made Rand a hero to…business owners, executives and self-identified capitalists, who were overjoyed to discover a novel that acknowledged, understood and appreciated their work.”
7 – The Zero Marginal Cost Society | By Jeremy Rifkin
In this text, Jeremy Rifkin explains society’s progress on the road to ‘communal standard’, giving prominence to a kind of economic state founded on collaboration, distribution, great empathy, and public experience. He also threads historical events, science, psychological facts, and economics into a united, enthralling picture of a comprehensively changed yet wonderful future. Almost all of his visions stretch from 30 to 50 years to the future, however, a lot of the present extensive social movements are increasing hastily that a lot of events take place swifter. His main topic is that the global society is adapting to higher quality because the outlooks of most people are changing into cooperation, distribution, and preservation despite the fact that capitalism is the reason why the present times are so prosperous.
Quotes from the book;
“Capitalism is giving birth to a progeny. It is called the sharing economy on the Collaborative Commons.”
“What is becoming increasingly clear is that the capitalist system that provided both a compelling narrative of human nature and the overarching organizational framework for the day-to-day commercial, social, and political life of society-spanning more than ten generations-has peaked and begun its slow decline.”
“John Calvin went a step further, calling on his followers to continuously work at improving their lot in life as a sign of possible election.”
“The near-zero marginal cost phenomenon has already wreaked havoc on the publishing, communications, and entertainment industries as more and more information is being made available nearly free to billions of people.”
“The feudal economy persisted, relatively unmodified, for more than 700 years. In the 1500s, however, new economic forces began to chip away at the feudal order, beginning in Tudor England and later spreading to other parts of Europe.”
8 – A World of Three Zeros | By Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus, an author and economist, gives instances of how the virtuous acts he campaigns for are taking place around the globe. He also combines the domain of business and philanthropy to generate a fusion called ‘social business’. This supports distinctive self-support and prevalent ethics through commercial movements. He thinks that even the destitute ones are blessed with business potential and there are unselfish, businessmen who focus on gaining sales are looking for people who are interested in social business. Muhammad Yunus insists that the idea of social business could possibly lead to the elimination of poverty, exterminate unemployment, and eradicate carbon emissions.
Quotes from the book;
“Sustainability…means eating the fruits without harming the trees, and in fact making the trees more productive along the way so that over time everybody will be able to enjoy more fruit.”
“Uganda is not alone. In emerging countries all over the world, you’ll find the same burst of entrepreneurship at the bottom of the economy.”
“No matter which problem a social business focuses on, it is directly and indirectly addressing some of the [United Nations’] Sustainable Development Goals.”
“Thankfully, in the real world, almost no one behaves with the absolute selfishness that is supposed to govern Capitalist Man.”
“When I create a social business, I am allowing the selfless side of my personality to be expressed through business.”
9 – The Competitive Advantage of Nations | By Michael E. Porter
The Competitive Advantage of Nations
The reasons for national advantage incorporate a lot than a nation’s stocks of affordable laborers and unprocessed supplies. This is an intricate analysis of 10 countries after the 2nd World War through the year 1980s which offers a functional systematic structure for a total assessment of national economic skills and power. Michael Porter, an author and a Harvard Business School professor, has created a definite strategy for identifying the roots and consequences of the economy and also for solving the perplexity of the world’s trends in spite of the fact that he only focused on a certain chunk of time. He has a four-point analysis that deals with the national advantage in the economy of the world, which stays relevant and useful. In this text, you will be illuminated why specific businesses as well as the countries they are established in either develop or fall amidst the toughness of global economic rivalries.
Quotes from the book;
“Nations, in an important sense, are either moving ahead or falling behind in the upgrading of competitive advantage. Standing still is difficult.”
“Pressure from demanding and sophisticated buyers is widespread in Japanese consumer industries.”
“National economic prosperity is not a zero-sum game in which one nation’s gain is at the expense of others.”
“Many see government as a helper or supporter of industry…Government’s proper role is as a pusher or challenger.”
“The pursuit of competitiveness defined as a trade surplus, a cheap currency or low unit labor costs contains many traps and pitfalls.”
10 – The Wealth of Nations | By Adam Smith
This text is a commonsensical and comprehensible achievement in the history of economics. Adam Smith is threaded into every book used as standard work for the study of economics. However, his propositions, which in the present times are frequently narrated predominantly in pieces to show their total social and economic creative capability only in the factors. He broke out onto the setting at a period when the absolutist states of the country took over the world’s valuable metal supply and attempted to raise their own riches by conducting demanding policies in exportation. Through this, they were inspired by a whole different idea about national wealth. It made them realize that it emanated not from the abundance of gold, but from the labors of the nation’s citizens. From this concept, businesses should controllably stabilize themselves driven by their own personal concerns. Adam Smith’s face of glorified socioeconomic balance may have grown some damages over the years, but his thoughts motivated many famous economic experts in the past 250 years.
Quotes from the book;
“The division of labor, by reducing every man’s business to some one simple operation, and by making this operation the sole employment of his life, necessarily increases very much the dexterity of the workman.”
“The scarcity of money is not always confined to improvident spendthrifts. It is sometimes general through a whole mercantile town and the country in its neighborhood. Over-trading is the common cause of it.”
“The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.”
“All the different nations of Europe have studied, though to little purpose, every possible means of accumulating gold and silver in their respective countries.”
“Labor, it must always be remembered, and not any particular commodity or set of commodities is the real measure of the value both of silver and of all other commodities.”
11 – Prosperity | By Colin Mayer
Prosperity: Better Business Makes the Greater Good
Companies, without any skepticism, are mostly the main source of jobs, salaries, and money generation whether you think that they own legal rights or that they are plainly legitimate and tax frameworks. However, the very same companies, corporations, and firms that manufacture the global economic prosperity of materials, supply, and labor also produce off harmful secondary products manufactured by these establishments into the world of socio-economic as well as the natural environment. Colin Mayer’s words will evoke your thoughts as he asserts that companies should use another different strategy and style. Businessmen, shareholders, and government administrators will truly consider this work an interesting proposition on the corporation’s part.
Quotes from the book;
“At the same time, it is the source of inequality, deprivation, and environmental degradation, and the problems are getting worse.”
“In sum, debt and, in particular, long-term debt present companies with the double-edged sword of funding for investment during good times but the shackles of indebtedness during bad times.”
“Forty years ago, 80% the market value of US corporations was attributable to tangible assets…Today, intangibles account for 85% of the market value of US corporations.”
“Corporate law creates the corporation. It would not exist without corporate law because the corporation is a product of the law.”
“Not only were privatization and contracting-out invented two millennia before Margaret Thatcher, so too was popular capitalism.”
12 – Why We Work | By Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz, a TED Talk speaker and Swarthmore Psychology professor, talks about matters and concerns about the work environment in the present times. He analyzes why jobs divide almost all employees and also how individuals in the working classification can have fun in the fulfillment of their jobs, which proficient experts, economic professionals, and innovative wizards relish about. His words are written to motivate you to ponder about the junction of business and personal independence. As you read his text, which will evoke thoughts in your mind, he will ask you questions to think deeply about, but he does not entirely give you answers to those queries he presents, or probably no one could ever do that. His sincerity will captivate you, and as you dig deep into his words, you will be able to use those contrasting ideas into a functional deduction.
Quotes from the book;
“Satisfied workers are engaged by their work. They lose themselves in it.”
“These people do their work because it’s an opportunity for social engagement. They do many of their tasks as part of teams, and even when they’re working alone, there are plenty of opportunities for social interaction during work’s quiet moments.”
13 – The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 | By Paul Krugman
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008
Paul Krugman, an economic scholar, and Nobel recipient analyze the means that cause progress and downfall in the economy. The characteristic of his work is his capability to preserve the substance of a subject while deducing complicated matters of the economy using exemplification and correlation. One may find the text’s title to be disheartening, but this does not match that mood, because the author deduces that a further Great Depression will not take place. Generally, capitalism has supplied the footing for abundance in developed and progressed economies. This period where information is everywhere has instituted businessmen who earned money even without the guidance of huge companies. However, Paul Krugman remains to be attentive to whatever negative matters that might take place in the global economic markets. His deep study is highly suggested to individuals who are interested in the global economy and commercial markets.
Quotes from the book;
“Who can now use the words of socialism with a straight face? I can remember when the idea of revolution, of brave men pushing history forward, had a certain glamour. Now it is a sick joke.”
“Subprime loans were…made by loan originators, who quickly sold [them] to financial institutions, which…sliced and diced pools of mortgages into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) sold to investors.”
“The Great Depression was brought to an end by a massive deficit-financed public works program, known as World War II.”
“Much of the world…is grappling with a financial and economic crisis that bears even more resemblance to the Great Depression than the Asian troubles of the 1990s.”
“For the first time since 1917…the unpleasant aspects of a market system – inequality, unemployment, injustice – are accepted as facts of life.”
14 – The Road to Serfdom | By Friedrich A. Hayek
In 1944, Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek has written this first-rate democratic advocacy and economic industries. As it stays to be popular, it is an attestation to the pensiveness and rigorousness of his evaluation of fundamentally organized economies and socialism. He quotes out the impact of Karl Marx as well as other German thinkers who drove people to support Adolf Hitler’s idea of autocratic ways. In the 1930s, there was a Great Depression, which raised queries about capitalism and resulted in increased approval of socialism in nations under democracy. However, he notifies that democratic people are putting their liberty in dangerous situations when they enthusiastically praised socialism’s objectives. This is recommended to those who would like to be enlightened about the contemplative dissimilarity between capitalism and socialism.
Quotes from the book;
“We shall never prevent the abuse of power if we are not prepared to limit power.”
“Planning and competition can be combined only by planning for competition but not by planning against competition.”
“It cannot be denied that the Rule of Law produces economic inequality – all that can be claimed for it is that this inequality was not designed to affect particular people in a particular way.”
“Socialism means the abolition of private enterprise, of private ownership as a means of production, and the creation of a ‘planned economy’ in which the entrepreneur working for profit is replaced by a central planning body.”
“Economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life that can be separated from the rest; it is the control of the means for all our ends.”
15 – The Value of Everything | By Mariana Mazzucato
The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy
Adam Smith, an 18th Century philosopher, and father of market economics presented about how distinct business and economic movements play a part in a nation’s complete security. However, according to Mariana Mazzucato, the economy of neoclassicism in contemporary times has widely avoided this careful analysis in order to put all the attention on the market cost as the sole amount of worth. She presents information on how the difference between cost and value hand down the people at the leniency of those who like to take out values and also puts what’s reputable for the society on a back burner. Mazzucato’s words will surely arouse one’s thoughts as she encourages the readers to be interested in the course of modern-day economics.
Quotes from the book;
“This book questions the stories we are being told about who the wealth creators are in modern-day capitalism, stories about which activities are productive as opposed to unproductive, and thus where value creation comes from.”
“As long as products and services fetch a price on the market, they are deemed worthy of being included in GDP; whether they contribute to value or extract it is ignored.”
“Contrary to the modern interpretation of [Adam Smith’s] work as ‘laissez-faire’ (leave the market alone), he believed that the right kind of freedom is not the absence of government policy but freedom from rent extraction.”
“The disappearance of value from the economic debate hides what should be alive, public and actively contested.”
“The understanding of value…is critical to all other conversations we need to have about where our economy is going and how to change its course.”
16 – Straight Talk on Trade | By Dani Rodrik
Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy
In the present times, worldwide commerce entwines different nations’ economies tightly compared to how it was in the past. Since the post-World War II, this condition of the global economy is a success for the ones who contributed to the free market to resolve the world’s economic disorder. However, the market became a victim of known retaliations and new tax conflicts. There are a lot of people who think that countries have invented their own beastly creature in complicated world agreements. Dani Rodrik provides a large-scale general view about issues of the first years of market treaties in the 21st Century in articles he formerly published. He merges his ideas into seven fascinating concepts for a sensible global economy. In spite of the fact that his words are mostly theoretical and tend to be rambling, this text is suggested to market professionals, businessmen, and economic experts.
Quotes from the book;
“Trump’s and other populists’ rhetoric on trade may be excessive, but few deny any longer that the underlying grievances are real.”
“Globalization’s cheerleaders do considerable damage to their cause by framing the issue as a stark choice between existing trade arrangements and the persistence of global poverty.”
“Policies in one country do affect others…We might be particularly concerned about instances where domestic economic advantage comes at the expense of other nations.”
“Economists deride the nation-state because it is the source of the transaction costs that block fuller economic integration.”
“Macron’s message to Germany has been clear: Either you help me out and we build a true union – economic, fiscal and eventually political – or we will be run over by the extremist onslaught.”
17 – The New Economics | By W. Edwards Deming
The New Economics: For Industry, Government, Educatio
Edwards Deming is an analyst who knows how to function at one’s insecurity, possibly because he knows what principle a person believes in. Before he died in 1993, he reevaluated this work and in some parts put on his basis on the times he worked with the Japanese in the 1950s, which may hit the modern time readers as an intrigued blend of groundbreaking approach idea and peculiar consideration on education. Some parts are written like a relic in the early years of the 1990s, but in this thought, his version provides a distinct outlook on a realization in the history of the economy in America, which is the adjustment to the economy that is based on knowledge. This text is recommended for you to know how this led people to be transformed as they continued to be involved in the world of business.
Quotes from the book;
“Most people imagine that the present style of management has always existed, and is a fixture. Actually, it is a modern invention a prison created by the way in which people interact.”
“Everyone must understand the danger and loss to the whole organization from a team that seeks to become a selfish, independent, profit center.”
“The present style of management is the biggest producer of waste, causing huge losses whose magnitudes cannot be evaluated, cannot be measured.”
“All the qualities that have been traditionally and erroneously applied to competition actually apply better to cooperation. Cooperation builds character, is basic to human nature, and makes learning more enjoyable and productive.”
“Unnecessary paperwork is a serious loss. A lot of it originates in management’s supposition that the cure for repetition of a mistake or fraud is more audit, more inspection.”
18 – The Fed | By Martin Mayer
The Fed: The Inside Story of How the World’s Most Powerful Financial Institution Drives the Markets
This is undeniably a complex history of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States of America, which is filled with a lot of unexpected disclosure about the concealed society of our central bankers. This plain analysis is the eye-opening lesson that one must always remember in Martin Mayer’s work, which reveals the facts to offer an intriguing and interesting peek into the reality of the United States Federal Reserve Bank. This significant work of Martin Mayer is highly recommended to those readers who would like to be enlightened about the truth on how the economy of the United States works.
Quotes from the book;
“The Fed’s public image is of a super-government that determines the course of economic life, but in fact the Fed today walks softly and carries a small stick.”
“Alan Greenspan’s fear of ordering participants in a private market to follow imposed standards has limited the Fed’s role in risk reduction as it has limited its participation in electronic payments.”
“The Federal Reserve System is the most forceful participant in American economic governance, but it is so today by custom and belief, and by the power of theater.”
“Nobody knows anymore why very small changes in short-term rates, clearly unimportant in themselves, should have such a great influence on the economy.”
“There remains a mystery to haunt the dreams of central bankers, because nobody knows why monetary stimulus becomes consumer price inflation in one country and asset inflation in another.”
19 – The Creature from Jekyll Island | By G. Edward Griffin
The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
Contrarian G. Edward Griffin, president of American Media, thinks that the Federal Reserve of the US Congress, which was created by a few influential people in the world, was already confidentially founded on a concealed isle in 1910 before it was officially established in the year 1913. He heads a winding venture through another form of history through a narration that boosts his opinion that elite factions envision to conquer the US into a new world order. He sees the association as a tool of these manipulative beings to control the economy as well as the citizens while privately meeting in secret. This work is suitable for readers who are fond of conspiracy theories and will surely read a lot of words to think about.
Quotes from the book;
“The new business model for America is clearly recognizable. Its dominant feature is the merger of government, real estate and commerce into a single structure, tightly controlled at the top.”
“The creature…compels the masses to serve it, feed it, obey it, worship it. If it is not slain, it will become our eternal lord and master.”
“The much heralded demise of communism in the Soviet bloc is a mixture of fact and fantasy.”
“While the followers of the current environmental movement are preoccupied with visions of planetary doom, the leaders have an entirely different agenda. It is world government.”
“How will it be slain? By piercing it with a million lances of truth. Who will slay it? A million crusaders with determination and courage. The crusade has already begun.”
20 – Capitalism and Freedom | Milton Friedman
When Capital and Freedom first was released (1962), this book was spurned and hated for many decades by the intellectual community. During the 60s, Friedman was once attached by a liberal during a debate for simply reciting his views of what he believed the proper role of government is to be. This out lashed continued until he recited his views on the opposition to the military draft, therefore, bring an unexpected cheer of the college students. Much of Friedman’s thoughts remained controversial since the release of his book. Nevertheless, its impact remains heavily on the world today.
In this book, Friedman explores ideas of political support for the government to control the economy stems from the Great Depression. He also advocates that parents should be given vouchers to place their children to the school they wish. Friedman dismantles the idea that social security is just a government-mandated contribution to a public pension fund. And the FCC control of television and radio is poor economics and an abridgment of the freedom of speech. Further, Friedman explains that the social responsibility of businesses is to operate within the law to make a profit. Friedman also explains that the Federal Reserve System responded to the 1929 crash of the stock market by drastically cutting the money supply. Further, Friedman advocates for conservative economic policies in his view of the role of government in a free society. He also believes that the role of government to intervene in economic affairs to ensure “economic growth” and “full employment.”
Quotes from the book;
“The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country.”
“Government power must be dispersed…If I do not like what my state does, I can move to another. If I do not like what Washington imposes, I have few alternatives in this world of jealous nations.”
“The great tragedy of the drive to centralization, as of the drive to extend the scope of government in general, is that it is mostly led by men of good will who will be the first to rue its consequences.”
“Not all schooling is education and not all education, schooling. The proper subject of concern is education. The activities of government are mostly limited to schooling.”
“As a general rule, any minority that counts on specific majority action to defend its interests is short-sighted in the extreme.”
21 – Applied Economics | By Thomas Sowell
Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
This is an exquisitely concise text, which should be included in everybody’s loss of books especially for those readers who desire to comprehend definitive conventional ideas on economics. Thomas Sowell’s differentiation between economic and political rationality should be fed into the voter’s minds. This work is written to educate anyone who reads it. He does not usually appeal to rules because they tend to have accidental results in the economy when you look at its long-term effects. Thomas Sowell does not provide a lot of quantitative data but offers brief useful information about the economy. This work totally is firm about its own strong points, and you’ll find it to be true when you read it and comprehend that Sowell contains a constitutional and economic viewpoint.
Quotes from the book;
“Families, gangs, feudal warlords, insurance companies, partnerships, commodity speculators, and issuers of stocks and bonds are all in the business of reducing and transferring risk.”
“Paying less and getting less – whether less is defined quantitatively or qualitatively – is no bargain, least of all in the case of medical care.”
“Political thinking tends to conceive of policies, institutions or programs in terms of their hoped-for results – ’drug prevention’ programs, ’profit-making’ enterprise, ’public-interest’ law firms, ’gun control’ laws, and so forth.”
“For purposes of economic analysis, what matters is not what goals are being sought but what incentives and constraints are being created in pursuit of those goals.”
“As markets replaced politically managed economic decision-making, China experienced one of the highest economic growth rates in the world.”
22 – Basic Economics | By Thomas Sowell
Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy
In spite of the fact that Thomas Sowell’s books do not provide a high-quality English definition of basic economics, his true aim and goal are to thoroughly tell how the defective ways of the government system create a lot of cataclysm in the society. Furthermore, he zeroes in on the idea of a minimum wage, lease regulations, and also the community who are against globalization through his well-committed vindication of the world trade. It does not matter which economical beliefs you support and hold on to, but taking a good read about this book is highly recommended for its enlightening perceptive from some of our government debates down to the fundamentals of economics.
Quotes from the book;
“Bombing does more immediate damage to a city, but many cities have rapidly rebuilt in the post-war world. Rent control does more long-lasting damage because people do not understand the basic economics of it.”
“Fights over which individuals and groups get how big a slice of the pie create the kinds of emotion and controversy on which the media and politicians thrive.”
“Many apparently humanitarian policies have backfired throughout history because of a failure to understand the role of prices.”
“Our social visions and our rhetoric are about ’the rich’ and ’the poor,’ as if we were talking about people who are born, live and die in poverty or luxury, while the reality is that most Americans do not stay in the same income quintile for as long as a decade.”
“It does not matter that a law or policy proclaims its goal to be ’affordable housing,’ ’fair trade,’ or ’a living wage.’” What matters is what incentives are created by the specifics of these laws and how people react to such incentives.”
23 – Economic Facts and Fallacies | By Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell, by using simple English words in his books, popularized economics. In this work, he goes on to enlighten the gloomy economics in a merry way by lighting up his torch on a few misconceptions, which are usually committed by creators of policies and also, economic experts. After defining these misconceptions, he explained racial differences, economic progress, urbanization, education, and equal rights for all gender. The outcome is an invigorating elixir, which will definitely enlighten your outlook on some of the most sensitive matters and topics in the present times. This book should be read by those who are not afraid to shake their social belief in exchange for illumination through proofs found within economics.
Quotes from the book;
“Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed because they are consistent with a widely held vision of the world – and this vision is accepted as a substitute for facts.”
“Fallacies are not simply crazy ideas. They are usually both plausible and logical – but with something missing.”
“Many desirable things are advocated without regard to the most fundamental fact of economics, that resources are inherently limited and have alternative uses.”
“Perhaps the biggest fallacy…is the implicit assumption that there is something intellectually baffling or morally wrong about the fact that different nations have different per capita incomes.”
“Some might even say that race itself is a fallacy in a world where racial intermixtures keep increasing…even while the stridency of separate racial identities becomes louder.”
24 – The Housing Boom and Bust | By Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell, a political analyst and economist, offers an easy-to-read definition of the United States residential market bubble and its aftereffects. His belief is not a query, for it is decisively siding on which is correct, so one must read it with consciousness, that some professionals tend to strongly hold on to opposite beliefs. He criticizes those elected officials in the government who drove a catastrophic system, which made residential possession accessible to almost all Americans, incorporating the ones who can only provide payments in small amounts. Sowell’s ways are not appropriate at all times but they are comprehensible. If you want to be enlightened about the residential trade, which gave a contribution to the economic disaster in the year 2008 to 2009, this book is a good read.
Quotes from the book;
“To single out home ownership or any other goal as the crusade of the day – as a ‘good thing’ – ignores the fact that virtually nothing is a good thing categorically.”
“Home buyers in a variety of circumstances now had reasons to default on their mortgages – and they proceeded to do so, whether they had to or whether they simply chose to.”
“Politicians in Washington set out to solve a national problem that did not exist – a nationwide shortage of ‘affordable housing’.”
“Some of the least knowledgeable and least experienced home buyers were now financing their purchases with some of the newest and most complicated mortgages.”
“The record-breaking housing price rises that preceded the record-breaking housing market collapse were not evenly spread across the United States but were heavily concentrated in a relatively few places.”
25 – The World is Flat | By Thomas L. Friedman
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
Technology and Globalization are the subjects that this compelling book covers, and it gives way to the area of its aspiration. Thomas Friedman’s connections to local officials, business directors, agency analysts, the Internet, and voice recorders have given him a path to collect a lot of important information; he even appeared on the cover page of a known magazine. All of these strengthen his beliefs about the significant connection of transformations in technology and politics. He provides captivating narrations about global corporations and fascinating discussions with professionals, journalists, and friends. However, despite the fact that he is articulate and a specialist, he still requires an editor to subdue his lengthy sections and repetitive claims. He expresses a lot of information with sharp analysis and revelations. In this book, you will discover how technology plays a big part in politics and the international market.
Quotes from the book;
“More people than ever (can now) collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on more different kinds of work…and on a more equal footing than at any previous time…using computers, e-mail, networks, teleconferencing and dynamic new software.”
“The faster and broader this transition to a new era, the more likely is the potential for disruption, as opposed to an orderly transfer of power from the old winners to the new winners.”
“They will be every color of the rainbow and from every corner of the world.”
“In the future, globalization is going to be increasingly driven by the individuals who understand the flat world, adapt themselves quickly to its processes and technologies, and start to march forward – without any treaties or advice from the IMF.”
“Islamo-Leninism, in many ways, emerged from the same historical context as the radical European ideologies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.”
26 – Other People’s Money | By John Kay
Other People’s Money: Masters of the Universe or Servants of the People?
John Kay, a columnist and professor, expertly defines the progress and consequences of the world’s economic system in the present times. He argues how to improve its framework to make it more secure and more functional in the economic system. He keeps the idea that economic companies who cooperate with lawmakers will be able to take part in contributing to the day-to-day business and trade. This book provides simple English with extensive methods, which uses narratives to explain puzzling reality. You will realize that Kay provides a skeptical viewpoint on the financialization of the international market. He may be unbiased when it comes to politics, but his criticism provides a functional strategy for business experts, employees, settles their invoices, or ones who depend on the economic system.
Quotes from the book;
“We need a modern intermediary sector that combines the experience and knowledgeable judgment of expert bankers and asset managers with the power of information technology.”
“A shift from agency to trading, from relationships to transactions, is a central aspect of the financialization of Western economies in the past four decades.”
“The development of a trading-oriented financial sector was closely associated with the free-market ideology that swept across a public policy with the rise of Thatcher and Reagan.”
“It is possible to…achieve an efficient payment system, effective capital allocation, greater economic stability [and] security in planning and managing our personal finances.”
“Regulation based on detailed prescriptive rules has undermined rather than enhanced ethical standards by substituting compliance for values.”
27 – A Splendid Exchange | By William J. Berstein
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
Reflective comprehension and intelligent work are useful facts that exhort the extensive history of the global market. However, you will surely be pleased with the interesting, unexposed information that William J. Bernstein provides as you read through his work. Here is an example, do you have any idea that the Boston Tea Party, which took part in commencing the American Revolution was not an unselfish patriotic activity, but rather a corrupt trick by avaricious traffickers and traders to make the settlers spend a lot of their wealth? There is a lot of information that you will know as you read Bernstein’s book that is filled with captivating details, but first and foremost he provides extensive information about the global market from its primitive origins down to the current times.
Quotes from the book;
“On some unrecorded occasion deep in prehistory, a man, or several men, initiated early long-distance trade by setting out on the water in boats.”
“One of the earliest commodities traded by boat must have been obsidian, a black volcanic rock (actually a glass), that is a favorite of landscapers and gardeners around the world.”
“How did goods get from China to Rome? Very slowly and very perilously, one laborious step at a time.”
“What investment banking is to the ambitious and acquisitive today, the pepper trade was to the Romans – the most direct route to great riches.”
“The advent of the written word around 3300 B.C. lifted history’s curtain and revealed an already well-established pattern of long-distance trade.”
28 – Lords of Finance | By Liaquat Ahamed
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
Liaquat Ahamed, an investment manager, provides accessible information about catastrophic financial system resolves of central bankers in the stretch of the year 1920 and earlier years of the 1930s. The narration gives a wee bit of tension, however, he applies rigorous analysis and action-packed information to demonstrate a whole reenactment of how the global economy crumbled. The Great Depression paved the way for secured mortgage responsibilities, mysterious by-products, and unpaid loan exchange, which means that the text’s lectures for the present-day plights are based on being heedful to the sources. This comprehensive book is suggested to those who desire to acquire a thorough comprehension of the happenings that caused the 20th Century’s largest catastrophe in economics.
Quotes from the book;
“As the lights started to go out over Europe that fateful first week of August [1914], every banker and finance minister seemed…fixated not on military preparations…but on the size and durability of his gold reserves.”
“Germany’s annual GDP before the war had been around $12 billion. To burden it with a debt eight times its annual income would have been the height of madness.”
“The almost theological belief in gold as the foundation for money was so embedded… that few could see any other way to organize the international monetary system.”
“In the early summer of 1928, with the Dow at around 200…the market truly seemed to break free of its anchor to economic reality and begin its flight to the outer reaches of make-believe.”
“Because…an active monetary policy…was so novel and the knowledge of how the economy worked so primitive, debates…within the Fed became highly confused and at times even incomprehensible.”
29 – The Great Convergence | By Richard Baldwin
The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization
A lot of people think that the development of technology and telecommunication in the 1990s caused the birth of globalization. However, Richard Baldwin debates that the history of globalization differs from the idea, with its importantly documented background during the year 1800s including the significant thoughts developing in the 21st Century. He creates a firm stand that the main idea of globalization depends on the breakthrough alleviating the price of operating products, workers, and concepts. Business officials, students, and critics will identify this work as a clever and extensive analysis of how globalization used to take place, how it happens today, and what will happen to it in the future.
Quotes from the book;
“Globalization took a leap forward in the early 1800s, when steam power…lowered the costs of moving goods.”
“Globalization’s third unbundling is likely to allow labor services to be physically unbundled from laborers.”
“Globalization made a second leap in the late 20th century, when ICT radically lowered the cost of moving ideas.”
“This new type of trade – call it 21st-century trade – is more multifaceted, and the facets are more interconnected.”
“In the future, the main driver may be transformative reductions in the cost of telepresence and telerobotics triggered by the virtual presence revolution.”
30 – Irrational Exuberance | By Robert J. Shiller
Not long after the conference of Robert Shiller in the year 1996, chairman of United States Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, alerted the nation about the atmosphere of ludicrous extravagance or ‘irrational exuberance’, which was rising up the cost of supplies. Examining through the event after it took place, it is obvious that the lie was just the start of everything. The people who paid attention to Greenspan would have evaded unusual profits, but Robert Shiller was right when the economy heightened, and then collapsed in 2000, which is the exact year when he printed the first volume of this book. He is not educating the market conditions, but instead, he is disproving common business maxims like the ideology that real estate or stock market is a huge long-term investment, and there are a lot more. This work pulls you away from being gullible, which will teach you a lot about investment and economics.
Quotes from the book;
“People are optimistic about the stock market. There is a lack of sobriety about its downside and the consequences that would ensue as a result.”
“The ascent in home prices after 1997 was much faster than the increase in incomes, and this raises concerns about the long-run stability of home prices, especially in the most volatile states.”
“There are times when an audience is highly receptive to optimistic statements, and times when it is not.”
“As prices continue to rise, the level of exuberance is enhanced by the price rise itself.”
“Irrational exuberance is the psychological basis of a speculative bubble.”
Final Thoughts on the Best Books on Economics
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