The Best Economics Books Of All-Time
“What are the best Economics books of all-time?” We looked at 245 of the top books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 35 titles, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Economics” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 200+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 35 Economics Books
35 .) Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
Bad Samaritans was an introduction to open-minded economists and political free-thinkers to Ha-Joon Chang’s theories of the dangers of free-trade. With irreverent wit, an engagingly personal style, and a keen grasp of history, Chang blasts holes in the “World Is Flat” orthodoxy of Thomas Friedman and others who argue that only unfettered capitalism and wide-open international trade can lift struggling nations out of poverty. On the contrary, Chang shows, today’s economic superpowers-from the U.S. to Britain to his native Korea-all attained prosperity by shameless protectionism and government intervention in industry, a fact conveniently forgotten now that they want to compete in foreign markets. Chang’s cage-rattling, contrarian history of global capital appeals to readers new to economic theory as well as members of the old school looking for a fresh take.
34 .) Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
“Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it.”
33 .) Debunking Economics by Steve Keen
Lists It Appears On:
- Economics Help
- List Muse
When the original Debunking Economics was published back in 2001, the market economy seemed invincible, and conventional “neoclassical” economic theory basked in the limelight. Steve Keen argued that economists deserved none of the credit for the economy’s performance, and “The false confidence it has engendered in the stability of the market economy has encouraged policy-makers to dismantle some of the institutions which initially evolved to try to keep its instability within limits.” That instability exploded with the devastating financial crisis of 2007, and now haunts the global economy with the prospect of another Depression. In this expanded and updated new edition, Keen builds on his scathing critique of conventional economic theory while explaining what mainstream economists cannot: why the crisis occurred, why it is proving to be intractable, and what needs to be done to end it.
32 .) Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world’s entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers–perhaps even the majority of people–he concludes, it is still possible to practically and optimistically restain a sense of social accountability. Development as Freedom is essential reading.
31 .) Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- The Top Tens
In Economic Facts and Fallacies, Thomas Sowell exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues in a lively manner that does not require any prior knowledge of economics. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economic fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.
30 .) Economics by Paul Krugman; Robin Wells
Lists It Appears On:
- Ezvid
- List Muse
When it comes to explaining fundamental economic principles by drawing on current economic issues and events, there is no one more effective than Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and co-author, Robin Wells. In this best-selling introductory textbook, Krugman and Wells’ signature storytelling style and uncanny eye for revealing examples help readers understand how economic concepts play out in our world.
29 .) Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- NPR
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize”A magisterial work…You can’t help thinking about the economic crisis we’re living through now.” –The New York Times Book ReviewIt is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person’s or government’s control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions made by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of that economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades. As yet another period of economic turmoil makes headlines today, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, their fallibility, and the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.
28 .) Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H. Thaler
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Goodreads
Misbehaving is Richard H Thaler s arresting frequently hilarious account of his struggle to bring economics back down to earth and transform the way we think about ourselves and our world Coupling recent discoveries in human psychology with a practical understanding of incentives and market behavior this founding father of behavioral economics Chicago Tribune opens up new ways to look at everything from household finance to TV game shows the NFL draft and businesses like Uber Misbehaving reveals how the study of human miscalculations can help us make smarter decisions in our lives our businesses and our governments Book jacket Richard H Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans predictable error prone individuals Misbehaving is his arresting frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth and change the way we think about economics ourselves and our world Traditional economics assumes rational actors Early in his research Thaler realized these Spock like automatons were nothing like real people Whether buying a clock radio selling basketball tickets or applying for a mortgage we all succumb to biases and make decisions that deviate from the standards of rationality assumed by economists In other words we misbehave More importantly our misbehavior has serious consequences Dismissed at first by economists as an amusing sideshow the study of human miscalculations and their effects on markets now drives efforts to make better decisions in our lives our businesses and our governments
27 .) Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Goodreads
Naked Economics makes up for all of those Econ 101 lectures you slept through (or avoided) in college, demystifying key concepts, laying bare the truths behind the numbers, and answering those questions you have always been too embarrassed to ask. For all the discussion of Alan Greenspan in the media, does anyone know what the Fed actually does? And what about those blackouts in California? Were they a conspiracy on the part of the power companies? Economics is life. There’s no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan’s breezy tour, there’s no reason to fear this highly relevant subject. With the commonsensical examples and brilliantly acerbic commentary we’ve come to associate with The Economist, Wheelan brings economics to life. Amazingly, he does so with nary a chart, graph, or mathematical equation in sight―certainly a feat to be witnessed firsthand. Economics is a crucial subject. There’s no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan’s breezy tour, there’s also no reason to fear it.
26 .) Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets by John McMillan
Lists It Appears On:
- Farnam Street
- NPR
“From the wild swings of the stock market to the online auctions of eBay to the unexpected twists of the world’s post-Communist economies, markets have suddenly become quite visible. We now have occasion to ask, “”What makes these institutions work? How important are they? How can we improve them?””
Taking us on a lively tour of a world we once took for granted, John McMillan offers examples ranging from a camel trading fair in India to the $20 million per day Aalsmeer flower market in the Netherlands to the global trade in AIDS drugs. Eschewing ideology, he shows us that markets are neither magical nor immoral. Rather, they are powerful if imperfect tools, the best we’ve found for improving our living standards.”
25 .) The Armchair Economist: Economics and Everyday Life by Steven E. Landsburg
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Farnam Street
“Which rich people can’t be taxed?
Why is rising unemployment sometimes good?
Why do women pay more at the dry cleaner?
Why is life full of disappointments?
Whether these are nagging questions you’ve always had, or ones you never even thought to ask, this new edition of The Armchair Economist turns the eternal ideas of economic theory into concrete answers that you can use to navigate the challenges of contemporary life.”
24 .) The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- NPR
“A richly original look at the origins of money and how it makes the world go round
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of our financial system, from its genesis in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. What’s more, Ferguson reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history, arguing that the evolution of credit and debt was as important as any technological innovation in the rise of civilization. As Ferguson traces the crisis from ancient Egypt’s Memphis to today’s Chongqing, he offers bold and compelling new insights into the rise–and fall–of not just money but Western power as well.”
23 .) The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman
Lists It Appears On:
- Economics Help
- Goodreads
In this major bestseller, Paul Krugman warns that, like diseases that have become resistant to antibiotics, the economic maladies that caused the Great Depression have made a comeback. He lays bare the 2008 financial crisis―the greatest since the 1930s―tracing it to the failure of regulation to keep pace with an out-of-control financial system. He also tells us how to contain the crisis and turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession. Brilliantly crafted in Krugman’s trademark style―lucid, lively, and supremely informed―this new edition of The Return of Depression Economics has become an instant classic. A hard-hitting new foreword takes the paperback edition right up to the present moment.
22 .) The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
Lists It Appears On:
- TFE Times
- The Top Tens
An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in 1944—when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program—The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
21 .) The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- NPR
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a critically-acclaimed narrative that illuminates the globalization debates and reveals the key factors to success in global business. Tracing a T-shirt’s life story from a Texas cotton field to a Chinese factory and back to a U.S. storefront before arriving at the used clothing market in Africa, the book uncovers the political and economic forces at work in the global economy. Along the way, this fascinating exploration addresses a wealth of compelling questions about politics, trade, economics, ethics, and the impact of history on today’s business landscape. This new printing of the second edition includes a revised preface and a new epilogue with updates through 2014 on the people, industries, and policies related to the T-shirt’s life story.
20 .) The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- NPR
The economy isnt a bunch of rather dull statistics with names like GDP gross domestic product notes Tim Harford columnist and regular guest on NPRs Marketplace economics is about who gets what and why In this acclaimed and riveting book-part expose part users manual-the astute and entertaining columnist from the Financial Times demystifies the ways in which money works in the world From why the coffee in your cup costs so much to why efficiency is not necessarily the answer to ensuring a fair society from improving health care to curing crosstown traffic-all the dirty little secrets of dollars and cents are delightfully revealed by The Undercover Economist A rare specimen a book on economics that will enthrall its readers It brings the power of economics to life -Steven D Levitt coauthor of FreakonomicsA playful guide to the economics of everyday life and as such is something of an elder sibling to Steven Levitts wild child the hugely successful Freakonomics
19 .) Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life by Avinash Dixit
Lists It Appears On:
- Farnam Street
- Five Books
A major bestseller in Japan, Financial Times Top Ten book of the year, Book-of-the-Month Club bestseller, and required reading at the best business schools, Thinking Strategically is a crash course in outmaneuvering any rival. This entertaining guide builds on scores of case studies taken from business, sports, the movies, politics, and gambling. It outlines the basics of good strategy making and then shows how you can apply them in any area of your life.
18 .) Value and Capital: An Inquiry into some Fundamental Principles of Economic Theory by John R. Hicks
Lists It Appears On:
- List Muse
- Wikipedia
17 .) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Alois Schumpeter
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- TFE Times
“Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy remains one of the greatest works of social theory written this century. When it first appeared the New English Weekly predicted that `for the next five to ten years it will cetainly remain a work with which no one who professes any degree of information on sociology or economics can afford to be unacquainted.’ Fifty years on, this prediction seems a little understated.
Why has the work endured so well? Schumpeter’s contention that the seeds of capitalism’s decline were internal, and his equal and opposite hostility to centralist socialism have perplexed, engaged and infuriated readers since the book’s publication. By refusing to become an advocate for either position Schumpeter was able both to make his own great and original contribution and to clear the way for a more balanced consideration of the most important social movements of his and our time.”
16 .) Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- TFE Times
- The Top Tens
“Human Action is the most important book on political economy you will ever own. It was (and remains) the most comprehensive, systematic, forthright, and powerful defense of the economics of liberty ever written. This is the Scholar’s Edition: accept no substitute. You will treasure this volume.
The Scholar’s Edition is the original, unaltered treatise (originally published in 1949) that shaped a generation of Austrians and made possible the intellectual movement that is leading the global charge for free markets.
Mises himself wrote the following by way of explanation of why he wrote the book: “”Economics does not allow any breaking up into special branches. It invariably deals with the interconnectedness of all phenomena of acting and economizing. All economic facts mutually condition one another. Each of the various economic problems must be dealt with in the frame of a comprehensive system assigning its due place and weight to every aspect of human wants and desires. All monographs remain fragmentary if not integrated into a systematic treatment of the whole body of social and economic relations.”
15 .) Principles of Economics by Carl Menger
Lists It Appears On:
- Ezvid
- The Top Tens
- Wikipedia
In the beginning, there was Menger. It was this book that reformulated, and really rescued, economic science. It kicked off the Marginalist Revolution, which corrected theoretical errors of the old classical school. These errors concerned value theory, and they had sown enough confusion to make the dangerous ideology of Marxism seem more plausible than it really was. Menger set out to elucidate the precise nature of economic value, and root economics firmly in the real-world actions of individual human beings. For this reason, Carl Menger (1840-1921) was the founder of the Austrian School of economics. It is the book that Mises said turned him into a real economist. What’s striking is how nearly a century and a half later, the book still retains its incredible power, both in its prose and its relentless logic.
14 .) The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Lists It Appears On:
- Farnam Street
- Goodreads
- NPR
“The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn’t shine and the SEC doesn’t dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren’t talking.
Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar’s Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.”
13 .) The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It by Paul Collier
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Farnam Street
- Goodreads
In the universally acclaimed and award-winning The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier reveals that fifty failed states–home to the poorest one billion people on Earth–pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. The book shines much-needed light on this group of small nations, largely unnoticed by the industrialized West, that are dropping further and further behind the majority of the world’s people, often falling into an absolute decline in living standards. A struggle rages within each of these nations between reformers and corrupt leaders–and the corrupt are winning. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that ensnare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work, he writes; aid is often ineffective, and globalization can actually make matters worse, driving development to more stable nations. What the bottom billion need, Collier argues, is a bold new plan supported by the Group of Eight industrialized nations. If failed states are ever to be helped, the G8 will have to adopt preferential trade policies, new laws against corruption, new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. Collier has spent a lifetime working to end global poverty. In The Bottom Billion, he offers real hope for solving one of the great humanitarian crises facing the world today.
12 .) The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes
Lists It Appears On:
- List Muse
- TFE Times
- The Top Tens
John Maynard Keynes’s 1936 General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is a perfect example of the global power of critical thinking. A radical reconsideration of some of the founding principles and accepted axioms of classical economics at the time, it provoked a revolution in economic thought and government economic policies across the world. Unsurprisingly, Keynes’s closely argued refutation of the then accepted grounds of economics employs all the key critical thinking skills: analysing and evaluating the old theories and their weaknesses; interpreting and clarifying his own fundamental terms and ideas; problem solving; and using creative thinking to go beyond the old economic theories. Perhaps above all, however, the General Theory is a masterclass in problem solving.
11 .) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time by Karl Polanyi
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- TFE Times
In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the “great transformation” of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism. New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi’s seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade.
10 .) The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner
Lists It Appears On:
- Economics Help
- Farnam Street
- List Muse
“The Worldly Philosophers not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas—namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines.
In a bold new concluding chapter entitled “The End of the Worldly Philosophy?” Heilbroner reminds us that the word “end” refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today’s increasingly “scientific” economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.”
9 .) Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- NPR
- NPR
In one of the most gripping financial narratives in decades, Andrew Ross Sorkin-a New York Timescolumnist and one of the country’s most respected financial reporters-delivers the first definitive blow- by-blow account of the epochal economic crisis that brought the world to the brink. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, he re-creates all the drama and turmoil of these turbulent days, revealing never-before-disclosed details and recounting how, motivated as often by ego and greed as by fear and self-preservation, the most powerful men and women in finance and politics decided the fate of the world’s economy.
8 .) Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- Independent
- List Muse
- TFE Times
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.
7 .) Das Kapital by Karl Marx
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- Wikipedia
One of the most notorious works of modern times, as well as one of the most influential, “Capital” is an incisive critique of private property and the social relations it generates. Living in exile in England, where this work was largely written, Marx drew on a wide-ranging knowledge of its society to support his analysis and generate fresh insights. Arguing that capitalism would create an ever-increasing division in wealth and welfare, he predicted its abolition and replacement by a system with common ownership of the means of production. “Capital” rapidly acquired readership among the leaders of social democratic parties, particularly in Russia and Germany, and ultimately throughout the world, to become a work described by Marx’s friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels as ‘the Bible of the Working Class’.
6 .) Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Lists It Appears On:
- Economics Help
- Ezvid
- Goodreads
- Wall Street Mojo
Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the “Austrian School,” which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich (F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an influential libertarian publication. Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.
5 .) The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- TFE Times
With customary clarity, eloquence, and humor, Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith gets at the heart of what economic security means in The Affluent Society. Warning against individual and societal complacence about economic inequity, he offers an economic model for investing in public wealth that challenges “conventional wisdom” (a phrase he coined that has since entered our vernacular) about the long-term value of a production-based economy and the true nature of poverty. Both politically divisive and remarkably prescient, The Affluent Society is as relevant today on the question of wealth in America as it was in 1958.
4 .) Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- TFE Times
- Wall Street Mojo
In the international bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation―each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.
3 .) Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Economics Help
- Farnam Street
- Goodreads
- TFE Times
“Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?
What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
How much do parents really matter?
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports—and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head.
Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more.
“
2 .) Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Economics Help
- Farnam Street
- Goodreads
- NPR
- The Top Tens
How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of his immensely influential economic philosophy—one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. The result is an accessible text that has sold well over half a million copies in English, has been translated into eighteen languages, and shows every sign of becoming more and more influential as time goes on.
1 .) The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Lists It Appears On:
- American University
- Goodreads
- List Muse
- TFE Times
- The Top Tens
- Wikipedia
The Wealth of Nations was published 9 March 1776, during the Scottish Enlightenment and the Scottish Agricultural Revolution. It influenced a number of authors and economists, as well as governments and organizations. For example, Alexander Hamilton was influenced in part by The Wealth of Nations to write his Report on Manufactures, in which he argued against many of Smith’s policies. Interestingly, Hamilton based much of this report on the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, and it was, in part, Colbert’s ideas that Smith responded to with The Wealth of Nations. Many other authors were influenced by the book and used it as a starting point in their own work, including Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and, later, Ludwig von Mises. The Russian national poet Aleksandr Pushkin refers to The Wealth of Nations in his 1833 verse-novel Eugene Onegin.
The 200+ Additional Best Books About Economics
| # | Books | Authors | Lists |
| (Titles Appear On 1 List Each) | |||
| 36 | 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown | Simon Johnson; James Kwak | List Muse |
| 37 | 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism | Ha-Joon Chang | Goodreads |
| 38 | 50 Economics Ideas: You Really Need to Know | Edmund Conway | Economics Help |
| 39 | A Brief History of Neoliberalism | David Harvey | List Muse |
| 40 | A History of Economic Thought | Lionel Robbins; William J. Baumol | List Muse |
| 41 | A Monetary History of the United States | Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz | Wikipedia |
| 42 | A New Framework for Testing Rationality and Measuring Aggregate Shocks Using Panel Data | Davies, A. and Lahiri, K. | Wikipedia |
| 43 | A Random Walk Down Wall Street | Farnam Street | |
| 44 | Accumulation and Power: Economic History of the United States | Richard B. DuBoff | List Muse |
| 45 | Advances in Behavioral Economics | Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., and M. Rabin. | Wikipedia |
| 46 | After the Storm | Vince Cable | Independent |
| 47 | All the Devils Are Here | Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera | NPR |
| 48 | America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy | Gar Alperovitz | List Muse |
| 49 | An Economic History of India | Dietmar Rothermund | List Muse |
| 50 | An Economic History of the USSR | Alec Nove | List Muse |
| 51 | Analysis of Panel Data | Hsiao, C. | Wikipedia |
| 52 | Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Goodreads |
| 53 | Asia’s Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization | Alice Amsden | List Muse |
| 54 | Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea | Mark Blyth | List Muse |
| 55 | Basic Economics | Thomas Sowell | Ezvid |
| 56 | Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India | Renana Jhabvala; Soumya Kapoor Mehta; Guy Standing | List Muse |
| 57 | Behavioral Game Theory | Camerer, C.F. | Wikipedia |
| 58 | Between Debt and the Devil | Adair Turner | Independent |
| 59 | Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala | Stephen Schlesinger; Stephen Kinzer | List Muse |
| 60 | Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World | Michael Lewis | Goodreads |
| 61 | Capital asset pricing model | William F. Sharpe | Wikipedia |
| 62 | Capital Markets | Franco Modigliani | The Top Tens |
| 63 | China’s Development: Capitalism and Empire | Michel Aglietta; Guo Bai | List Muse |
| 64 | Cointegration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation and Testing | Granger, Clive William James and Engle, R. F. | Wikipedia |
| 65 | Collective Choice and Social Welfare | Amartya Sen | Wikipedia |
| 66 | Common Sense | Thomas Paine | The Top Tens |
| 67 | Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | John Perkins | Goodreads |
| 68 | Confronting the Third World | Gabriel Kolko | List Muse |
| 69 | Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian | Richard D. Wolff; Stephen A. Resnick | List Muse |
| 70 | Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity | Robert Pollin | List Muse |
| 71 | Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD | Angus Maddison | List Muse |
| 72 | Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth | Marilyn Waring | List Muse |
| 73 | Cracking economics | T. Pettinger | Economics Help |
| 74 | Crisis Economics: A Crash Course | Nouriel Roubini. | Economics Help |
| 75 | Demystifying the Chinese Economy | Justin Yifu Lin | List Muse |
| 76 | Dependent Development: The Alliance of Multinational, State, and Local Capital in Brazil | Peter B. Evans | List Muse |
| 77 | Developing Brazil: Overcoming the Failure of the Washington Consensus | Bresser Pereira | List Muse |
| 78 | Development Economics through the Decades: A Critical Look at 30 Years of the World Development Report | Wikipedia | |
| 79 | Distribution of the Estimators for Autoregressive Time Series with a Unit Root | Dickey, D. A. and Fuller, W. A | Wikipedia |
| 80 | Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics | Farnam Street | |
| 81 | Ecological Economics | Herman E. Daly; Joshua Farley | List Muse |
| 82 | ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism | Yves Smith | List Muse |
| 83 | Economic Philosophy | Joan Robinson | List Muse |
| 84 | Economics | Hubbard & O’Brien | Ezvid |
| 85 | Economics | Paul A. Samuelson | Wikipedia |
| 86 | Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes | Paul Bairoch | List Muse |
| 87 | Economics for Dummies | Ezvid | |
| 88 | Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism | Economics Help | |
| 89 | Economics Today: The Micro View | Ezvid | |
| 90 | Economics: Principles in Action | Ezvid | |
| 91 | Economics: Principles, Problems & Policies | Ezvid | |
| 92 | Economics: The User’s Guide | Ha-Joon Chang | Goodreads |
| 93 | End the Fed | Ron Paul | The Top Tens |
| 94 | End This Depression Now! | Paul Krugman | Goodreads |
| 95 | Essentials of Economics | Paul Krugman, Robin Wells and M.Olney. | Economics Help |
| 96 | Experimental Economics: Rethinking the Rules | Nicholas Bardsley, Robin Cubitt, Graham Loomes, Peter Moffatt, Chris Starmer & Robert Sugden | Wikipedia |
| 97 | Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt | Michael Lewis | Goodreads |
| 98 | Fooled | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Goodreads |
| 99 | Foundations of Economic Analysis | Paul A. Samuelson | Wikipedia |
| 100 | Free to Choose: A Personal Statement | Milton Friedman | Goodreads |
| 101 | Game theory | Theory of Games and Economic Behavior | Wikipedia |
| 102 | General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money | John Maynard Keynes | Wikipedia |
| 103 | Global Finance at Risk: The Case for International Regulation | John Eatwell; Lance Taylor | List Muse |
| 104 | Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization | Branko Milanovic | List Muse |
| 105 | Globalization and Its Discontents | Joseph Stiglitz | List Muse |
| 106 | Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System | Barry Eichengreen | List Muse |
| 107 | Grand Pursuit: The Story of the People Who Made Modern Economics | Sylvia Nasar | Five Books |
| 108 | Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth since the Eighteenth Century | Peter H. Lindert | List Muse |
| 109 | Hall of Mirrors | Barry Eichengreen | Independent |
| 110 | Handbook of Econometrics | Griliches, Zvi and Intrigilator, M. D. | Wikipedia |
| 111 | Handbook of Health Economics | Culyer AJ. and Newhouse JP. | Wikipedia |
| 112 | Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life | David Friedman | Five Books |
| 113 | HIGH-PROFIT PROSPECTING: POWERFUL STRATEGIES TO FIND THE BEST LEADS AND DRIVE BREAKTHROUGH SALES RESULTS | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 114 | How Europe Underdeveloped Africa | Walter Rodney | List Muse |
| 115 | How Rich Countries Got Rich and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor | Erik S. Reinert | List Muse |
| 116 | Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education | Gary S. Becker | Wikipedia |
| 117 | In Fed We Trust | Farnam Street | |
| 118 | Individualism and Economic Order | Friedrich Hayek | List Muse |
| 119 | John Maynard Keynes | Hyman Minsky | List Muse |
| 120 | Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases | Tversky, A., and D. Kahneman. | Wikipedia |
| 121 | Keynes – The Return of the Master | Robert Skidelsky | Economics Help |
| 122 | Late Capitalism | Ernest Mandel | List Muse |
| 123 | Lessons from the Great Depression | Peter Temin | List Muse |
| 124 | Lives of the Laureates | Farnam Street | |
| 125 | Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century | Michael Albert; Robin Hahnel | List Muse |
| 126 | Machine Dreams: Economics Becomes a Cyborg Science | Philip Mirowski | List Muse |
| 127 | Macroeconomics | William J. Baumol; Alan S. Blinder | List Muse |
| 128 | Mad Money: When Markets Outgrow Governments | Susan Strange | List Muse |
| 129 | MAKERS AND TAKERS: THE RISE OF FINANCE AND THE FALL OF AMERICAN BUSINESS | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 130 | Man, Economy, and State | Murray Rothbard | The Top Tens |
| 131 | Managerial economics | Png, Ivan | Wikipedia |
| 132 | Manfacturing Miracles : Paths of Industrialization in Latin America and East Asia | Gary Gereffi; Donald L. Wyman | List Muse |
| 133 | Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises | Charles P. Kindleberger | List Muse |
| 134 | Microeconomics | William J. Baumol; Alan S. Blinder | List Muse |
| 135 | Mishkin Economics of Money | Ezvid | |
| 136 | MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975 | Chalmers Johnson | List Muse |
| 137 | Mobile Capital and Latin American Development | James E. Mahon | List Muse |
| 138 | Monetary Economics: An Integrated Approach to Credit, Money, Income, Production and Wealth | Wynne Godley; Marc Lavoie | List Muse |
| 139 | Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible | William Goetzmann | Five Books |
| 140 | Money: The Unauthorized Biography | Felix Martin | List Muse |
| 141 | Monopoly Capital | Paul A. Baran; Paul Sweezy | List Muse |
| 142 | Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life | Samuel Bowles; Herbert Gintis; Ernst Fehr | List Muse |
| 143 | More Guns, Less Crime | John R. Lott, Jr. | The Top Tens |
| 144 | New Ideas from Dead Economists | Todd G. Buchholz | NPR |
| 145 | Nicholas Kaldor: The Economics and Politics of Capitalism as a Dynamic System | Ferdinando Targetti | List Muse |
| 146 | Nickel and Dimed: On | Barbara Ehrenreich | Goodreads |
| 147 | Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness | Farnam Street | |
| 148 | On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817. | Online version | Wikipedia |
| 149 | Other People’s Money | John Kay | Independent |
| 150 | Outliers: The Story of Success | Malcolm Gladwell | Goodreads |
| 151 | Peddling Prosperity | Farnam Street | |
| 152 | Planned Chaos | Ludwig von Mises | The Top Tens |
| 153 | Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy | Dean Baker | American University |
| 154 | Policy Evaluation: A Critique | Lucas, Robert E. Junior | Wikipedia |
| 155 | Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty | Abhijit V. Banerjee | Goodreads |
| 156 | Population, Capital, and Growth: Selected Essays | Simon Kuznets | List Muse |
| 157 | Portfolio Theory | Harry Markowitz | Wikipedia |
| 158 | Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions | Dan Ariely | Goodreads |
| 159 | Principles of Economics (Marshall) | Alfred Marshall | Wikipedia |
| 160 | Principles of Political Economy and Taxation | David Ricardo | Wikipedia |
| 161 | Principles of Political Economy: and Chapters on Socialism | John Stuart Mill | List Muse |
| 162 | Profiting Without Producing: How Finance Exploits Us All | Costas Lapavitsas | List Muse |
| 163 | Progress and Poverty | Henry George | Wikipedia |
| 164 | Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk | Kahneman, D., and A. Tversky. | Wikipedia |
| 165 | Prosperity without Growth | Tim Jackson | List Muse |
| 166 | Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx | Adrian Nicole LeBlanc | NPR |
| 167 | Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets | Goodreads | |
| 168 | Schooling, Experience, and Earnings | Jacob Mincer | Wikipedia |
| 169 | SIMPLIFY: HOW THE BEST BUSINESSES IN THE WORLD SUCCEED | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 170 | Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered | E. F. Schumacher | List Muse |
| 171 | Social Limits to Growth | Fred Hirsch | List Muse |
| 172 | Socialism | Ludwig von Mises | The Top Tens |
| 173 | Spin-Free Economics | Farnam Street | |
| 174 | States and the Reemergence of Global Finance: From Bretton Woods to the 1990s | Eric Helleiner | List Muse |
| 175 | Stone Age Economics | Marshall Sahlins | List Muse |
| 176 | Sunk costs and industry structure | Sutton | Wikipedia |
| 177 | Super Imperialism | Michael Hudson | List Muse |
| 178 | SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance | Steven D. Levitt | Goodreads |
| 179 | The Anti-Capitalist Mentality | Ludwig von Mises | The Top Tens |
| 180 | The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable | Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Goodreads |
| 181 | The Cartoon Introduction to Economics | Farnam Street | |
| 182 | The Communist Manifesto | Karl Marx | Goodreads |
| 183 | The Contenders | The Top Tens | |
| 184 | The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916 | Martin J. Sklar | List Muse |
| 185 | The Cultural Contradictions Of Capitalism | Daniel Bell | List Muse |
| 186 | The Economic Emergence of Women | Barbara Bergmann | List Muse |
| 187 | The Economics of Climate Change | Nicholas Stern | List Muse |
| 188 | The Economics of Health and Health Care | Folland S., Goodman AC. and Stano M. | Wikipedia |
| 189 | The Economics of Welfare | Arthur Cecil Pigou | Wikipedia |
| 190 | The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics | Farnam Street | |
| 191 | The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking and the Future of the Global Economy | Mervyn King | Independent |
| 192 | The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths | Mariana Mazzucato | List Muse |
| 193 | The Essential Gunnar Myrdal | Gunnar Myrdal | List Muse |
| 194 | The Euro | Joseph Stiglitz | Independent |
| 195 | THE EVERYTHING ECONOMICS BOOK: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE, YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS TODAY | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 196 | The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development | Sara Roy | List Muse |
| 197 | The Global Minotaur | Yanis Varoufakis | List Muse |
| 198 | The Globalization of Inequality | François Bourguignon, trans Thomas Scott-Railton | Independent |
| 199 | The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience | Stephen A. Marglin; Juliet B. Schor | List Muse |
| 200 | THE GREAT SURGE: THE ASCENT OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 201 | THE GREEN AND THE BLACK: THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE SHALE REVOLUTION, THE FIGHT OVER FRACKING, AND THE FUTURE OF ENERGY | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 202 | The Handbook of Experimental Economics | Kagel, J. H. and Roth, A. E. | Wikipedia |
| 203 | The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons from Japan’s Great Recession | Richard C. Koo | List Muse |
| 204 | The Intelligent Investor | Benjamin Graham | Goodreads |
| 205 | The Joyless Economy: The Psychology of Human Satisfaction | Tibor Scitovsky | List Muse |
| 206 | The Last Phase in Transformation | Michal Kalecki | List Muse |
| 207 | The Law | Bastiat | The Top Tens |
| 208 | The Limits of Organization | Kenneth Arrow | List Muse |
| 209 | The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World | Greg Ip | NPR |
| 210 | The Logic of International Restructuring | Winfried Ruigrok; Rob van Tulder | List Muse |
| 211 | The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World | Tim Harford | Goodreads |
| 212 | The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe | Michael J. Hogan | List Muse |
| 213 | The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else | Hernando de Soto | Goodreads |
| 214 | THE MYTH OF THE RATIONAL MARKET: A HISTORY OF RISK, REWARD, AND DELUSION ON WALL STREET | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 215 | The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Politics | Farnam Street | |
| 216 | The Origins of Money | Carl Menger | The Top Tens |
| 217 | The Origins of Nonliberal Capitalism: Germany and Japan in Comparison | Wolfgang Streeck; Kozo Yamamura | List Muse |
| 218 | The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments For Capitalism Before Its Triumph | Albert O. Hirschman | List Muse |
| 219 | The Power to Compete | Hiroshi Mikitani and Ryoichi Mikitani | Independent |
| 220 | The Predator State | James K. Galbraith | List Muse |
| 221 | The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future | Joseph E. Stiglitz | Goodreads |
| 222 | The pricing of options and corporate liabilities | Fischer Black and Myron Scholes | Wikipedia |
| 223 | The Rise and Decline of Nations | Mancur Olson | List Muse |
| 224 | The Rise and Fall of American Growth | Robert Gordon | Independent |
| 225 | THE RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS: FORCES OF CHANGE IN THE POST-CRISIS WORLD 1ST EDITION | Wall Street Mojo | |
| 226 | The Rise of the Western World | Douglass C. North; Robert Paul Thomas | List Muse |
| 227 | The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism | Naomi Klein | Goodreads |
| 228 | The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail – But Some Don’t | Nate Silver | Goodreads |
| 229 | The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger | Richard G. Wilkinson; Kate Pickett | List Muse |
| 230 | The Standard Error of Regressions | Deirdre McCloskey and Stephen T. Ziliak | Wikipedia |
| 231 | The theory of Industrial Organisation | Tirole, Jean | Wikipedia |
| 232 | The Theory of Money and Credit | Ludwig von Mises | The Top Tens |
| 233 | The Theory of the Leisure Class | Thorstein Veblen | List Muse |
| 234 | The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism | Gosta Esping-Andersen | List Muse |
| 235 | The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference | Malcolm Gladwell | Goodreads |
| 236 | The Truth About Markets: Why Some Nations are Rich But Most Remain Poor | John Kay | Five Books |
| 237 | The Unbound Prometheus | David S. Landes | List Muse |
| 238 | The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century | Thomas L. Friedman | Goodreads |
| 239 | Theories of Value and Distribution since Adam Smith | Maurice Dobb | List Muse |
| 240 | Theory of Games and Economic Behavior | John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern | Wikipedia |
| 241 | Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens | Nicholas Shaxson | List Muse |
| 242 | Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care | Kenneth Arrow | Wikipedia |
| 243 | Varieties of Capitalism | Peter A. Hall; David Soskice | List Muse |
| 244 | Who Runs Britain?: And Who’s to Blame for the Economic Mess We’re in | Robert Peston | Economics Help |
| 245 | Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty | Daron Acemoğlu | Goodreads |
13 Best Economic Book Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| American University | Must Read Books for Aspiring Economists |
| Economics Help | Recommended Reading for economic students |
| Ezvid | The 10 Best Economics Textbooks |
| Farnam Street | Greg Mankiw Recommends Reading These 18 Economics Books |
| Five Books | Tim Harford recommends the best Introductions to Economics |
| Goodreads | Popular Economics Books |
| Independent | 10 best economics books |
| List Muse | The 100 Best Economics Books of All Time |
| NPR | Must-Read Economics |
| TFE Times | 10 Best Economics Books of All Time |
| The Top Tens | Best Economics Books |
| Wall Street Mojo | Top 10 Best Economics Books |
| Wikipedia | List of important publications in economics |
