Teaching myself economics: course of reading

I would highly recommend "Economics for real people" as a very good and easy to read primer on Austrian economics.... Good news you can  download it here  http://mises.org/books/econforrealpeople.pdf  

The reason I like this book is it starts with one individual on a deserted Island and slowly adds more people to the mix, showing how commerce will develop, methods of trade etc etc...It provides a simple and logical basis to understanding  the importance of decision making and human actions. I read the book in 2 days and could not put it down once I started.

Make sure to get a thorough read of Shumpeter's History of Economic Analysis.

 

You also need to look into econometrics to know how to get MOST of the Bullshit out of data - and it will help you increase your cynical thinking skills. My text was the Barreto Howland book which I thought did a great job as it had lots of excel models.

after i finish reading radicals for capitalism, i'm going to read ayn rand's capitalism: the unknown ideal. once i get that out of the way, i'm going to read economics in one lesson by henry hazlitt, and then i'll read an introduction to austrian economics, by thomas c. taylor. who knows what i'll be ready for after that, but i definitely have human action, man, economy & state, and the road to serfdom in my crosshares. but i don't think i'm quite at that level yet, so i'm going to keep it simple. this is just my economics list, though. plenty of other classics need to be read. the first non-economic book on my list is going to be for a new liberty, by rothbard.

edit - that economics for real people looks promising. perhaps i'll throw it in there between the taylor intro and mises/rothbard/hayek epic classics.

compromised:

after i finish reading radicals for capitalism, i'm going to read ayn rand's capitalism: the unknown ideal. once i get that out of the way, i'm going to read economics in one lesson by henry hazlitt, and then i'll read an introduction to austrian economics, by thomas c. taylor. who knows what i'll be ready for after that, but i definitely have human action, man, economy & state, and the road to serfdom in my crosshares. but i don't think i'm quite at that level yet, so i'm going to keep it simple. this is just my economics list, though. plenty of other classics need to be read. the first non-economic book on my list is going to be for a new liberty, by rothbard.

edit - that economics for real people looks promising. perhaps i'll throw it in there between the taylor intro and mises/rothbard/hayek epic classics.

The Road to Serfdom isn't really an economics book, per se. It is more about the political ramifications of central planning and the damage it causes to human civilization by crippling the price system and concentrating power. Human Action is pretty heavy, if you haven't already done reading in economics I wouldn't recommend it (although the new study guide that just came out might remedy the situation).

I recall debating a socialist who insisted it is an economics book, after informing me Karl Polanyi had "refuted" it. Where he got that idea from is beyond me. Hayek's book was the second Austrian book I read after DTGTF, and it definitely was more a treatise (warning even) on political economy and not economics.

I honestly think reading through the Mises University reading list is a good place to start:

http://mises.org/misesuniv.asp

Especially:

An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas Taylor

What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray N. Rothbard

Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth by Ludwig von Mises

I read them all twice over the summer but I think I'm going to read them again!!!!!!

Start with Callahan's book , then I advise Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, Menger's PoE, Hoppe's Economic Science and the Austrian Method, Rothbard's MES&PM, Hoppe's A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism, Hoppe's D:TGTF, Mises' The Anticapitalist Mentality, Mises' Socialism, Huerta de Soto's Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles. And then perhaps some works by Bohm Bawerk and Hayek on structure of Capital.

If you are an Eco major I would suggest:

Intermediate macro and micro as well as international economics and political economics.

Other great books I have found are "Capitalism and Freedom" "Good Capitalism...Bad Capitalism"