Why Economics Matters
Economics is the study of choice under scarcity. It examines how individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make decisions about allocating resources, and helps us understand everything from prices and trade to inequality and growth.
Key Areas
Microeconomics
- Supply and Demand
- Market Structures & Competition
- Consumer Behavior
- Pricing & Elasticity
- Game Theory
Macroeconomics
- GDP & Economic Growth
- Inflation & Deflation
- Unemployment
- Monetary & Fiscal Policy
- International Trade
Essential Reading
Classic Economics
- "The Wealth of Nations" - Adam Smith (1776)
- "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" - David Ricardo (1817)
- "The Road to Serfdom" - F.A. Hayek (1944)
- "A Monetary History of the United States" - Milton Friedman & Anna Schwartz (1963)
- "The Calculus of Consent" - James Buchanan & Gordon Tullock (1962)
- "Basic Economics" - Thomas Sowell (2000)
Modern Perspectives
- "Freakonomics" - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (2005)
- "The Undercover Economist" - Tim Harford (2006)
- "Poor Economics" - Banerjee & Duflo (2011)
- "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" - Thomas Piketty (2013)
- "Good Economics for Hard Times" - Banerjee & Duflo (2019)
Behavioral Economics
- "Nudge" - Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein (2008)
- "Thinking, Fast and Slow" - Daniel Kahneman (2011)
- "Misbehaving" - Richard Thaler (2015)
Economic Schools of Thought
Classical Economics
Key figures: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill
Free markets, invisible hand, comparative advantage
Austrian Economics
Key figures: Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Carl Menger
Methodological individualism, spontaneous order, subjective value theory
Keynesian Economics
Key figure: John Maynard Keynes
Government intervention, aggregate demand management
Monetarism
Key figure: Milton Friedman
Money supply control, limited government intervention
Behavioral Economics
Key figures: Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler
Psychology meets economics, irrational behavior
Important Concepts
Fundamental Ideas
- Opportunity Cost: The cost of the next best alternative foregone
- Comparative Advantage: Specialization based on relative efficiency
- Marginal Analysis: Decisions made at the margin
- Externalities: Costs or benefits affecting third parties
- Market Failure: When markets don't allocate resources efficiently
- Tragedy of the Commons: Depletion of shared resources
Resources & Learning
Podcasts
- Planet Money (NPR)
- Freakonomics Radio
- EconTalk with Russ Roberts
- The Indicator from Planet Money
Online Resources
- Marginal Revolution (blog)
- The Economist magazine
- Khan Academy Economics
- NBER Working Papers
Current Economic Topics
- Income inequality and wealth distribution
- Climate change economics
- Cryptocurrency and digital currencies
- Universal Basic Income (UBI)
- Automation and the future of work
- Globalization and trade policy
- Healthcare economics