Request for book suggestions
An economics professor and long-time reader of the Door is requesting book suggestions. Post 'em in the comments, or e-mail me. Here's his request:
For my class blog this spring I want to feature "good news" book reviews. The general idea is to review books that dispel pessimism with regard to the economy and economic growth. I will probably do one of these per week for the students.
Here is what I have so far:
1. Myths of Rich and Poor, by Cox and Alm
2. The Progress Paradox, by Easterbrook
3. It’s Getting Better all the Time, By Moore and Simon
4. The Improving State of the World, by Goklany
5. The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, by Fogel
6. The Skeptical Environmentalist by Lomborg
7. The State of Humanity, by Simon
"The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression" by Amity Shlaes.
Shlaes says that if the government had done nothing after the 1929 crash, there would have been only a two year recession followed by another economic boom.
The Great Depression was caused by government actions of high tariffs, raised income tax rates, wage and price controls, and rich bashing.
The good news is that severe recessions and depressions can be easily prevented by not electing Democrats.
Posted by: Jake | December 26, 2007 at 07:20 AM
Maybe "A Farewell to Alms" by Greg Clark. Some time next year, there will be "Economics 2.0" by myself and Nick Schulz. My guess is that Don Boudreaux's new book, "Globalization," which just came out and I have not read, is on target.
Posted by: Arnold Kling | December 26, 2007 at 09:40 AM
The Friedmans' 'Two Lucky People'.
Posted by: Patrick R. Sullivan | December 26, 2007 at 01:00 PM
The Future and Its Enemies : The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress by Virginia Postrel
The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness by Virginia Postrel
Posted by: Ken | December 26, 2007 at 01:03 PM
Don't forget the old standby, "Free to Choose." and for the economic illiterates, there is Basic Economics, and Advanced Economics by Thomas Sowell.
Posted by: kyle N | December 26, 2007 at 06:06 PM
The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America 1900-2000 by Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks, Ben J. Wattenberg
Posted by: Mark | December 26, 2007 at 06:33 PM
Here are the books I've been through recently:
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/search/label/books
Posted by: Chris Meisenzahl | December 26, 2007 at 08:39 PM
Not just book but could be of a good use
http://www.gapminder.org/ - a project dedicated to develop graphs on world economic statistics
Posted by: Sergey Kurdakov | January 02, 2008 at 08:35 AM
The blockquoted section of this post is in a column one word wide on my monitor. Most blogs do OK at 800x600, but this one doesn't.
Posted by: Noumenon | January 02, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Science and technology books are often a good bet for optimistic views. At the least, they often have the tone of "gee-whiz, look what we're figuring out".
But you seem to be looking for economics books, so I won't bother to dig up specific references...
Posted by: Adam Ricketson | January 02, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Small is Beautiful.
Walden
Posted by: Barr | January 02, 2008 at 08:45 PM
"The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan. The economic history of the US for the last 30 years plus a primer on modern economic theory.
Posted by: jorod | January 03, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman.
The Mystery of Capital by De Soto.
The Road to Serfdom by Hyek.
Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy by Schumpeter.
Freedom from Fear by Kennedy. The depression.
Between Two Fires by Large. Social and political history of Europe in 1930s.
Only Yesterday by Fred Allen. Economic, Political and social history of US in 1920s.
The Future of Freedom by Zakaria.
Atlas Schrugged by Ayn Rand.
The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlessinger. The economic and political history of the US from Jackson to Lincoln.
The Supreme Court of the United STates by Tomlins. Legal, political, social, and economic history of US as told through landmark law cases.
Posted by: jorod | January 03, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Any Article by Rick Karlgaard at Forbes or Brian Wesbury at First Trust.
Posted by: jorod | January 03, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Also, Hoodwinking the Nation by Simon. You have to smile when you read this.
Posted by: jorod | January 07, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Go back 20 years and read "Passage to a Human World" by Max Singer.
He nailed so many things just by extrapolation - it's close to absurd.
Posted by: Dave Tufte | January 21, 2008 at 11:29 AM