I hope to read some non-Austrian economics texts the coming year. So can you all give me your suggestions?
I have read only three non-Austrian economics texts namely: ‘Principles of Economics’; ‘Macroeconomics’ by Gregory Mankiw and ‘Principles of Macroeconomics’ by Joseph Nellis & David Parker.
Can I ask… why? lol
The light must know the dark to establish itself.
I think Conza is being tongue-in-cheek, if not then I’ll point out it’s worth having a rounded view, and considering alternatives, even if one eventually ends up at the Austrian “position”
Obviously we consider Bastiat and Say as “proto-Austrians”, but of course they wrote before the Austrian School existed, so anything by them is good classical stuff. I have heard people recommend Thomas Sowell as a non-Austrian, although I haven’t read anything by him as of yet.
Simply because other schools of economic thought are ‘incorrect’ does not mean we should shy away from them. If anything, we should and must read up on non-Austrian economic schools, if only to improve our ability to counter their assertions. We may not agree with Lord Keynes’ General Theory, but we can’t deny its influence (however regrettable). We may not be fans of Adm Smith and his Wealth of Nations, but how seriously will we be taken if we haven’t read him up at least once?
Hmm, or perhaps he just needs some reading material to fall asleep to.
Edit: As to avoid being a repeat of earlier posts; I really do recommend reading Wealth of Nations and General Theory. If you’re really feeling fanciful, try Karlie’s Kapital. This is assuming you simply wish to learn about other schools of economic thought for the sake of rebutting them later on.
Why re-enter the dark, when it has already been sufficiently exposed?
I dunno… I guess it’s a personal preference. I know you love to read the Marxists… hehe. I guess someone has to do it right? I consider it torture, so I’d prefer to read already written apt criticisms from an Austrian perspective if they exist. Two birds with one stone. I learn from the dark, and are provided with the light at the same time.
Mostly [:P]
Good ole Bastiat. Has anyone got his Collections, from the Mises store? I am tempted.
Who said or implied we should?
My now explicit point is, I believe it would be more worthwhile / efficient to read “The Failure of the New Economics”, than Keynes “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money”.
“Nobody should believe that he will find in Smith’s Wealth of Nations information about present-day economics or about present-day problems of economic policy. Reading Smith is no more a substitute for studying economics than reading Euclid is a substitute for the study of mathematics.”
~ Ludwig von Mises, Economic Freedom and Interventionism, p. 117
“The problem is that he originated nothing that was true, and that whatever he originated was wrong; that, even in an age that had fewer citations or footnotes than our own, Adam Smith was a shameless plagiarist, acknowledging little or nothing and stealing large chunks, for example, from Cantillon.”
~ Murray N. Rothbard, Chapter 16 - An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought
… Anyone who takes Adam Smith seriously, I don’t take seriously. lol
How about Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk’s “Karl Marx and the Close of His System” instead?
Guys, I didn’t ask for yet another debate.[:P]
And the list now goes like this:
General Theory - J.M. Keynes
Wealth Of Nations - Adam Smith
Das Kapital - Karl Marx
Please add in more!
PS. Which work of Thomas Sowell do people recommend?
Not to sound rude, but I’m still wondering why. How versed in the Austrian Economics are you?
Do you merely want an alternate perspective… or do you want something to apply Austrian methodology (praxeology) to, and read the works to then come up with your own refutations of them?
Here’s the mother load:
Principles of Economics, Brief Edition by Robert Frank, Ben Bernanke (Time’s Man of the Year 2009)
[:|]
Edit:
Haha ok. Have fun then. [Y]
You don’t sound rude. Don’t worry. I’ve read something like around 45 to 50 books from this webpage, including the two major treatises. I want to read mainstream books to get more perspecdtives. From the three mainstream texts I’ve read, I’ve been able to point out to many faults, and it’s interesting to write critiques on them.
Bernanke added to the list[:)]
I don’t think Thomas Sowell is a complete non-Austrian: his 'Knowledge and Decisions’ is a better Hayekian book than Hayek himself ever wrote. I keep advising it to everyone: read this book. It’s a really, really good book.
Anyway: I’m one of those people who reads non-Austrian stuff, especially Marxists works. It helps to get a clearer view why Marxists don’t immediatly change their view when you explain the subjective theory of value, capital theory, etc.
Any way: Rothbard’s opinion on Adam Smith isn’t the alpha and omega. Even if everything what Rothbard accuses Smith of is true, then it is stil worth reading parts of it - weren’t it for the fact that he writes incredibly boring and difficult [for a non native Englishspeaker as myself, that is.]
Marshall’s his principles of economics might be a book worth adding to the list.
Would Milton Friedman’s book, Monetary History of US, be a good one?
Even for native English speaker, it is boring and difficult.
That is how I feel about economics. I will probably never read Keynes General Theory. It just doesn’t ‘wow’ me. The most in depth I will go into economics is probably MES [ in terms of theory, in terms of history I love the subject ]. Granted that is more in depth then most [ I think ]. I just like kooky people like socialists and utopian thinkers.
Yes, this is one of the most important books on the topics ever written. Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom is important, as well. There are plenty of non-Austrian free-market texts on globalization and such, which are all very important if you’re interested in the topic.
Some books I would personally recommend are (and they’re not all exclusively about economics):
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
The Lucifer Effect by Phil Zimbardo
Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner
The Mind of the Market by Michael Shermer
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Filters Against Folly by Garrett Hardin
Pretty much anything by Thomas Sowell
Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Mackay
Against the Gods the Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein
I know these aren’t all strictly economic texts but I think they explore human behavior in a way that has been crucial for me in my studies of politics, economics and philosophy.
Resist your urge to go after the great classics of non-Austrian economics too early. Avoid the Wealth of Nations and the General Theory for now. Instead, go after books that are simpler and will actually help you better appreciate those books when you’re ready.
Which books should you read? Depends on your area of interest.
Macro:
The Return of Depression Economics by Paul Krugman - I have not read the latest edition, but the first edition was a turning point in my sophmore year for understanding old-school Keynesian macro. I feel like it gave me a leg up in understanding the material in intermediate macro. Extra bonus, its incredibley short so its a super fast read.
International Econ:
Pop Internationalism by Paul Krugman - Great read. I did not learn much extra from this book that I didn’t get from my international econ class (specifically Krugman’s International Economics textbook). But it is still worth having around. Great defenses of free trade.
Economic Georgraphy:
The Self Organizing Economy by Paul Krugman - this is a good introduction of economic geography, but it also has interesting discussions on economic intellectual history, chaos theory, and bunches of other stuff.
lol I hope you notice a pattern here. 
For popular reading in economics, its hard to beat Paul Krugman. And because Mises.org has a front-page article today blasting PK, I thought I would really sell my love for the guy.
If you refuse to read Krugman but want a good mainstream econ book, check out Micromotives and Macrobehaviors by Nobel prize winning economist Thomas Schelling. This book will satisfy you on most every level. In terms of breadth, Schelling covers just about everything–game theory, economic geography, micro, macro, and beyond. But it isn’t just a survey book. You should really give it a shot.
If you want to get a good idea of what Institutionalists throw about, then read Amartya Sen who is their leader today; but you must really be a tolerant person to sit through his rants about the injustice of the market (the old ‘grinding the poor’ nonsense).
Honestly, however, there’s not enough time in the world to read all the rubbish that has been written. Read good books:
George Selgin’s: Good Money. Buy it.
David Landes’: Revolution in Time. Rare.
David Landes’: Bankers and Pashas. Rare.
Karl Wittfogel’s: Oriental Despotism. (Actually the title is misleading, as he goes from China to other societies; it’s a joke on Marx’s misuse of the term.) Very rare book, however. Very powerful. No marxist except Wittfogel has ever did a double turn and concluded, as Wittfogel does, that liberty must not only be defended with a sword, but with an axe [his words].
Ettiene Balaz’: Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy is a winner.
David Landes’: What do Bosses Really Do? This is article, Landes’s response to an incredibly idiotic essay by an economic historian in his department (Economic history at Harvard). Quickly break all historical myths advanced since 1970’s by pro-socialist American historians.
Yves Guyot’s essays.
Rosenstien-Rodan’s: The Role of Time in Economic Theory. Article.
John Craig’s: Remarks on Political Economy. Rare.
Hermann Gossen’s: Laws of Human Relations. 1983 translation. Great translation, but skip the long intro, because the buddy of the translator dislikes Menger enough to twist interpretations. Very rare.
[These are histories written by people living under communism:
Jung Chang’s: Wild Swans.
Nien Chang’s: Life and Death in Shanghai.
Anatoly Kuznetov’s Babi Yar. Very rare. Soviet Union border 1917-1960. Definite companion for ready any economic comparison of Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.]
Mainstream:
Friedman - A Monetary History of the United States
Stiglitz - Making Globalization Work
Mankiew - Principles of Economics
Solow - Linear Programming and Economic Analysis
Lucas - Rational Expectations and Econometric Practice
Samuelson - The Foundations of Economic Analysis
Heterodox (excluding Austrian economists, of course):