Popularising Economics

Economics is known as "the dismal science" – but is most decidedly NOT a science! It has indeed become the new religion – worshipped by policy-makers throughout the world. I've learned to distrust the breed – but they have such a grip on our minds that the only way to counter their evil influence is by penetrating their myths viz by reading up on the nonsense most of them perpetrate.

So I've prepared two lists – the first, some good introductions to the subject. And the second some well-written and more polemical critiques of the discipline

Good Introductory Texts

- Almost Everyone’s Guide to Economics; JK Galbraith and N Salinger (1978) quite inspiring from one of the world's best writers and economists quizzed by a young French woman. I discovered it recently thanks to a great biography of the man by Stephen Dunn.

- Short Circuit – strengthening local economies in an unstable world” - Ronald Douthwaite (1996). Very practical – but also inspirational….almost 30 years on, it hasn’t really been bettered. Full text available at the link

- Debunking Economics – the naked emperor dethroned; Steve Keen (2001 and 2011) Written before the crash. it might be called the first alternative textbook (except it’s much greater fun to read!). Can be read in full.

- Economics for Everyone – a short guide to the economics of capitalism”; Jim Stanford (2006) is a very user-friendly book and has an excellent “further reading” list which was probably the best there was at that time….Once upon a time it was freely available on the internet but now I can find only excerpts…..

- The Economics Book – big ideas simply explained ed Kishtany, Meadway et al 2012 Superbly presented chronogically, with short chapters on every imaginable topic

- Economics – the user’s guide Ha-Joon Chang 2014 probably my favourite - not least because it understands our repugnance about the subject and offers a way of reading the book Also because it accepts that it is not a science; recognises that there are various (very different) perspectives on the subject; and explains each.  

- Credo – economic beliefs in a world of crisis; Brian Davey (2015) An alternative approach to economics which situates it in its cultural and historical context. It may be long (at 500 pages) but is definitely worth persevering with.…

- Economics for the Common Good; Jean Tirole (2017) A Nobel-prizewinner offers a highly readable text – written in short chunks

- Economics in two lessons; John Quiggin (2019) Quiggin is an Australian economist which means a non-nonsense approach

Less introductory – more polemical

- For the Common Good; Herman Daly and John Cobb (1989). The book which inspired a different approach to economics – written by a theologian (Cobb) and Herman Daley who for 6 years was the principal economist of the World Bank. But, by virtue of being a train blazer, not the easiest of reads

- Zombie Economics - how dead ideas still walk among us; by John Quiggin (2010) is a great read – with a self-explanatory title. He is an Australian author currently completing a book called Economics in Two Lessons…

- 23 Things they didn’t tell you about capitalism; Ha Joon-Chang (2010) superbly-written demolition job on the myths perpetrated on us by economists

- The Economics of Enough; Diane Coyle (2011)

- Austerity – the history of a dangerous ides; Mark Blyth (2013) written by a political scientist/political economist, it shows how old theories still affect the contemporary world profoundly

- Economics of the 1% - how mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures reality and distorts policy; John F Weeks (2014) More of a critique but a text which is a must-read. One of the best introductions to the subject - which can't be faulted for being over-diplomatic!

- Vampire Capitalism – fractured societies and alternative futures; Paul Kennedy (2017) Hardly an introductory text and more of a sociological treatment which earns high points by stating in the very first sentence that it has “stood on the shoulders of so many giants that he is dizzy” and then proves the point by having an extensive bibliography with lots of hyperlinks…

- Doughnut economics – 7 ways to think like a 21st century economist; Kate Raworth (2017). This Oxford economist has made quite an impact with this book

- Good Economics for Hard Times Banerjee and Duflo (2019) common sense from a Nobel-prize winning couple

- What's Wrong with economics – a primer for the perplexed; Robert Skidelsky (2020) Skidelsky is the biographer of Keynes and as much an historian as economist. This is less an introductory text and more a polemic