Economics learning recommendations

This page provides subject-specific learning recommendations for the subject economics. See all our learning recommendations pages |

Books for learning

Book	Author	ISBN and purchase links	Price estimate	Why we're recommending it and who we're recommending it for
Introduction to Economics	Preston McAfee and Tracy Smith	ISBN 160049000X, book website	free	In addition to being freely available online, the book has also been highly recommended in a LessWrong thread on the best economics books. It covers all the standard economics topics quite well, and also includes some unusual topics.
Principles of Economics	N. Gregory Mankiw	ISBN 978-1285165875, Amazon hardcover	$250-300 (buy), $75-100 (rent)	The book is a fairly good introduction to economics. Parts of the book have also been published as separate books (microeconomics and macroeconomics). The main drawback is the high price -- if you are able to get a cheap used version, it would be worthwhile. The microeconomics part was highly recommended in a LessWrong thread on the best economics books.
Price theory and applications	Steven E. Landsburg	ISBN 978-0324579932, Amazon hardcover		This is considerably cheaper than Mankiw, and not to different in quality, but is a less standard text.
Economics	Paul Krugman and Robin Wells	ISBN 978-0716771586, Amazon		We don't have inside information on this book.
Economics	Paul Samuelson and William Nordhaus	ISBN 978-0073511290, Amazon		The book is reasonable, but perhaps somewhat outdated. It used to be the standard text before Mankiw came along.

See our economics reading recommendations page. The page also lists good blogs to follow.

Economics Classroom by Jodi Beggs. This is free.
Thinkwell's video course on economics (~$150): This is very good, better than Jodi Beggs, but costly.