18 Comments
Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

I thought Naked Economics was well written and easy to read.

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Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Thanks. I have read them all down to and including Freakonomics, but not Discover Your Inner Economist (I know Cowen principally through Marginal Revolution, the blog) or below on your list. Also I have read some other writings by these authors.

These are swell books and I want to stay very affirmative. However, none of them presented an axiomatic approach to economics (well, that could hardly be expected) nor answer the precise question I held in abeyance last time, which I therefore reinstate. I can, of course, refresh your memory if you wish it.

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author

No. I'll just offer my regrets. Not sure what you want, and I need to tend to other things now. Perhaps we can pick up the discussion at a later date.

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Perhaps.

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Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Interesting picks, Professor Graboyes. I enjoyed some of Landsburg’s book immensely, especially the suggestion that politicians be held legally liable for their campaign promises.

Some of my favorites include Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction by Morton Davis and Timothy Taylor’s and Randall Bartlett’s Great Courses courses (light, but a useful introduction).

Of course, Professor Sowell’s Basic Economics is a must read.

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Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Thanks again for a great tour of economics. I now have two more titles to pursue, having been a fan of Hazlitt for some time. I’ll also seek out the essays of your famous window.

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Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

What about Thomas Sowell's "Basic Economics" and "Economic Facts and Fallacies?"

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author

Worthy entries. I'm a Sowell fan, but I haven't read either book. Hence, their exclusion.

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Aug 11Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Sadly I took two semesters of economics as a sophomore in 1969-70. The topics so dry and uninspiring I decided to pursue the exciting fields of biology and chemistry. Sadly after college and having read Freedman Hyack did I realise I might have missed something.

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author

Time to take a better course!

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Aug 12Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

I still have my “Armchair Economist” copy from when I took your class ;-)

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author

Good. I’ll be testing you on it soon.

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Aug 12Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

What about Dr. Sowell's Basic Economics?

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author

I’m a big admirer of Sowell, but I’ve never read the book. I only included books I’ve read.

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Aug 13Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Have you seen the video showing a debate between Keynes and Hayek using a rap format? As a student of economics whose readings have included (among many others) “Human Action” by Ludwig von Mises), I found this video to be both entertaining and affirming.

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author

Thanks! I have seen the rap videos. They are enjoyable. Mises’s “Human Action” is an important book, but it’s definitely NOT beach reading. It’s expensive to buy. The hardcover version is over 900 pages. It’s not a friendly read. And it is a dissent AGAINST mainstream economics—disdainful of most of the tools of the trade. It will not give the reader any idea at all what I’ve done with economics over the course of my career.

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Aug 13Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

I agree with you. I guess I was just showing off. Your addenda and readers’ comments included much more salient suggestions. Mine would have been more cerebral, as in ‘nerd’.

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author

Nerd is good. :)

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