Karen in StL Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I am looking for a good book to explain the different aspects of the US economy. Not a textbook, just a book that explains it in easily understandable terms. Topics like: explaining debt, recession, value of money... Unfortunately, this would be as much for me as for my ds! Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 My son likes Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics. . . . Depending on what "flavor" you like, RC Sproul Jr. has a new video series out, called Economics for Everyone. It's pretty good as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 My DD enjoyed "Economics for Dummies". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in StL Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thanks for both of you! I will definitely check them out. Any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 The Cartoon Guide to Economics has really good explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pammy Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 to Economics are my favorites! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I'm still struggling with this. Sowell is something like 640 pages. I cannot imagine my kid getting through that. Stuff from Bluestocking press tends to be of a particular political slant, and I'm really trying to avoid politics for a basic economics course. It's interesting to get into how people use economics to support one or another political view at some point, but I'd rather have something more unbiased at the beginning. I don't want to have spend all my time explaining how this or that might not be true, it's just that this or that political side likes to think it is. I'd like some math and graphs. Seems like it would be impossible to do without that. Actually, I'd like something that's supported by actual data and studies (which is why I'd rather avoid the politically tinged versions). We tried a lecture series at Berkeley. It was mostly incomprehensible. I don't know if most of the teaching was actually going on in the recitation sections with the TA's. We might prefer to do it as a lecture series, but I still haven't found one that works. I've had terrible luck with the "for Dummies" series in trying to learn anything, so I'm not thrilled with that option either. We tried Khan Academy. He took forever to get to the point, without really explaining much of anything. (I don't like his math lectures either. I can really explain things a lot better myself when it comes to math, but I don't know anything about econ.) So, any other ideas? I'm actually about to throw in the towel on economics. My oldest daughter is taking an economics/psychology course at college, and she isn't learning a darn thing. The professor either doesn't know the material? Or isn't able to explain it? Or doesn't think it's important? I don't really know WHAT the issue is. They're not even using a text book, or I might use that book with my younger daughter. I could get into my rant about fluffy college courses, but I think I'm going to let that go for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 It is a text book. It is rooted in the 'Austrian' school of economic thought. It is understandable. http://mises.org/document/5706/Lessons-for-the-Young-Economist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I'm looking these up, but all the suggestions seem to be from a right wing political philosophy. I'd rather have something with either no political philosophy (maybe impossible in economics) or something that considers both sides without siding with either. Is there nothing like this around? I'll look into the Cartoon Guide as it seems it might be the least biased source. However, we haven't had the best luck with cartoon type things before. They tend to oversimplify. Maybe this will be an exception? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 There is a big difference in length between the 1st and 3rd Ed of Sowells Basic Economics. See if your library has a copy of the older edition. It's closer to 300 pages. I would take the questions from the back of the 3rd edition and use the 1st edition text. The Federal Reserve Bank has educational stuff online. Sometimes you have to look at the individual Reserve Bank sites. Get a subscription to The Economist or to Wall Street Journal and skim them. After a while a lot of the concepts will take real form. I think you can get either with an Ed discount or use airline miles. The Accidental Economist had good case studies. Freakonomics Radio podcasts are also interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 The Ascent of Money isn't a straight Econ text but it is a great read. I wouldn't call it left or right wing but bare knuckled toward corruption which he found came in many political flavored. Michael Lewis has some incredible books about the financial crisis. Boomerang was a very quick read to put the European crisis in perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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