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The 100 Best Economics Books of All TIme

The 100 Best Economics Books of All Time list includes works by many of the great economists along

with many leading books on major issues in the field. The list is for those with a serious interest in

economics, but not necessarily for economics professionals; it contains some books on the principles

of economics, but is light on theory, focussing on more readable texts. The list has a strong focus on

international economics and the financial crash of 2008. It covers a wide range of ideologies, featuring

the likes of Adam Smith, Schumpeter and Hayek, and Keynes, Marx and Kropotkin.

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StumbleUpon 6

1. The Wealth of Nations

By Adam Smith

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was recognized as a landmark of human thought upon its

publication in 1776. As the first scientific argument for the principles of political economy, it is the

point of departure for all subsequent economic thought. Smith's theories of capital accumulation,

growth, and ... More

2. Capital

By Karl Marx

This 1867 studyone of the most influential documents of modern timeslooks at the relationship

between labor and value, the role of money, and the conflict between the classes. More

3. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

By John Maynard Keynes

In 1936 Keynes published the most provocative book written by any economist of his generation.

Arguments about the book continued until his death in 1946 and still continue today. This new edition,

published 70 years after the original, features a new introduction by Paul Krugman which discusses

the ... More

4. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time

By Karl Polanyi

In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and

social changes brought about by the "great transformation" of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis

explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social

consequences of untempered market ... More

5. Globalization and Its Discontents

By Joseph Stiglitz

This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial

institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. When it was first published, this

national bestseller quickly became a touchstone in the globalization debate. Renowned economist and

Nobel Prize ... More

6. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

By Joseph A. Schumpeter

In this definitive third and final edition (1950) of his masterwork, Joseph A. Schumpeter introduced

the world to the concept of creative destruction, which forever altered how global economics is

approached and perceived. Now featuring a new introduction by Schumpeter biographer Thomas K.

McCraw, Capitalism, Socialism and ... More

7. The Conquest of Bread

By Peter Kropotkin

The Conquest of Bread is Peter Kropotkin's most detailed description of the ideal society, embodying

anarchist communism, and of the social revolution that was to achieve it. Marshall Shatz's introduction

to this edition traces Kropotkin's evolution as an anarchist, from his origins in the Russian aristocracy

to his ... More

8. The Theory of the Leisure Class

By Thorstein Veblen

In his scathing The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen produced a landmark study of

affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste

that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behavior. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary

process sees greed as ... More

9. The Affluent Society

By John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith's classic investigation of private wealth and public poverty in postwar

America With customary clarity, eloquence, and humor, Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith

gets at the heart of what economic security means in The Affluent Society. Warning against individual

and societal complacence about economic inequity, ... More

10. The Road to Serfdom

By Friedrich Hayek

An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics,

The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a

century. Originally published in 1944when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and

Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and ... More

11. Development as Freedom

By Amartya Sen

By the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Economics, an essential and paradigm-altering framework

for understanding economic development--for both rich and poor--in the twenty-first century.

Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the

key to securing the general welfare of ... More

12. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

By Max Weber

Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of

Capitalism, first published in 1904, remains to this day a powerful and fascinating read. Weber's highly

accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the

Protestant ... More

13. The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger

By Kate Pickett; Richard G. Wilkinson

It is a well-established fact that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from

almost every social problem. The Spirit Level, based on thirty years of research, takes this truth a step

further. One common factor links the healthiest and happiest societies: the degree ... More

14. The Worldly Philosophers

By Robert L. Heilbroner

The bestselling classic that examines the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to Karl Marx

all the economic lore most general readers conceivably could want to know, served up with a flourish

(The New York Times).The Worldly Philosophers not only enables us to see more deeply ... More

15. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism

By Ha-Joon Chang

Lucid, deeply informed, and enlivened with striking illustrations, this penetrating study could be

entitled Economics in the Real World. Chang reveals the yawning gap between standard doctrines

concerning economic development and what really has taken place from the origins of the industrial

revolution until today. His incisive analysis ... More

16. Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes

By Paul Bairoch

Paul Bairoch sets the record straight on twenty commonly held myths about economic history. Among

these are that free trade and population growth have historically led to periods of economic growth;

that a move away from free trade caused the Great Depression; and that colonial powers in the ...

More

17. Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises

By Charles P. Kindleberger

Selected as one of the best investment books of all time by the Financial Times, Manias, Panics and

Crashes puts the turbulence of the financial world in perspective. Here is a vivid and entertaining

account of how reckless decisions and a poor handling of money have led to financial ... More

18. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments For Capitalism Before Its Triumph

By Albert O. Hirschman

In this volume, Albert Hirschman reconstructs the intellectual climate of the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries to illuminate the intricate ideological transformation that occurred, wherein the

pursuit of material interests--so long condemned as the deadly sin of avarice--was assigned the role of

containing the unruly and destructive passions of ... More

19. Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity

By Robert Pollin

In the past twenty-five years the free-market neoliberal model has been hailed as a panacea for

economic ills in both the advanced economies and the developing world. Pollin dissects this model as it

has been implemented in the US during the Clinton and Bush administrations under Greenspans

Chairmanship ... More

20. Economic Philosophy

By Joan Robinson

"Economics has always been partly a vehicle" for the ruling ideology of each period as well as partly a

method of scientific investigation. It limps along with one foot in untested hypotheses and the other in

untestable slogans. Here our task is to sort out as ... More

21. Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered

By E. F. Schumacher

Nothing less than a full-scale assault on conventional economic wisdom. Newsweek More

22. America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy

By Gar Alperovitz

"Be prepared for a mind-opening experience."-The Christian Century"Highly readable; excellent for

students. . . . A tonic and eye-opener for anyone who wants a politics that works."-Jane Mansbridge,

Adams Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University"America Beyond

Capitalism comes at a critical time in our history-when ... More

23. Economics

By Paul Krugman; Robin Wells

When it comes to explaining current economic conditions, there is no economist readers trust more

than New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman. Term after term, Krugman is

earning that same level of trust in the classroom, with more and more instructors introducing students

to the ... More

24. Capital in the Twenty-First Century

By Thomas Piketty

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about

the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic

growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of

... More

25. Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala

By Stephen Schlesinger; Stephen Kinzer

Bitter Fruit is a comprehensive and insightful account of the CIA operation to overthrow the

democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954. First published in 1982,

this book has become a classic, a textbook case of the relationship between the United States and the

Third ... More

26. Mad Money: When Markets Outgrow Governments

By Susan Strange

The world's financial system is crazier and even more out of control than it was ten years ago. Mad

Money analyzes the erratic nature of change and innovation in financial business in recent years and

discusses the weak points--political as well as economic and technical--of a system driven ... More

27. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization

By Alice Amsden

South Korea has been quietly growing into a major economic force that is even challenging some

Japanese industries. This timely book examines South Korean growth as an example of "late

industrialization," a process in which a nation's industries learn from earlier innovator nations, rather

than innovate themselves. ... More

28. The Economic Emergence of Women

By Barbara Bergmann

This new edition of a classic feminist book explains how one of thegreat historical revolutions--the

ongoing movement toward equalitybetween the sexes--has come about. Its origins are to found, not

inchanging ideas, but in the economic developments that have made women'slabor too valuable to be

spent exclusively in domestic ... More

29. Ecological Economics

By Herman E. Daly; Joshua Farley

In its first edition, this book helped to define the emerging field of ecological economics. This new

edition surveys the field today. It incorporates all of the latest research findings and grounds economic

inquiry in a more robust understanding of human needs and behavior. Humans and ecological

systems, ... More

30. Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life

By Samuel Bowles; Herbert Gintis; Ernst Fehr

Moral Sentiments and Material Interests presents an innovative synthesis of research in different

disciplines to argue that cooperation stems not from the stereotypical selfish agent acting out of

disguised self-interest but from the presence of "strong reciprocators" in a social group. Presenting an

overview of ... More

31. Principles of Political Economy: and Chapters on Socialism

By John Stuart Mill

This volume unites, for the first time, Books IV and V of Mill's great treatise on political economy with

his fragmentary Chapters on Socialism. It shows him applying his classical economic theory to policy

questions of lasting concern: the desirability of sustained growth of national wealth ... More

32. A Brief History of Neoliberalism

By David Harvey

Neoliberalism-the doctrine that market exchange is an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for

all human action-has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world

since 1970 or so. Writing for a wide audience, David Harvey, author of The New Imperialism ... More

33. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975

By Chalmers Johnson

The focus of this book is on the Japanese economic bureaucracy, particularly on the famous Ministry of

International Trade and Industry (MITI), as the leading state actor in the economy. Although MITI was

not the only important agent affecting the economy, nor was the state as a whole ... More

34. Principles of Microeconomics

By Joseph Stiglitz; Carl E. Walsh

Principles of Microeconomics has been thoroughly revised, simplified, and updated for the Fourth

Edition. Co-written by Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize for his research on imperfect markets,

and Carl E. Walsh, one of the leading monetary economists in the field, Principles of Microeconomics is

the most ... More

35. Principles of Macroeconomics

By Joseph Stiglitz; Carl E. Walsh

Principles of Macroeconomics has been thoroughly revised, simplified, and updated for the Fourth

Edition. Co-written by Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize for his research on imperfect markets,

and Carl E. Walsh, one of the leading monetary economists in the field, Principles of Macroeconomics

is the most ... More

36. Dependent Development: The Alliance of Multinational, State, and Local Capital in Brazil

By Peter B. Evans

"This is the most important recent book on economic development written from a Left political

perspective. . . . Rare has been the industrial revolution which has equitably benefitted the generation

which produced that revolution. What Evans has accomplished in this book is a brilliant analysis of the

... More

37. Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea

By Mark Blyth

Selected as a Financial Times Best Book of 2013Governments today in both Europe and the United

States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the

economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts--austerity--to

solve the financial crisis. We ... More

38. Essays In Persuasion

By John Maynard Keynes

Essays In Persuasion written by legendary author John Maynard Keynes is widely considered to be one

of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation

of readers. For many, Essays In Persuasion is required reading for various courses ... More

39. Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System

By Barry Eichengreen

First published more than a decade ago, Globalizing Capital remains an indispensable part of the

economic literature today. Written by renowned economist Barry Eichengreen, this classic book

emphasizes the importance of the international monetary system for understanding the international

economy. Brief and lucid, Globalizing Capital is intended not ... More

40. The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience

By Stephen A. Marglin; Juliet B. Schor

The period after World War Two, with its sustained growth and high employment rate, has been

referred to as the "golden age" of capitalism. Blending historical analysis with economic theory, this

work presents essays that scrutinize the institutions that fostered this growth and high employment as

well as ... More

41. Late Capitalism

By Ernest Mandel

Late Capitalism is the first major synthesis to have been produced by the contemporary revival of

Marxist economics. It represents, in fact, the only systematic attempt so far ever made to combine the

general theory of the laws of motion of the capitalist mode of production developed by Marx, ...

More

42. John Maynard Keynes

By Hyman Minsky

Today, Mr. Minsky's view [of economics] is more relevant than ever.- The New York Times Indeed,

the Minsky moment has become a fashionable catch phrase on Wall Street.-The Wall Street Journal

John Maynard Keynes offers a timely reconsideration of the work of the revered economics icon.

Hyman Minsky ... More

43. Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilization

By Immanuel Wallerstein

In this short, highly readable book, the master of world-systems theory provides a succinct anatomy

of capitalism over the past five hundred years. Considering the way capitalism has changed and

evolved over the centuries, and what has remained constant, he outlines its chief characteristics. In

particular, he looks ... More

44. The Essential Gunnar Myrdal

By Gunnar Myrdal

A comprehensive introduction to the world-renowned social scientist's political thought. Nobel Prize

winner Gunnar Myrdal is best known for his book An American Dilemma, a classic study of America's

racial problems that was chosen as one of The Modern Library's top 100 nonfiction books of the

twentieth century. ... More

45. Capitalism and Slavery

By Eric Williams

Slavery helped finance the Industrial Revolution in England. Plantation owners, shipbuilders, and

merchants connected with the slave trade accumulated vast fortunes that established banks and

heavy industry in Europe and expanded the reach of capitalism worldwide.Eric Williams advanced

these powerful ideas in Capitalism and Slavery, published in ... More

46. Freefall

By Joseph Stiglitz

The New York Times bestseller: "A lucid account" (New York Times) of the recent financial crisis and

the way forward by the Nobel Prize-winning economist, with a new afterword.The Great Recession, as

it has come to be called, has impacted more people worldwide than any crisis since the ... More

47. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown

By Simon Johnson; James Kwak

Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an

oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by

six megabanksBank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and

Morgan Stanleywhich together ... More

48. More Heat than Light: Economics as Social Physics, Physics as Nature's Economics

By Philip Mirowski

This is a history of how physics has drawn some inspiration from economics and how economics has

sought to emulate physics, especially with regard to the theory of value. The author traces the

development of the energy concept in Western physics and its subsequent effect on the ... More

49. Global Finance at Risk: The Case for International Regulation

By John Eatwell; Lance Taylor

Now in paperback, a "timely" (Library Journal) argument for an international body that will foster a

more stable, viable global financial system. In Global Finance at Risk, now available in paperback, two

economists whom John Kenneth Galbraith has hailed as "accomplished scholars of the first rank"

propose a ... More

50. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

By Walter Rodney

Before a bomb ended his life in the summer of 1980, Walter Rodney had created a powerful legacy.

This pivotal work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, had already brought a new perspective to the

question of underdevelopment in Africa. His Marxist analysis went far beyond the heretofore accepted

approach ... More

51. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy

By Kenneth Pomeranz

The Great Divergence brings new insight to one of the classic questions of history: Why did sustained

industrial growth begin in Northwest Europe, despite surprising similarities between advanced areas of

Europe and East Asia? As Ken Pomeranz shows, as recently as 1750, parallels between these two

parts ... More

52. Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD

By Angus Maddison

This book seeks to identify the forces which explain how and why some parts of the world have grown

rich and others have lagged behind. Encompassing 2000 years of history, Part 1begins with the

Roman Empire and explores the key factors that have influenced economic development in Africa, ...

More

53. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business

By Alfred D. Chandler

The role of large-scale business enterprisebig business and its managersduring the formative

years of modern capitalism (from the 1850s until the 1920s) is delineated in this pathmarking book.

Alfred Chandler, Jr., the distinguished business historian, sets forth the reasons for the dominance of

big business in American transportation, ... More

54. The Economics of Feasible Socialism

By Alec Nove

This is a path-breaking book. Characteristically readable, controversial and full of insights, Nove

identifies a workable socialist programme, achievable in the lifetime of a child born today, that avoids

far-fetched or utopian assumptions. This text has been immensely influential in the West, and is

available in translation ... More

55. The Economy of Cities

By Jane Jacobs

The thesis of this book is that cities are the primary drivers of economic development. Her main

argument is that explosive economic growth derives from urban import replacement. Import

replacement occurs when a city begins to locally produce goods that it formerly imported, e.g., Tokyo

bicycle factories replacing ... More

56. Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism

By Richard D. Wolff

"Richard Wolff is the leading socialist economist in the country. This book is required reading for

anyone concerned about a fundamental transformation of the ailing capitalist economy." Cornel

West Richard Wolffs constructive and innovative ideas suggest new and promising foundations for a

much more authentic democracy and sustainable and equitable ... More

57. Neoliberal Frontiers: An Ethnography of Sovereignty in West Africa

By Brenda Chalfin

In Neoliberal Frontiers, Brenda Chalfin presents an ethnographic examination of the day-to-day

practices of the officials of Ghanas Customs Service, exploring the impact of neoliberal restructuring

and integration into the global economy on Ghanaian sovereignty. From the revealing vantage point of

the Customs office, Chalfin discovers a fascinating ... More

58. ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism

By Yves Smith

Why are we in such a financial mess today? There are lots of proximate causes: over-leverage, global

imbalances, bad financial technology that lead to widespread underestimation of risk. But these are all

symptoms. Until we isolate and tackle fundamental causes, we will fail to extirpate the

disease. ECONned is ... More

59. Confronting the Third World

By Gabriel Kolko

Kolko, author of eight books on modern American history, here examines the United States's

involvement with Third World countries. His major thrust is that the United States was maintaining in

Central America, and creating in the Middle East, an empire based on economic advantage and

ideologically supported by ... More

60. The New Industrial State

By John Kenneth Galbraith

With searing wit and incisive commentary, John Kenneth Galbraith redefined America's perception of

itself in The New Industrial State, one of his landmark works. The United States is no longer a free-

enterprise society, Galbraith argues, but a structured state controlled by the largest companies.

Advertising is the means ... More

61. Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth

By Marilyn Waring

Safe drinking water counts for nothing. A pollution-free environment counts for nothing. Even some

people - namely women - count for nothing. This is the case, at least, according to the United Nations

System of National Accounts. Author Marilyn Waring, former New Zealand M.P., now professor,

development consultant, ... More

62. Value and Capital: An Inquiry into some Fundamental Principles of Economic Theory

By John Hicks

Value And Capital: An Inquiry Into Some Fundamental Principles Of Economic Theory More

63. Super Imperialism

By Michael Hudson

"Michael Hudson's brilliant shattering book will leave orthodox economists spluttering. Classical

economists don't like to be reminded of the ugly realities of Imperialism. Hudson is one of the tiny

handful of economic thinkers in today's world who are forcing us to look at old questions in startling

new ... More

64. The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons from Japan's Great Recession

By Richard C. Koo

The revised edition of this highly acclaimed work presents crucial lessons from Japan's recession that

could aid the US and other economies as they struggle to recover from the current financial crisis.This

book is about Japan's 15-year long recession and how it affected current theoretical thinking about its

... More

65. Monetary Economics: An Integrated Approach to Credit, Money, Income, Production and Wealth

By Marc Lavoie; Wynne Godley

This book challenges the mainstream paradigm with the introduction of a new methodology.

Economies are represented realistically in a fully articulated system of national income and flow of

funds accounts. The authors study how flows of income, expenditure and production are intertwined

with stocks of assets and liabilities, ... More

66. The Rise and Decline of Nations

By Mancur Olson

The years since World War II have seen rapid shifts in the relative positions of different countries and

regions. Leading political economist Mancur Olson offers a new and compelling theory to explain these

shifts in fortune and then tests his theory against evidence from many periods of history ... More

67. The Political Economy of Merchant Empires: State Power and World Trade, 1350-1750

By James D. Tracy

The Political Economy of Merchant Empires focuses on why European concerns eventually achieved

dominance in global trade in the period between 1450 and 1750, at the expense, especially in Asia, of

well-organized and well-financed rivals. The volume is a companion to The Rise of Merchant Empires

(1990), ... More

68. Thinking, Fast and Slow

By Daniel Kahneman

Major New York Times bestsellerWinner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in

2012Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011A Globe and Mail

Best Books of the Year 2011 TitleOne of The Economists 2011 Books of the Year ... More

69. Debunking Economics

By Steve Keen

Debunking Economics - Revised and Expanded Edition, now including a downloadable supplement for

courses, exposes what many non-economists may have suspected and a minority of economists have

long known: that economic theory is not only unpalatable, but also plain wrong. When the original

Debunking Economics was published back in 2001, the ... More

70. An Economic History of India

By Dietmar Rothermund

Much has been written on the Indian economy but this is the first major attempt to present India's

economic history as a continuous process, and to place the development of agriculture, industry and

currency in a political and historical context. More

71. The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916

By Martin J. Sklar

At the turn of the twentieth century American politics underwent a profound change, as both

regulatory minimalism and statist command were rejected in favor of positive government engaged in

both regulatory and distributive roles. Through a fresh examination of the judicial, legislative, and

political aspects of the antitrust ... More

72. Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order

By Noam Chomsky; Robert W. McChesney

Why is the Atlantic slowly filling with crude petroleum, threatening a millions-of-years-old ecological

balance? Why did traders at prominent banks take high-risk gambles with the money entrusted to

them by hundreds of thousands of clients around the world, expanding and leveraging their

investments to the point that failure ... More

73. A History of Economic Thought

By Lionel Robbins

Lionel Robbins's now famous lectures on the history of economic thought comprise one of the greatest

accounts since World War II of the evolution of economic ideas. This volume represents the first time

those lectures have been published. Lord Robbins (1898-1984) was a remarkably accomplished

thinker, writer, and ... More

74. The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict

By Joseph Stiglitz

The true cost of the Iraq War is $3 trillionand countingrather than the $50 billion projected by the

White House.Apart from its tragic human toll, the Iraq War will be staggeringly expensive in financial

terms. This sobering study by Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. ... More

75. Mobile Capital and Latin American Development

By James E. Mahon

Particularly timely in light of the recent Mexican peso crisis, Mobile Capital and Latin American

Development examines the causes, consequences, and implications of the Latin American capital flight

of the 1980s. It addresses the increasingly mobile and privatized nature of international capital and its

power to shape economic ... More

76. Argentina's Economic Growth and Recovery: The Economy in a Time of Default

By Michael Cohen

This book examines the causes of the economic and political crisis in Argentina in 2001 and the

process of strong economic recovery. It poses the question of how a country which defaulted on its

external loans and was widely criticized by international observers could have succeeded in its ... More

77. Demystifying the Chinese Economy

By Justin Yifu Lin

China was the largest and one of most advanced economies in the world before the eighteenth

century, yet declined precipitately thereafter and degenerated into one of the world's poorest

economies by the late nineteenth century. Despite generations' efforts for national rejuvenation, China

did not reverse its fate until ... More

78. Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests

By Ralph E. Gomory; William J. Baumol

In this book Ralph Gomory and William Baumol adapt classical trade models to the modern world

economy. Trade today is dominated by manufactured goods, rapidly moving technology, and huge

firms that benefit from economies of scale. This is very different from the largely agricultural world in

which the ... More

79. The Rise of the Western World

By Douglass C. North

First published in 1973, this is a radical interpretation, offering a unified explanation for the growth of

Western Europe between 900 A. D. and 1700, providing a general theoretical framework for

institutional change geared to the general reader. More

80. An Economic History of the USSR

By Alec Nove

This update to "The History of the Soviet Economy" covers the period from the Bolshevik seizure of

power to the aftermath of the failed coup, which speeded up the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The final chapter encompasses Gorbachev's attempt to reform the old system and the failure ... More

81. The Predator State

By James K. Galbraith

Now available in paperback, this timely book challenges the cult of the free market that has

dominated all political and economic discussion since the Reagan revolution. Even many liberals have

felt the need to genuflect before the altar of free markets, but in The Predator State, progressive ...

More

82. Cuban Economists on the Cuban Economy

By Al Campbell

Brings together some of Cuban's most prominent economists to examine Cuba's economic history and

analyze changes in policy during the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. More

83. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350

By Janet L. Abu-Lughod

In this important study, Abu-Lughod presents a groundbreaking reinterpretation of global economic

evolution, arguing that the modern world economy had its roots not in the sixteenth century, as is

widely supposed, but in the thirteenth century economy-a system far different from the European

world system which emerged from ... More

84. The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe

By Michael J. Hogan

Michael Hogan shows how The Marshall Plan was more than an effort to put American aid behind the

economic reconstruction of Europe. American officials hoped to refashion Western Europe into a

smaller version of the integrated single-market and mixed capitalist economy that existed in the

United States. Professor ... More

85. The Gift

By Marcel Mauss

Since its first publication in English in 1954, The Gift, Marcel Mauss's groundbreaking study of the

relation between forms of exchange and social structure, has been acclaimed as a classic among

anthropology texts. A brilliant example of the comparative method, ?The Gift? presents the first

systematic study of the ... More

86. Monopoly Capital

By Paul Sweezy; Paul A. Baran

This landmark text by Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy is a classic of twentieth-century radical thought, a

hugely influential book that continues to shape our understanding of modern capitalism. This book

deals with a vital area of economics, has a unique approach, is stimulating and well written. It ... More

87. Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-1928

By John Brooks

Once in Golconda "In this book, John Brooks-who was one of the most elegant of all business writers-

perfectly catches the flavor of one of history's best-known financial dramas: the 1929 crash and its

aftershocks. It's packed with parallels and parables for the modern reader." -From the Foreword by ...

More

88. Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind

By Jeffrey G. Williamson

Today's wide economic gap between the postindustrial countries of the West and the poorer countries

of the third world is not new. Fifty years ago, the world economic order -- two hundred years in the

making -- was already characterized by a vast difference in per capita income ... More

89. The Economics of Climate Change

By Nicholas Stern

There is now clear scientific evidence that emissions from economic activity, particularly the burning of

fossil fuels for energy, are causing changes to the Earth's climate. A sound understanding of the

economics of climate change is needed in order to underpin an effective global response to this

challenge. ... More

90. The Joyless Economy: The Psychology of Human Satisfaction

By Tibor Scitovsky

When this classic work was first published in 1976, its central tenet--more is not necessarily better--

placed it in direct conflict with mainstream thought in economics. Within a few years, however, this

apparently paradoxical claim was gaining wide acceptance. Scitovsky's ground-breaking book was the

first to apply theories ... More

91. The First Industrial Nation: The Economic History of Britain 1700-1914

By Peter Mathias

This celebrated and seminal text examines the industrial revolution, from its genesis in pre-industrial

Britain, through its development and into maturity. A chapter-by-chapter analysis explores topics such

as economic growth, agriculture, trade finance, labour and transport. First published in 1969, The First

Industrial Nation is widely recognised ... More

92. Meritocracy and Economic Inequality

By Samuel Bowles; Kenneth Arrow; Steven N. Durlauf

Most Americans strongly favor equality of opportunity if not outcome, but many are weary of poverty's

seeming immunity to public policy. This helps to explain the recent attention paid to cultural and

genetic explanations of persistent poverty, including claims that economic inequality is a function of

intellectual ability, ... More

93. Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century

By Michael Albert; Robin Hahnel

How work can be organized efficiently and productively without hierarchy; how consumption could be

fulfilling and also equitable; and how participatory is planning could promote solidarity and foster self-

management. More

94. The Unbound Prometheus

By David S. Landes

In this new edition of his classic history on revolution and economic development in Europe, David

Landes reasserts his original arguments in the light of current debates about globalization and

comparative economic growth. Questions about why Europe was the first to industrialize and the

viability of the post-war ... More

95. The Limits of Organization

By Kenneth Arrow

The tension between what we wish for and what we can get, between values and opportunities, exists

even at the purely individual level. A hermit on a mountain may value warm clothing and yet be hard-

pressed to make it from the leaves, bark, or skins he can find. ... More

96. The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development

By Sara Roy

In this ground-breaking and comprehensive study, Sara Roy examines in detail the political economy

of the Gaza Strip since the Israeli occupation in 1967. Providing an historical context for Israeli

economic policy, Roy argues that despite certain economic benefits that have accrued to the Gaza

Strip as ... More

97. The Money Illusion

By Irving Fisher

2011 reprint of 1928 edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical

Recognition Software. In economics, money illusion refers to the tendency of people to think of

currency in nominal, rather than real, terms. This is a fallacy as modern fiat currencies have no

inherent ... More

98. Economic Reforms in Chile: From Dictatorship to Democracy

By Ricardo Ffrench-Davis

Articulate and provocative, Richardo Ffrench-Davis offers the most comprehensive and timely

assessment available of Chilean economic reform, from the military dictatorship of Pinochet in the

1970s up to the "reforms of reforms" made by the democratic governments in the 1990s.Written in

accessible and readable prose, Economic Reforms in ... More

99. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism

By Gosta Esping-Andersen

Few discussions in modern social science have occupied as much attention as the changing nature of

welfare states in Western societies. Gsta Esping-Andersen, one of the foremost contributors to

current debates on this issue, here provides a new analysis of the character and role of welfare states

in ... More

100. Debt: The First 5,000 Years

By David Graeber

Now in paperback: David Graebers fresh ... fascinating ... thought-provoking ... and exceedingly

timely (Financial Times) history of debt Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning

reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more

than 5,000 years, since the ... More

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The 100 Best Economics Books of All TIme1. The Wealth of Nations2. Capital3. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money4. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time5. Globalization and Its Discontents6. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy7. The Conquest of Bread8. The Theory of the Leisure Class9. The Affluent Society10. The Road to Serfdom11. Development as Freedom12. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism13. The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger14. The Worldly Philosophers15. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism16. Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes17. Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises18. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments For Capitalism Before Its Triumph19. Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity20. Economic Philosophy21. Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered22. America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy23. Economics24. Capital in the Twenty-First Century25. Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala26. Mad Money: When Markets Outgrow Governments27. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization28. The Economic Emergence of Women29. Ecological Economics30. Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life31. Principles of Political Economy: and Chapters on Socialism32. A Brief History of Neoliberalism33. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-197534. Principles of Microeconomics35. Principles of Macroeconomics36. Dependent Development: The Alliance of Multinational, State, and Local Capital in Brazil 37. Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea38. Essays In Persuasion39. Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System40. The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience 41. Late Capitalism42. John Maynard Keynes43. Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilization44. The Essential Gunnar Myrdal45. Capitalism and Slavery46. Freefall47. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown48. More Heat than Light: Economics as Social Physics, Physics as Nature's Economics49. Global Finance at Risk: The Case for International Regulation50. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa51. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy52. Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD53. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business54. The Economics of Feasible Socialism55. The Economy of Cities56. Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism57. Neoliberal Frontiers: An Ethnography of Sovereignty in West Africa58. ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism59. Confronting the Third World60. The New Industrial State61. Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth62. Value and Capital: An Inquiry into some Fundamental Principles of Economic Theory63. Super Imperialism64. The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons from Japan's Great Recession65. Monetary Economics: An Integrated Approach to Credit, Money, Income, Production and Wealth66. The Rise and Decline of Nations67. The Political Economy of Merchant Empires: State Power and World Trade, 1350-175068. Thinking, Fast and Slow69. Debunking Economics70. An Economic History of India71. The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-191672. Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order73. A History of Economic Thought74. The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict75. Mobile Capital and Latin American Development76. Argentina's Economic Growth and Recovery: The Economy in a Time of Default77. Demystifying the Chinese Economy78. Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests79. The Rise of the Western World80. An Economic History of the USSR81. The Predator State82. Cuban Economists on the Cuban Economy83. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-135084. The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe85. The Gift86. Monopoly Capital87. Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-192888. Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind89. The Economics of Climate Change90. The Joyless Economy: The Psychology of Human Satisfaction91. The First Industrial Nation: The Economic History of Britain 1700-191492. Meritocracy and Economic Inequality93. Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century94. The Unbound Prometheus95. The Limits of Organization96. The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development97. The Money Illusion98. Economic Reforms in Chile: From Dictatorship to Democracy99. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism100. Debt: The First 5,000 YearsCommentsList Muse Menu