Four Books to Help You Get Started in Economics
All expressers have their own secrets and contradictions. What you need to do is detach yourself from the text, delve into the author's mind, and find them. Recommended four essential economics introductory books.
Four books to help you get started in economics
All expressers have their own secrets and contradictions. What you need to do is detach yourself from the text, delve into the author's mind, and find them.
Book 1: A History of Economic Thought (8th Edition)
Brief review: When sorting out each important school of economic thought, this book considers five main questions: What is the historical background of this school? What are the main tenets of this school? Who does this school benefit or serve? How was this school effective, useful, or correct at the time? Which tenets of this school have made a lasting contribution? It is precisely because of these five unique perspectives that this book has been highly recommended by editors and welcomed by readers.
If you are reading economic thought history to answer the above questions, this book is indeed a very suitable choice. If you are reading economic thought history to sort out important schools of thought and figures, important theories, and important works in economics, Wei Lili's Economic Thought History would be more efficient. If you want to have an overall understanding of economic thought history, you can compare the table of contents of this book, Economic Thought History (Wei Lili), and Economic Thought History (4th Edition) (Zhang Xukun).
Bibliography: Stanley L. Blue, & Randy R.Grant.(2013).The Evolution of Economic Thought.Gengage Learning.
Chinese bibliography: 斯坦利·L.布鲁, & 兰迪·R.格兰特.(2021).经济思想史(邸晓燕,译).北京大学出版社.
Recommended reading: A History of Economic Thought (Wei Lili), A History of Economic Thought (4th Edition) (Zhang Xukun)
Book 2: Economics (19th Edition)
Brief review: As the first American recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Samuelson's writing is humorous, easy to understand, and his explanations of key concepts are clear and concise. Compared to Mankiw's Principles of Economics, his work is more accessible. For example, when explaining the "production possibility frontier," Samuelson states, "The production possibility frontier represents the maximum output that an economy can efficiently achieve given fixed levels of technological knowledge and the quantities of inputs available." Mankiw, on the other hand, describes it as, "The production possibility frontier is a graphical representation of the various combinations of products that an economy can produce when the quantities of production factors and the production technologies that can transform these factors into outputs are fixed."
Bibliography: Paul A.Samuelson, & William D.Nordhaus.(2010).Economics.McGraw-Hill Companies.
Chinese bibliography: 保罗·萨缪尔森, & 威廉·诺德豪斯.(2022).经济学(萧琛,主译).商务印书馆.
Recommended reading: The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith)
Book 3: Principles of Economics (8th Edition)
Brief Review: Mankiw's Principles of Economics is the most popular and widely used classic economics textbook in China. This book can serve as an extension and supplement to Samuelson's Economics. In terms of knowledge structure, this book provides a more comprehensive summary and synthesis of Samuelson's \Economics\. For example, it compiles the economic principles scattered throughout the various chapters of Samuelson's \Economics\. Additionally, it summarizes the common cognitive biases frequently encountered by economists. Despite this, Samuelson and \Economics\ remain unparalleled in their status within the field of economics.
If you want to build a knowledge base in economics, you should read both Samuelson's Economics and Mankiw's Principles of Economics, and compare them with each other. In addition, you can compare them with Marshall's Principles of Economics to see how the "principles of economics" have developed over time.
Bibliography: N. Gregory Mankiw.(2018).Principles of Economics.Gengage Learning.
Chinese bibliography: 曼昆.(2020).经济学原理(梁小民,& 梁砾,译).北京大学出版社.
Recommended reading: Principles of Economics (Marshall)
Book 4: Think Like an Economist
Brief review: The biggest difference between this book and Freakonomics and Super to the Max is that the author of this book is an economist, and the content of the book is based on his lectures on "economic principles" in his daily life. Therefore, the content of the book is highly consistent with the knowledge points of "economic principles."
You can spend 80% of your time reading Samuelson's Economics and Mankiw's Principles of Economics to learn professional knowledge, and spend 20% of your time reading the short stories in this book to connect professional knowledge with everyday life. Of course, you can also learn according to the six methods provided by the author and integrate economic principles into your own life.
Bibliography: Roger A. Arnold.(2004).How to Think Like An Economist.Gengage Learning.
Chinese bibliography: 罗格·A. 阿诺德.(2009).像经济学家一样思考(李宝元,译).人民邮电出版社.
Recommended reading: Milk for the Maniacs, Freakonomics
Tip：
All of the authors of the above books belong to their own schools of thought.
This means that they have different understandings, choices, and preferences regarding economic concepts, which requires us to pay close attention when reading.