Popular Economics Books

Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity

Garrett B. Gunderson, Stephen Palmer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Our culture is riddled with destructive myths about money and prosperity that are severely limiting the power, creativity, and financial potential of individuals. In Killing Sacred Cows, Garrett B. Gunderson boldly exposes ingrained fallacies and misguided traditions in the world of personal finance. He presents a revolutionary perspective that can create unprecedented opportunity and wealth for thoughtful, mission-driven individuals.

Our financial lives are intimately connected to our societal contributions, and we must be financially free in order to achieve our fullest potential. Sadly, however, most people are held captive in their financial lives by misinformation, propaganda, and limited knowledge. Through well-reasoned arguments, unflinching logic, and revelatory insight, Gunderson defeats common clichés and faulty retirement planning advice to plainly demonstrate the following and much more:

• 401(k)s and the stock market are the most risky investments for most people and the gambling mindset they induce creates disastrous consequences.
• Conventional retirement planning advice, products, strategies, and techniques expose you to significant danger of being unable to retire, or of running out of money prematurely if you do.
• Building net worth is a recipe for creating a life of fear and poverty and how to escape that common trap.
• Debt may not be what you think it is and why that matters to your prosperity.
• 'High risk equals high returns' is destructive dogma and how reducing risk can increase your returns.

Killing Sacred Cows is a must-read for brave individuals willing to question common assumptions and teachings, overcome the herd mentality, break through financial myths, and live a purposeful, passionate, and prosperous life.

Principles of Microeconomics

N. Gregory Mankiw

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Easy to read. Easy to understand. Thorough. 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I would have given it 5 stars if the price was lower, but that's what you get for text books these days. It was still cheaper than buying it at Berkeley's bookstore.

I found this book to be very informative and well written whith good flow and easy to understand examples. The author brings current events into the world of Microeconomics, and allows the reader to understand the underlying mechanism that drives the decisions we make. When used in conjunction with a class, or by itself, this book provides the novice with a thorough understanding of the principles of Microeconomics.

Editorial Review:

Mankiw's Principles of Economics textbooks continue to be the most popular and widely used text in the economics classroom. PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS, 4th Edition features a strong revision of content in all 22 chapters while maintaining the clear and accessible writing style that is the hallmark of the highly respected author. The 4th edition also features an expanded instructor's resource package designed to assist instructors in course planning and classroom presentation and full integration of content with Aplia, the leading online Economics education program. In the 4th edition Greg Mankiw has created a full educational program for students and instructors -- Experience Mankiw 4th edition. "I have tried to put myself in the position of someone seeing economics for the first time. My goal is to emphasize the material that students should and do find interesting about the study of the economy." - N. Gregory Mankiw.

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Amazon Price: $18.45 List Price: $27.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: William Morrow Amazon Marketplace: 134 new & used starting at $13.28

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Total reviews: 1561 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Economics is not widely considered to be one of the sexier sciences. The annual Nobel Prize winner in that field never receives as much publicity as his or her compatriots in peace, literature, or physics. But if such slights are based on the notion that economics is dull, or that economists are concerned only with finance itself, Steven D. Levitt will change some minds. In Freakonomics (written with Stephen J. Dubner), Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of everyday life don't need to be so mysterious: they could be illuminated and made even more fascinating by asking the right questions and drawing connections. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent criminals and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence of some people who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing data gathered from inner-city Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate structure much like McDonald's, where the top bosses make great money while scores of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a section that may alarm or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don't really matter much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun. These enlightening chapters are separated by effusive passages from Dubner's 2003 profile of Levitt in The New York Times Magazine, which led to the book being written. In a book filled with bold logic, such back-patting veers Freakonomics, however briefly, away from what Levitt actually has to say. Although maybe there's a good economic reason for that too, and we're just not getting it yet. --John Moe

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 261 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.

"At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld.

There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK Guides)

Project Management Institute

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Difficult and incomprehensible 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was required to purchase this book as a part of a class for my master's degree. While I am not a project manager nor do I have a desire to become one, this was a required course. After reading this book over and over again, I realized that I was getting very little useful information out of it. The book does have a good amount of knowledge to transfer, but it is extremely difficult to read. The index is horrible to be point of being nearly useless.

Editorial Review:

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—2000 Edition is now available in eight additional languages to help project managers around the world.

Each of PMI's official translations includes a bilingual glossary of newly translated and standardized project management terminology. This allows candidates to study the guide in the same language in which they plan to take the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification exam.

PMI undertook a rigorous, year-long process to ensure the maximum effectiveness of each official translation. Each translation team included qualified bilingual PMPs as well as professional translators and editors.

Official translations: Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Korean, German and Italian.

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Roger Fisher, William L. Ury

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 147 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good introduction on negotiation 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Since there are already 140 reviews, I'll keep it short.

"Getting to yes" has been recommended to me for many years and used as a basis of several trainings and discussions I had in the past. I finally decided to read the book to see if there is anything more than what I heard earlier. From that perspective, I was disappointed. Though, looking at the book without previous knowledge, I'd say that it's a great introduction to principled negotiation, probably the best there is.

The core of the book tries to explain the reader that negotiating about fixes positions is most of the time a lose-lose scenario. Therefore it's better to try to look at what both negotiators interests are and then try to work from there. Then by using these interests, the negotiators will be able to find a solutions with is mutual beneficial for both parties. That way a negotiations turns into a win-win situation and also does not have any personal impacts on the people doing the negotiation.

From this core perspectives, the authors approach different topics related to negotiation. When to negotiate (having you're alternative). Ways to brainstorm solutions. Ways to negotiate with many parties. Working in a principled way if the person with whom you are negotiating is not, etc etc.

The second edition ends with a section on answers to common questions, which almost summarizes the book itself.

"Getting to Yes" is a small book (though it could have been smaller!) and is definitively worth reading. It wasn't as good as I expected, but have not seem a better book on this topic. Recommended.

Editorial Review:

We're constantly negotiating in our lives, whether it's convincing the kids to do their homework or settling million-dollar lawsuits. For those who need help winning these battles, Roger Fisher has developed a simple and straightforward five-step system for how to behave in negotiations. Narrated soothingly by NPR announcer Bob Edwards, Fisher adds the meaty portions of the material with a sense of playfulness. The blend of voices makes this tape easy to listen to, especially the real-life negotiating scenarios, in which negotiating examples are given. This is a must-have tape for every businessperson's car. (Running time: one hour, one cassette) --Sharon Griggins

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 138 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Love The Studies so-so on the Social Commentary 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The behavioral economics and studies behind this book are genuinely fascinating. It will challenge the way that you make decisions and reveal irrationality behind your most recent purchases. I had a great time reading it but I did move past some of the social recommendations that he makes in the book.

It's not that I think they are not good ideas, its just that I see them as irrelevant to the overall theme of the book. That is just the way that I read the book, but if you are interested in social commentary and possible solutions to irrationality in society, it can give you some interesting topics to think about.

Insightful quick read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In this book, Dan Ariely describes some of the ways people act and react to various real life economic situations. He provides great insight into context of why we do some of the things we do and supports his conclusions with examples of some of the research he has performed with other researchers.

Incredibly well written and a quick read.

No economist can afford to miss this 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Today's mainstream economics is largely based on assumptions of rationality. Ariely shows that such assumptions are completely wrong. This has large implications for running an economic system that achieves a good life for people. People are constantly trying to improve their lives by buying more "stuff," but within very short time periods they find themselves dissatisfied again. The most common measure of economic prosperity used by mainstream economists is the GDP--which essentially counts up what people spend on stuff. Is it any wonder that GDP statistics do not correlate well with quality of life? No economist can afford to miss reading this book. For more on this, see The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies and Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development.

One of Ariely's fascinating findings is that most people would not steal money directly from someone else, but that if the fact that one is stealing is disguised even slightly, most people will do it. This principle is in my opinion why pollution, deforestation, and exhaustion of resources are so difficult to control. We wouldn't steal a fisherman's wallet, but dumping a half-gallon of chemicals in a stream seems different to us, even if the effect on the fisherman's income is the same.

I was especially intrigued by Ariely's analysis of the power of "free". Ariely doesn't mention this, but free parking is a fantastic example. One form of destructive government subsidy that many people don't know about is local regulation requiring the provision of certain numbers of parking spaces around businesses and residences. Most American localities have such regulations, which are known as parking requirements. The idea behind parking requirements is to make sure that free parking is always available. Unfortunately, the effect is to favor automobile travel over other forms of transportation, like walking, that don't require all that vehicle storage space. It's a form of enforced inefficiency. U.S. building codes also favor the automobile in other ways, such as by requiring very wide streets. Parking requirements are one of the main reasons why housing is so expensive in the U.S. The cost of parking requirements in the United States is in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. For more on this, see Donald Shoup's book The High Cost of Free Parking.

Macroeconomics

N. Gregory Mankiw

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

can I shed some light? 5 out of 5 stars.
39 of 41 people found this review helpful.

If you're confused about all the different Mankiw Macroeconomics texts floating about out there, lemme set you straight.

The one you see on this page: "Macroeconomics" (ISBN 0716762137) is usually used in 2nd or 3rd year macroeconomics courses in college. This is because the exercises at the end of each chapter can be a little equation-intensive, and some of the exercises, such as the proper derivation of the IS-LM curve, require differentiation. The text of each chapter itself is not so vicious, so a energetic instructor could conceivably use this book in a lower-level course, if you were willing replace the book's exercises with easier ones.

Anyhow, the sixth edition has just come out; this has a blue cover. This replaces the fifth edition, which had an orange cover.

Mankiw is also the author, inter alia, of "Principles of Macroeconomics," the fourth edition of which (ISBN-10: 0324236956) was just released, at least as of my writing. This text is more appropriate for freshman-level, non-major survey courses, or for honors high-school courses, such as AP courses. The exercises at the end of each chapter require only arithmetic and the most rudimentary algebra.

Note that "Macroeconomics" is not just a gratuitous ratcheting up of "Principles of Macroeconomics:" they're two fundamentally different books, arranged differently, and with completely different publishers. There are even massive concepts in "Macroeconomics" (IS-LM model, Solow steady state, the Keynesian consumption function, etc.) which don't warrant a mention in the much more watered-down "Principles of Macroeconomics."

Editorial Review:

The #1 bestselling intermediate macroeconomics book, Mankiw’s masterful text covers the field as accessibly and concisely as possible, in a way that emphasizes the relevance of both macroeconomics’s classical roots and its current practice. Featuring the latest data, new case studies, and a number of significant content updates, the new Sixth Edition takes the Mankiw legacy even further.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

Dan Roam

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Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A bold new way to tackle tough business problems—even if you draw like a second grader

When Herb Kelleher was brainstorming about how to beat the traditional hub-and- spoke airlines, he grabbed a bar napkin and a pen. Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers.

Used properly, a simple drawing on a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or PowerPoint. It can help crystallize ideas, think outside the box, and communicate in a way that people simply “get”. In this book Dan Roam argues that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who swear they can’t draw.

Drawing on twenty years of visual problem solving combined with the recent discoveries of vision science, this book shows anyone how to clarify a problem or sell an idea by visually breaking it down using a simple set of visual thinking tools – tools that take advantage of everyone’s innate ability to look, see, imagine, and show.

THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN proves that thinking with pictures can help anyone discover and develop new ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and dramatically improve their ability to share their insights. This book will help readers literally see the world in a new way.

Economics

Campbell R McConnell, Stanley L Brue

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Economics 17th edition 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I used this text in an Econ class last semester (my first in a few years) and this book was great. The summaries were helpful, there are several in each chapter instead of one at the end, that's very handy when you're looking for specific information. There are lots of charts to help with the formulas. My favorite areas included the chapters on Antitrust Policy and Regulation, Agriculture, Income Inequality, and the Costs of Production. Economics can be pretty dry subject matter, luckily I also had a lively instructor. Obviously as a student you don't get much say in which text you use, but this is a good one.

Editorial Review:

McConnell and Brue’s Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies is the leading Principles of Economics textbook because it is innovative and teaches students in a clear, unbiased way. The 17th Edition builds upon the tradition of leadership with three main goals: help the beginning student master the principles essential for understanding the economizing problem, specific economic issues, and the policy alternatives; help the student understand and apply the economic perspective and reason accurately and objectively about economic matters; and promote a lasting student interest in economics and the economy.