Capitalism and Freedom

These are important books but obviously not a comprehensive list. * John Locke's Two Treatises of Government - It's political philosophy but it's hard to understand Classical Liberalism without having read some Locke. * Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations - He and Locke are the two main guys to read for a solid start on Classical Liberalism, which is completely different than modern political liberalism. It's like having two features in an app with nearly the same name. Confusing as fuck. * E. F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered - This book will shift your perspective, useful to avoid becoming an a mindless advocate for one school of thought or another. * Marx is a tough one as Capital is massive and unreadable and The Communist Manifesto is a propaganda pamphlet but I think you need to at least find some articles that summarize the basics. * Keynes and Hayek - This hip hop battle is a decent start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk then read Keynes' The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money and Hayek's The Road to Serfdom.…

The following list will introduce you to Western Economic Philosophy as it relates to modern history specifically. This list is weighted heavily toward neo-classical economics and does not get into computational model based economics - specifically microeconomics, which comprises the bulk of economics education today: Schumpeter - History of economic analysis Adam Smith - Theory of Moral Sentiments Kaynes - The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money Marx - Capital Benjamin Graham - The Intelligent Investor Galbraith - The Affluent Society Galbraith - The Great Crash Milton Friedman - Capitalism and Freedom Nassim Taleb - Black Swan Ron Suskind - Confidence Men Scott Patterson - Dark Pools If you want to delve into heterodox economics afterward, start with the following: Hayek - Individualism and Economic Order Mises - Human Action Rothbard - Man, Economy, State

Capitalism and Freedom - Milton Friedman

+ Hacker Ethic by Steven Levy + Masters of Doom by David Kushner + The Millionaire Mind by Dr. Thomas Stanley + The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham + The Essays of Warren Buffet by Lawrence Cunningham + Buffet by Roger Lowenstein + The Knack by Norm Brodsky + Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein + The Return of the Great Depression by Vox Day + Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman + Road to Serfdom by Hayek + Iacocca:An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman Also, as a good counterpoint (sort of)... Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher I personally don't think the whole book is that great, but the chapter, "Buddhist Economics", is really good and reprinted here: http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics/english.h... (http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/buddhist_economics/english.html)

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman...

Yea, it's a classic book in the same way Keynes' "General Theory" was, but I'm not sure I'd say that Austrian economics (such as Hazlett, Hayek, Mises, etc.) is a good way of understanding our modern system. To get a good balance, I'd say to read something from Paul Krugman, Rob Reich, Greg Mankiw to understand left, center and rightist views on neo-Keynesian thought. For "Chicago School" / monetarist thought, Milton Friedman's "Capitalism & Freedom" is a good primer. For a more scholarly view, "Money, Markets, and Sovereignty" is a great one for global-economic thought at the most macro level, and "Financial Innovation" (Molyneux) is awesome for showing where all of this came from - though only the first three chapters are accessible for someone who isn't comfortable with math.

Milton Friedman is an excellent writer. Try "Capitalism and Freedom" or "Free To Choose". Not so much academic discussions about partial derivatives applied to indifference curves, but very informative.