Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered

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.…

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)