For lay persons the classics are a waste of time unless you want to learn about history of economic thought.
To the OP, to understand what happened you need to learn economics. Pop-sci books won’t cut it.
I would recommend that you start with microeconomics and then move on to macro stuff.
Starting with the most basic and increasing in sophistication:
Principles of Microeconomics by Greg Mankiw (any edition will do; no need to buy the newest editions) - Standard first year ‘principles’...
Another thing even if they have a track record it might still be down to luck. High risk leads to potentially higher variable (as opposed to expected) returns but only winners advertise so no one attributes success to luck when there may in fact be magnitude more number of people who adopt same...
If there are a million pundits around the world making predictions there will always be someone(s) somewhere that will get something right. Unless they have a (long) track record you can put it down to luck.
Saying econometrics is most commonly associated with time series studies of macro data is like saying mathematics is most commonly associated with calculus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Econometrics" is a whole field encompassing statistical methods in cross-sectional, time-series, and panel...
I agree. It seems to me half the threads on this board are created by people with an axe to grind about one issue or another.
What 'mathematics arms race' are you referring to? I didn't realize economics was fighting a metaphorical mathematics war with other disciplines.
BMV you need to...
I was saying this is a capability economists wish they had (because it will go a long way to resolving a lot issues) not that it would be ever be possible. I think if the capability did exist we would solve a lot of issues for example I see tremendous application in general equilibrium by being...
I actually did look at the TED lecture and while it’s novel it’s not so different in economic research. There are new novel methods being published in leading journals all the time. As I previously mentioned above the internet provides access to new (as well as better access to old) data and...
Odysseus the quantities and the data has always been there it’s just been impossible to collect enough of it in a realistic time frame for it to be useful. If economists had access to information about all the quantities and prices in the world in real time of course their ability to come up...
That’s a straw man defence. A point sample to support RandomMystery implicit assertion doesn’t make the statement any less defamatory. Of all the possible examples RandomMystery could use to support his point he choose one which blatantly cast unsupported aspersions about women. The fact he...
Depends on the assumptions of the model. If by ‘standard economics’ you mean the models taught in undergrad econ textbooks then probably no but it depends on what you’re modelling and the assumptions of those models. If you mean whether in real life households can own capital, then yes, for...
There are probably people more qualified to answer this than me but whatever it’s worth I agree with what Pyrrhus has said. Undergraduate studies in econ independent of other studies in mathematics is inadequate preparation for graduate level econ let alone grad level physics. Econ students...
As already mentioned ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ aren’t really terms of art in economics but there’s a whole field, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics" , dedicated to ‘cognitive bias’ which from your example is probably what you’re referring to.
Hi qspeechc,
After rereading your OP again I’m not sure whether the list I gave is what you’re after but is a list I would recommend if you were to major in econ.
Principles of Microeconomics by Greg Mankiw would be the first book I would advise a beginner with no knowledge on econ to look at...
This is something I posted in an earlier thread:
Just so know, compared to first year physics tb first year economic tb are mathematically basic. Even at the intermediate level the mathematical sophistication isn’t that high (relatively speaking). The book review you quoted for instance isn’t...