<p>Respectfully, I would advise against books such as Nickel and Dimed if you are looking for serious study of real economics. It's an easy read, but it doesn't teach any economics. We had it assigned in one of my classes because the department wanted us to have a modern book. We read the first half for one class and were going to read the second half for the next class. In class, all of the students pointed out the serious flaws in her work and thinking and the uselessness of the book for serious study. Our professor agreed, and we did not finish the book. </p>
<p>I wanted to second many of JHS's suggestions. I've read The Wordly Philosophers, The Wealth of Nations, the Marx-Engles Reader, and Jevons' books. I'd suggest them all. The Wordly Philosophers is a good intro book. If I remember correctly, it's organized by economic figure. Smith and Marx are both vital if you really want to study economics. Both are slow-going but worth the effort. The mystery books illustrate a couple modern economic principles in each and are very easy to read and quite entertaining. Good for planes. :) </p>
<p>I've said it before, but I really recommend Naked Economics to any person who wants to learn basic macro and micro economic theories. It was one of the required supplemental books in the first econ class I took at the University of Chicago (which is something of an econ powerhouse), along with one of Jevons' mysteries. It covers the concepts wonderfully without going into numbers or graphing.</p>
<p>Judge (formerly Professor) Posner has lots of ideas. He writes about a book a year, often on topics that no one knew he knew anything about. They vary in quality (and I don't read all, or most of them). I'm sure that he has plenty of ideas that anyone can disagree with. Politically, he's a conservative, but he has absolutely no interest in partisan politics or in upholding whatever the conservative message of the week is, and he's perfectly capable of independent thought. Really a brilliant, polymathic guy -- and I disagree with him a lot.</p>
<p>His basic work on Law and Economics (which is over 30 years old) has literally been world-changing. While generally conservative in its cast, it is respected (if often critiqued) by liberals. I'm not as conservative as my book recommendations make it seem, but not as liberal as I was before I read Posner and de Soto. Even if you are on the left, you ignore Posner and his followers at your peril.</p>
<p>Make a list of all the great suggested books here. Then, enjoy your summer doing a lot of other things that you won't do as a college student. Read the books because they interest you, but not because you want a headstart in college. There will be plenty of time to immerse yourself in your chosen field, so remember to include all the other books and activities that come your way. This is the same sort of advice I give to premed students- do it because you enjoy it, they will teach you what you need in college (of course, you will use these sources to enrich your learning) and don't forget to do things now you won't have time for later.</p>
<p>"Nickel and Dimed" shouldn't be read or understood as an academic text, but rather as social commentary on the order of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" sort of. LOL.</p>
<p>Another vote for The World is Flat and Nickel and Dimed (both are good breaks from academic reading). Both of my kids read them two summers ago. Freakonomics is on this summer's list.</p>
<p>Posner is always interesting. JHS, my DH is along your lines politically but nonetheless would have given body parts to clerk for him.</p>
<p>A subscription to The Atlantic is good for economic and political commentary.</p>
<p>Robert Caro's series on LBJ is a fascinating look into the exercise of political power. It's a three book series and is long...but DS1 read it the summer before taking AP Gov't and said everything made so much more sense with some historical context of the ues (and misuse) of power.</p>
<p>Will have to ask DH for some more recommendations!</p>
<p>OK - here's a puzzle for all you well-read folks out there! Two weeks ago, I read a list of "best selling" books on economics in a magazine in a doctor's office waiting room. I wish I had written down the list, and I can't find it on the web. Did anyone else see this list and is there a link? There were great books on this list, including many of the ones mentioned in this thread.</p>
<p>Coarranged,
Respectfully, I chose to recommend "Nickel and Dimed" with care as a high-interest book for someone about to embark on guided study at university.<br>
It's possible in econ classes to get so wrapped up in theory you might not take sufficient notice of the class issues. The OP will be studying both econ and politics, and I trust that under the care of professors there will be plenty of good books to come.
Summertime is for books one might not get in class. Enrichment. Biographies of ecomomists. Etc. IMHO<br>
.</p>
<p>(Both Jared Diamond books -- politics and economics, and easy reading.)</p>
<p>Political science</p>
<p>"Essence of Decision" Graham Allison
"On Liberty" John Stuart Mill
"The Prince" Niccolo Machiavelli
"Two Treatises on Government" John Locke
"The Social Contract" Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"The Republic" Plato</p>
<p>Plus all the others listed before this post!</p>
<p>P3T,
I did not read that book in an econ class but in my social sciences class, entitled Self, Culture, and Society. In the first quarter (the "Society" quarter) we read The Weath of Nations, the Marx-Engles Reader, Rousseau, Max Weber, EP Thompson, David Harvey, and Nickel and Dimed, so we did spend some time on class issues. I just do not feel that this book was thoughtfully done or addressed class issues in the way they ought to be dealt with. It cheapened the issues and simplified them in order to make a book that's easy to digest. I very much feel that class needs to be addressed, but I think that there are many books much more valuable than this one that actually spend time exploring problems of class in America. The OP should certainly read it at some point because "Bestsellers" are useful to have read; however, in terms of building a foundation for college study, which is what he wants to do, this book will do very little. Also, many college students, even econ and polysci majors, will never read the "great books" mentioned on this thread. I agree with you that books such as biographies and easy reading are good for summer, which is why my suggestions (some stolen from others'!) include mysteries that illustrate economics concepts, easy-to-understand and entertaining-to-read econ, and a book that includes biographies of notable philosophers and their basic beliefs.</p>
<p>For politics, as well, you can spend take time on some of the documents from the foundation of America. You've probably studied some of them in school, but if you spend time really thinking about what they say and imply, you'll find that there's a lot you've missed. Some of these are deeper than they first seem. Check out the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, a few of the Federalist papers, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Mayflower Compact, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural, Langston Huges' poetry, etc.</p>
<p>The U of C has definitely had that impact on me--for better or for worse. :)</p>
<p>I highly recommend NE as an econ intro. It's especially good with elections looming in the future. Basic economics is just really good to be familiar with because it comes up constantly in everyday life, and yet most people know very little about even the most fundamental concepts.</p>
<p>If Nickel and Dimed shouldn't be on the list, Freakonomics definitely shouldn't either; Dubner (and it's pretty clear Dubner did most of the writing) cheapens the issues on hand far more than Ehrenreich does. I'm not even a huge fan of Ehrenreich, but Freakonomics talks about criminals as if they're inorganic matter--and frankly, beyond its widely publicized conclusions, I find it to be written in a very anti-intellectual manner. It makes broad generalizations and holds them up pompously as truth.</p>
<p>Anyway,
-Smith, Marx, Posner, de Soto, Naked Economics as people said earlier</p>
<p>some lighter reading off the top of my head, listed from more conservative to less conservative:
-Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
-I hate Thomas Friedman, but I guess he's worth giving a chance
-World on Fire by Amy Chua (I don't really like this book, but many people do)
-The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
-Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz
-Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky (read this only once you have a good base of knowledge in both politics and economics, not because its complex, but because Chomsky's more valuable when read as a negative to the mainstream, rather than as a primary source)</p>
<p>I've never read Freakonomics, but I have spoken with Steven Levitt. He was engaging, intelligent, down to Earth, and concerned with the economic issues he was studying. He spoke about work he was doing with prostitutes and the prostitution business, and I was actually quite surprised by the level of courtesy, humanity, and humility with which he spoke about them. I can't say anything about Freakonomics as a book, but the economist behind it is certainly impressive.</p>
<p>Right; I don't doubt the genius and general awesomeness of Steven Levitt, but the book definitely sounds like it was dumbed down by Dubner (the co-author, and journalist associated with the New York Times in a way that I now forget).</p>
<p>edit: But it's pretty cool to hear about his actual concern. I'm being overly harsh, but the book's depiction of him reminds me of 19th century colonial administrators doing studies on natives.</p>