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Macro book bleg
Most of my reading list consists of technical macro articles (I'll post the new one when it is ready). But all students -- even in Ph.d. macro -- deserve a break. At least one of the readings should be literary and mostly fun, albeit stuffed with substance. Last year I used Paul Blustein's And the Money Kept Rolling In, a study of Argentina.
I will use Blustein again but I might add another book. It should be readable, not too long, about something that matters, and of course have macroeconomic themes.
Please leave your suggestions in the comments.
Here is Brad DeLong's book bleg; he wants to show his class that modern institutions are contingent rather than necessary. I want to inform them about current events or perhaps history.
Here are responses to Brad from CrookedTimber, none of which are very useful for a Ph.d. macro class. They are focused on economic anthropology.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on July 31, 2006 at 01:21 PM in Books, Education | Permalink
Comments
Not sure if this is the kind of thing you're after - but I suggest 'Guns Germs & Steel' by Jared Diamond.
You don't get much more macro than that!
Posted by: nick at Jul 31, 2006 2:18:56 PM
Better yet (in my humble opinion, since they focus on economics), use either Landes' "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" or Barro's "Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study".
Posted by: Marc at Jul 31, 2006 2:44:25 PM
Nick, Marc -- too funny. Both the Diamond and Landes books were assigned in the second semester of macro (the first semester taught by Tyler, the second not) for last year's incoming GMU students.
Posted by: Jason Briggeman at Jul 31, 2006 3:15:26 PM
I would suggest Blustein's earlier book on East Asian Crisis, The Chastening. It is a gripping account of how cookie cutter approach to macro stabilization has huge human costs. It also points out the financial equivalent of preemtive strategy used by the US Treasury. It also gives an honest account of the constraints that economists at IMF faces in trying to implement directives from Headquarter. Ken Rogoff, the former Director of Research reported that the book is a required reading for all young economists at the IMF.
Posted by: Asif Dowla at Jul 31, 2006 3:22:19 PM
How about 'Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations' to accompany the growth theory chapters?
Posted by: Yan Li at Jul 31, 2006 4:26:54 PM
How about some Dickens? Loads of economic information in there . . . oh, sorry, that's micro.
I vote for Galbraith's "A brief history of financial euphoria" which is not only readable, but actually good, and extremely short.
Posted by: Jane Galt at Jul 31, 2006 4:41:48 PM
Modern Macroeconomics by Snowden and Vane is neither literary nor mostly fun,
but it is an excellent wrap up of the history of macro. It's a very nice
complement to arcane technical articles and verbose historical treatments,
such as the Landes book. Thanks Jason, I'd be lost without it!
Posted by: will mcbride at Jul 31, 2006 5:15:16 PM
You might not want to double up on Blustein but would second Asif's nomination of the Chastening.
Posted by: tim at Jul 31, 2006 5:16:57 PM
I agree with Tim on both counts. My (undergraduate) Advanced International Macro class read that last semester, and it really helped me understand a lot of what was going on better than I otherwise would have.
Posted by: jadagul at Jul 31, 2006 9:32:09 PM
My monetary theory prof. used Mark Twain's short story, "The One
Million Pound Bank Note."
Posted by: Bill Stepp at Jul 31, 2006 9:51:14 PM
Veblen’s "Theory of the Leisure Class"
Posted by: joan at Jul 31, 2006 11:50:03 PM
It's a bit dated, but the abridged version of Kevin Hoover's New Classical Macroeconomics is a gem. My students in the 90s swore by it.
Alternatively, how about Arjo Klamer's Conversations with Economists.
Posted by: David Tufte at Aug 1, 2006 12:34:01 AM
If you are looking for "readable, not too long, about something that matters, and of course have macroeconomic themes", then I second David Tufte's nomination of Arjo Klamer's book. Maybe the macro themes in it are getting dated, but otherwise it provides a good perspective on the making of economics.
Posted by: MikeKP at Aug 1, 2006 1:11:11 AM
How about Hernando De Soto's Mystery of Capital? Its fun and lots of Economics.
Posted by: triya at Aug 1, 2006 7:28:35 AM
I liked "The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics" by William Easterly as a critique of what doesn't work in developing economies.
Posted by: OneEyedMan at Aug 1, 2006 10:21:39 AM
A couple more...
- A 'long' shot: Skidelsky's single volume 'John Maynard Keynes: 1883-1946'
- Schelling's 'Micromotives and Macrobehavior'
- Perhaps,'Bull! A History of the Boom, 1982-1999'by Maggie Mahar
Posted by: Yan Li at Aug 1, 2006 11:03:16 AM
For something rather different, although these are books I have not read, would be one of the two books on the transportation industry published recently to relatively good reviews. History of the Box, or something like that.
On a related topic, but from an historical viewpoint would be "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. It is interesting to understand how logistics and troop movement defined much of military tactics relatively unchanged up to the Civil War in the US and the Franco-Prussian war in Europe, and try to understand how the same issues played significant roles in trade and the development of societies.
On a more personal note, assuming there is a book dealing with this, would be to look at the changes that have permitted the growth of foreign adoptions and the movement of so many children around the globe and the factors that can make it worthwhile for parents to take the chance their children will have the chance to be adopted abroad.
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