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Things to read
These are non-technical books and articles I recommend highly, mostly on economics but with others included. Links are mostly to publishers' websites.
The Bottom Billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it, Paul Collier. One of the most credible and important books on development and poverty reduction. I read it around the same time as two other illuminating books, A Farewell to Alms by Greg Clark, an historical view of the process of development, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's moving novel about Biafra, Half of a Yellow Sun.
Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Atul Gawande. A surgeon on how to practice medicine better but also on doing better in any profession or aspect of life. Transfixing. A challenge to any reader to consider what they do, how well, and how they assess the effects of their actions.
The Tiger That Isn't, Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot. This should be compulsory reading for all schoolchildren, politicians and government officials, and anyone who reads newspapers. It teaches critical thinking about numbers and what they mean, in a hugely entertaining way.
The Company of Strangers, Paul Seabright. A brilliant account of the evolution of modern economies, rooted in anthropology and evolutionary psychology.
In The Elusive Quest for Growth, William Easterly asked why economists haven't accounted for the failure of some countries to develop - and started to answer the question. His latest excellent book, The White Man's Burden, offers a very persuasive case against further big increases in aid to developing country governments. Read alongside The World's Banker, an account of the Jim Wolfensohn World Bank by Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post, the arguments against more of the same from the development institutions look overwhelming.
Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig. Persuasive polemic on the inappropriateness of current intellectual property laws for the era of the Internet; sets out the issues very clearly.
The Lunar Men Jenny Uglow. History of a group of neighbours in late 18th century England who together made an extraordinary contribution to industrialisation.
The Metaphysical Club, Louis Menand. Another wonderful intellectual history, this one of the American pragmatists, shaped by the Civil War and in turn shapers of modern America.
The New Old Economy, by Jonathan Rauch. An article from the Atlantic Monthly in January 2001 illuminating the real meaning of the New Economy, looking at the use of new technologies in the oil industry. Requires subscription or purchase.
Seeing Around Corners, Another Jonathan Rauch article from The Atlantic, April 2002, describing fascinating computer-based social science research which takes account of the many complex interactions between people (unlike standard economic models). Downloadable for free at present (Oct 2006).
Voyaging, Janet Browne. Unsurpassed biography of Charles Darwin, and his times. The second volume is The Power of Place.
Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli. Engaging window on economic globalisation following a t-shirt from subsidised cotton farms in Texas to second-hand markets in Africa.
The Fate of Africa, Martin Meredith. Overly gloomy but nevertheless illuminating history of post-war Africa, explaining why most of the continent's economies have fared so badly.
The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford. A lovely demonstration of the usefulness of economics in any area of life. A book after my own heart. I liked it much better than Freakonomics. (This is the Amazon UK link - publisher is Little, Brown in UK, OUP in US.)
Bad Thoughts, Jamie Whyte. How to think straight - and write straight. Very funny and will also improve you. (Penguin has just reissued the classic George Orwell essay on the importance of clarity of writing for clarity of thought, in Why I Write.)
Reinventing Boston, Ed Glaeser. Working paper from 2003 on how the economic fortunes of cities ebb and flow, from one of the best urban economists. Also recommended is his paper (with Albert Saiz) The Rise of the Skilled City, a rigorous economics version of the creative class idea.
Happiness: Lessons from a new science, Richard Layard. Research into happiness is one of the happening areas in economics. I don't agree with the conclusions often drawn from the debate. This article by Will Wilkinson explains some of the problems.
Who's Afraid of Adam Smith, Peter Dougherty. Reclaims the rich insights of Adam Smith for people of all political persuasions and in doing so demonstrates the importance of economic analysis in understanding society.
Butterfly Economics, Paul Ormerod. The author (who also wrote 'The Death of Economics') is very critical of the academic profession, but this book nevertheless explains some of the most exciting frontiers of economic research today. More recent, but a bit too over-hyped for my tastes, is the very well-written The Origin of Wealth, by Eric Beinhocker. Covers the territory of complexity and evolution, drawing on economists such as Paul Seabright, Alan Kirman and Brian Arthur, and the mathematics of Albert-Lazlo Barabasi's Linked.
A Beautiful Mind, Sylvia Nasar. Very enjoyable biography of John Nash (played by Russell Crowe in the movie) which will also teach most people all they need to know about game theory.
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, David Landes. The best global economic history I've read.
Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond. Economic history by a professor of physiology, covering the whole world since the dawn of human times.
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