ECON 1000 Essentials of Economics Reading List
Updated: 2010-08-15
Note Bene: I reserve the right to make reasonable changes to the schedule as necessary, so please check back periodically.
I will strongly emphasize the required readings below. You are responsible for completing all of these, even if we don't discuss them in class. The remainder of the readings will add depth to your understanding of the material, and you should strive to complete at least some of them. To access restricted journal articles from off-campus, use the UConn library remote access system.
What is this thing called "economics"?
- Lecture #1 Notes
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 1 (The Economic Way of Thinking)
- David Friedman, Price Theory: An Intermediate Text, Chapters 1 & 2
- Rubin, Paul H. "Folk Economics." Southern Economic Journal 70, no. 1 (July 2003): 157-171.
- Levy, David M., and Sandra J. Peart. "The Secret History of the Dismal Science. Part I. Economics, Religion and Race in the 19th Century." Library of Economics and Liberty, January 22, 2001.
- "Podcast: Emily Oster Decodes the World." Planet Money, August 12, 2009.
- Bonus Video: Emily Oster's TED Talk About AIDS
The big picture: gains from specialization & exchange
- Lecture #2 Notes
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 2 (Efficiency, Exchange, & Comparative Advantage)
- Read, Leonard E. "I, Pencil: My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read". The Freeman, December 1958.
- Smith, Adam. An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, 1776. (Also available in PDF or EPUB via Google Books.)
- I:1 (Of the division of labour)
- I:2 (Of the principle which gives occasion to the division of labour)
- I:3 (That the division of labour is limited by the extent of the market)
- IV:2 (Of restraints upon importation from foreign countries of such goods as can be produced at home)
- Hayek, F.A. "The Use of Knowledge in Society." The American Economic Review 35, no. 4 (September 1945): 519-530.
- "What is the Public Interest?" The Economist, June 19, 1954.
- Friedman, Milton. "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits." The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970.
- Ridley, Matt. "Humans: Why They Triumphed." The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2010.
- Bailey, Ronald. "'Chiefs, Thieves, and Priests': Science writer Matt Ridley on the causes of poverty and prosperity." Reason, February 2009.
- McAfee, R. Preston. Introduction to Economic Analysis, Section 2.6 (Trade).
- Ricardo, David. Principles of political economy and taxation. Chapter VII, § 47: "Commodities produced in different countries do not, however, exchange according to cost of production, owing to the immobility of producing agents from one country to another. Each country producing those commodities in which it has the greatest advantage". (or PDF, p. 184)
- OECD Factbook 2010. OECD, 2010.
- Bonus Video: Ridley: "Everybody is working for everybody else."
- Bonus Video: Monty Python demonstrates the importance of opportunity cost
- Bonus Video: Wall Street: "Greed is good."
- Bonus Video: Milton Friedman on Donahue (1979)
- Bonus Video: Ridley: When ideas have sex
The market in action: supply & demand
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 3 (Substitutes Everywhere)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 4 (Cost & Choice)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 5 (A Process of Coordination)
- Bauman, Chapter 11 (Supply and demand)
- Bauman, Chapter 13 (Margins)
- Smith, Adam. An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, 1776. (Also available in PDF or EPUB via Google Books.)
- I:4 (Of the origin and use of money)
- Bauman, Chapter 20 (Supply and demand details)
- Bernstein, Andrea. "Parking rates go up, cities make bucks." Marketplace, May 4, 2010.
- Kestenbaum, David. "Will Legalizing Pot Solve Calif. Budget Woes?." All Things Considered, February 12, 2010.
- Bauman, Chapter 14 (Elasticity)
- McAfee, R. Preston. Introduction to Economic Analysis, Sec. 2.4 (Elasticities); Sec. 2.5 (Comparative Statics).
- Matsuyama, Kanoko. "Looking East, Big Pharma Cuts Prices." Business Week (April 15, 2010).
- Fruteau, Cécile, Bernhard Voelkl, Eric van Damme, & Ronald Noë. "Supply and demand determine the market value of food providers in wild vervet monkeys." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, no. 29 (July 21, 2009): 12007-12012.
- Bonus Video: Sheena Iyengar: The Art of Choosing
Unintended consequences: when signals get crossed
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 6 (Unintended Consequences)
- Peltzman, Sam. "The Effects of Automobile Safety Regulation." The Journal of Political Economy 83, no. 4 (August 1975): 677-725.
- "Three-hour tarmac rule makes more delays." Marketplace, July 20, 2010.
- Bauman, Chapter 12 (Taxes)
- Gagliano, Rico. "A history of in-flight food." Marketplace (May 19, 2010).
- Hood, Ralph. "But Is There Such a Thing as a Free Breakfast?" The Freeman 52, no. 4 (April 2002).
- Heflin, Jay. "Healthcare law tax credits encourage small businesses to stay small, not hire." The Hill (May 23, 2010).
- Bonus Chart: Estimating US Government Subsidies to Energy Sources
Risk & reward
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 7 (Profit & Loss)
- Kane, Tim. "The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction." Firm Formation and Economic Growth. Kauffman Foundation, July 2010.
- Bauman, Chapter 3 (Time)
- Chevalier, Judith, & Austan Goolsbee. "Are Durable Goods Consumers Forward-Looking? Evidence from College Textbooks." Quarterly Journal of Economics 124, no. 4 (November 1, 2009): 1853-1884.
- Bauman, Chapter 4 (Risk)
- Ellenberg, Jordan. "Is Powerball a Mug's Game?". Slate, August 31, 2001.
- Mueller, John. "A False Sense of Insecurity?" Regulation, 2004.
- Friedman, Thomas L. "Going Cheney on Climate." The New York Times (December 8, 2009).
- Fitzgerald, Alison. "Let's Have a Beer and Talk Derivatives." Business Week (April 15, 2010).
- Bond, Michael. "Decision-making: Risk school." Nature 461 (October 28, 2009): 1189-1192.
- Genesove, David, and Christopher Mayer. "Loss Aversion and Seller Behavior: Evidence from the Housing Market." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 116, no. 4 (November 2001): 1233-1260.
- Bonus Video: Laurie Santos: A monkey economy as irrational as ours
Markets. Failures? Government...
- Friedman, Chapter 15 (Economic Efficiency)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 8 (Price Searching)
- Horvitz, Paul M. "The Pricing of Textbooks and the Remuneration of Authors". The American Economic Review 56, no. 1/2 (March 1, 1966): 412-420.
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 9 (Competition and Government Policy)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 10 (Externalities and Conflicting Rights)
- Coase, R.H. "The Problem of Social Cost." Journal of Law and Economics 3 (October 1960): 1-44.
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 11 (Markets and Government)
- Friedman, Chapter 18 (Market Failures)
- Akerlof, George A. "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 84, no. 3 (August 1970): 488-500.
- Roberts, Russell. Gambling With Other People's Money: How Perverted Incentives Caused the Financial Crisis. Mercatus Center, George Mason University, May 2010.
- Bonus Video: David Friedman on market failure, 2010 Free State Project Liberty Forum (YouTube video, part 1 of 7)
Back to the big picture: macroeconomics & globalization
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 12 (Measuring the Overall Performance of Economic Systems)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 13 (The Wealth of Nations: Globalization & Economic Growth)
- Summers, Lawrence H. "Memo: GEP," December 12, 1991. (but c.f. this background)
- "Microfinance", in Wikipedia
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 14 (Money)
- "The Giant Pool of Money", This American Life, May 9, 2008.
- "Return to the Giant Pool of Money", This American Life, September 25, 2008.
- "Another Frightening Show About the Economy", This American Life, October 3, 2008.
- "Bad Bank", This American Life, February 27, 2009.
- Greenspan, Alan. "The Crisis." Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, March 9, 2010.
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 15 (Economic Performance & Real-World Politics) (skim for key concepts)
- Heyne, Boettke, & Prychitko, Chapter 16 (Renewal of the Debate: Some Parting Thoughts)
- The Federal Government's Financial Health: A Citizen's Guide to the Financial Report of the United States Government, US GAO, 2009.
- Romer, Christina D. "Fiscal Policy and Economic Recovery." Business Economics 44, no. 3. Business Economics (2009): 132-135.
- Vigeland, Tess. "Should government help support homeownership with subsidies?." Marketplace, August 6, 2010.
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen (2006) (c.f. gapminder.org)
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty (2007)
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals (2009)
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset (2009)
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling: Asia's rise -- how and when (2009)
- Bonus Video: Hans Rosling on global population growth (2010)
Final Exam: Wednesday, August 18, 2010. Review Sheet with list of concepts and practice problems.
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