19 books to read before doing your PhD in Economics
Planning to do a PhD. in Economics? Here's a list of must reads before you choose to embark on it.
Suppose a young person is going to start a PhD in economics. What essential readings would you recommend prior to this?
In my opinion, the PhD in economics involves a heavy emphasis on tools. But the story isn't told, about why we are building these tools. The intuition isn't built, about the world out there that we seek to model. I always joke that economics students who are clueless about reality are like a child studying projectile motion without having ever thrown something into the air.
[caption id="attachment_12392" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="A doctoral degree in Economics needs a strong base of knowledge. Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters"]
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So I thought it's useful to pick a set of books that touch on the great themes of the world, often going into troublesome terrain that the models aren't very good at, so as to lay a foundation of background knowledge and historical knowledge which can pave the way to usefully assimilating what's taught in the economics PhD. Of course, they should be books that are fun to read and un-putdownable.
More from BlogsHere's my suggested compact checklist of books worth reading. Please do suggest books, and disagree with this list, in the comments to this post.
The evolution of cooperation, by Robert M. Axelrod
Good capitalism, bad capitalism, and the economics of growth and prosperity by William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm
A splendid exchange: How trade shaped the world by William J. Bernstein
88The elusive quest for growth by William Russell Easterly
Invisible engines: How software platforms drive innovation and transform industries by David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee
The ascent of money by Niall Ferguson
Economic gangsters: Corruption, violence and the poverty of nations by Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel
Capitalism and freedom by Milton Friedman
The great crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
The age of uncertainty by John Kenneth Galbraith
Exit, voice, loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman
Development, geography and economic theory by Paul Krugman
More money than God: Hedge funds and the making of a new elite by Sebastian Mallaby
Reinventing the bazaar: A natural history of markets by John McMillan
Readings in applied microeconomics: The power of the market edited by Craig Newmark
From the corn laws to free trade: Interests, ideas and institutions in historical perspective by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
Seeing like a State by James C. Scott
The company of strangers by Paul Seabright
Information rules: A strategic guide to the network economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian
Ajay Shah studied at IIT, Bombay and USC, Los Angeles. He has held positions at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research and the Ministry of Finance, and now works at NIPFP where he co-leads the NIPFP-DEA Research Programme. His research interests include policy issues on Indian economic growth, open economy macroeconomics, public finance, financial economics and pensions. ajayshah@mayin.org</a> http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah</a> http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.com</a>
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