The best e-books for aspiring economists

If you’re looking to become an economist, there is a vast selection of literature available to build your knowledge. Traditionally, this took the form of paper-based books located in libraries and university libraries all over the globe. However, since the rise of the internet, e-books are now considered just as popular as their traditional counterparts. Not only are they cheaper to make and distribute but they do not contribute to the environmental impact caused by the production of paperback books.

If you are looking to become an economist by profession, then you will likely already know the basic or more general terms. For instance, you have probably established what inflation is, what is GDP and how it is measured. Today, we will give you some tips on the best e-books to supplement and compound your knowledge and help you on your way to turn your knowledge into a full-time job. The e-books we will discuss today should be used as a guideline and can broaden your perspective on certain topics, such as the financial crisis of 2008. We also include more generic titles that can still consolidate your overall economic knowledge.

Economics: A Very Short Introduction – Sir Partha Dasgupta

Sir Partha Dasgupta is one of the UK’s most well-known and well-respected economists. He is of Indian descent but holds dual nationality and has been knighted due to his innovations in the economic field. He is also the Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge.

His book, which we recommend here, is one of the best for aspiring economists as it is not too jargon-heavy. The beauty of Dasgupta’s writing is that he can put the text in an understandable format while providing knowledge to economics students who are better read than a layman looking to learn more about economics.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine – Michael Lewis

You may have already come across this book and the award-winning film of the same name. Lewis’s book was a multi-award-winning, non-fiction book covering the causes and consequences of the US housing bubble, which led to the 2008 financial crisis. Plenty of reviews rate Michael Lewis’s book as one of the best books on the topic.

A sceptic could argue that many economies have not learned sufficient lessons from the horrendous market crash nearly 15 years ago. In the United States, for example, nobody was imprisoned due to the monumental capitulation, despite it wiping trillions in value off markets across the globe. Lewis covers this topic in great detail and the book is a fascinating insight into the major causes of the crash, and what has been implemented since in an attempt to stop it from happening again.

How Markets Fail – John Cassidy

This book was published just a year before Michael Lewis released his award-winning creation. You can purchase them both as e-books. Cassidy discourages the idea of free market ideology that has driven the neoliberal economic policies in the west for the best part of half a century. He also tackles the housing crisis of 2008 and presents an excellent argument for how central governments need to implement financial regulation in the industry to ensure that such a huge crash does not occur again. The book is still highly rated on the topic, over a decade after its release.

Conclusion

The internet has revolutionized the writing industry. You can now search for titles by authors from all over the world at the touch of a button. In addition, you can also try and find the cheapest method of purchasing these works to consume them most efficiently.

Before the advent of the internet, you could spent days or weeks finding out whether a bookshop had your title or if a library had it in stock. You would then have to wait for the book to arrive in the store before you could buy it. With the rise of e-books, you can now purchase the title immediately and read it straight away, without waiting for a delivery or going to the bookstore. As there are no printing or handling costs, you benefit from a cheaper product.

This has obviously been detrimental for bookstores but has created a new avenue for digital bookstores to rise to prominence. The three books discussed today are all highly regarded in their field. However, there are hundreds of other titles you can find online too. With e-books becoming more common, you won’t be in a position where you struggle to find what you want.