Required Reading In Hard Times
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Over the last couple of years I've found myself reading more and more books relating to economics, particularly political economy.
Being the DOW spent some time in 7,000 territory this morning, I think it's increasingly important progressives understand better the specifics of progressive economic thinking, and avoid falling into conservative traps.
Here are a few books I'd recommend reading for a better understanding of what's going on and where to go from here.
The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933
This is the first of a three part series on FDR written by legendary liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger. The book does a fantstic job picking apart the people, events, and institutions which led to the Great Depression. The analysis of how progressive economics evolved from the teens to the 30s is a little dry, but worth understanding.
The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935
The second book in the Schlesinger's FDR series discusses how the major New Deal programs were passed and (in superb detail) how they were implemented. The stories of how many key individuals developed items like the Agricultural Adjustment Act and leaders behind the Works Progress Administration make what could be a dry history book far more interesting.
The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers
The first, and one of the few, if only, major comprehensive books on economic history, this is a pretty interesting read. I'd particularly read the chapter on John Maynard Keynes if nothing else.
Supercapitalism
Written by former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich, this is an excellent book which discusses how a hyper competitive business market with little regulation since the mid-1970s has disrupted or displaced democracy in the United States. Reich also sets up a nice framework for how to approach a new regulatory regime in the near future.
Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency
I'm actually reading this book now and am around 70% of the way through. The way the cover is designed, it looks like a book about how great Obama could be as President. However, the book's author, Robert Kuttner, spends a lot of time discussing the problems with deregulation in addition to debunking a lot of the conventional wisdom on how to run an economy. Kuttner takes on tax cuts, tax credits, and deficit spending all within 213 pages.
If you don't read anything else, I'd say read the last two I've mentioned as they're most pertinent to the current crisis.
Also, there are other books and resources out there. What are you reading? Feel free to post them in the comments section.
Being the DOW spent some time in 7,000 territory this morning, I think it's increasingly important progressives understand better the specifics of progressive economic thinking, and avoid falling into conservative traps.
Here are a few books I'd recommend reading for a better understanding of what's going on and where to go from here.
The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933
This is the first of a three part series on FDR written by legendary liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger. The book does a fantstic job picking apart the people, events, and institutions which led to the Great Depression. The analysis of how progressive economics evolved from the teens to the 30s is a little dry, but worth understanding.
The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935
The second book in the Schlesinger's FDR series discusses how the major New Deal programs were passed and (in superb detail) how they were implemented. The stories of how many key individuals developed items like the Agricultural Adjustment Act and leaders behind the Works Progress Administration make what could be a dry history book far more interesting.
The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers
The first, and one of the few, if only, major comprehensive books on economic history, this is a pretty interesting read. I'd particularly read the chapter on John Maynard Keynes if nothing else.
Supercapitalism
Written by former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich, this is an excellent book which discusses how a hyper competitive business market with little regulation since the mid-1970s has disrupted or displaced democracy in the United States. Reich also sets up a nice framework for how to approach a new regulatory regime in the near future.
Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency
I'm actually reading this book now and am around 70% of the way through. The way the cover is designed, it looks like a book about how great Obama could be as President. However, the book's author, Robert Kuttner, spends a lot of time discussing the problems with deregulation in addition to debunking a lot of the conventional wisdom on how to run an economy. Kuttner takes on tax cuts, tax credits, and deficit spending all within 213 pages.
If you don't read anything else, I'd say read the last two I've mentioned as they're most pertinent to the current crisis.
Also, there are other books and resources out there. What are you reading? Feel free to post them in the comments section.
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