10 Books that Changed the Way I Think (2)
1)The Declining Worker Power Hypothesis- @annastansbury +Summers
Examines rising markups and increasing capital share, focusing on worker power. Particularly insightful imo is the focus on distribution of econ rents, based on bargaining 2) How to Pay For the War - Keynes (2)
Written during WW2, Keynes here engages in the practical problems associated with running a war economy at full capacity. A deeply piece, showing how the macro policy and social justice can work together

10 Books that Changed the Way I Think
1) Capitalism, Alone - @BrankoMilan Milanovic is a leading expert on global inequality. This book combines a rich and detailed understanding of the stats, with a deep appreciation of political economy and ideology. V much shapes my views here

https://twitter.com/the_wilderless/status/1786105476981182753

2) Economic Philosophy + An Essay on Marxian Economics - Joan Robinson
Reading Robinson's popular works taught me it is possible to combine deep criticism of prevailing ideas with "no nonsense", concise language. Absolutely recommend these 2.

10 Excellent Books for Policy Minded Progressives (2)
1) Inequality - Tony Atkinson
Absolutely THE book on inequality and what can be done about it. Atkinson was a giant in the profession and this book reflects this, covering everything from tech to tax. 2) Development as Freedom - Amartya Sen
A wonderful overview of Sen's policy views, definitely not just for developing countries. Book for instance covers: means testing, theory of democracy, and the capability approach.

10 Excellent Books for Policy Minded Progressives
1) Good Economics for Hard Times - Banerjee + Duflo.
Great, entertaining overview of current areas of debate and what the empirics currently suggest. Great reference book, topics ranging from growth to trade to immigration. 2) Making Social Spending Work - Peter H Lindert
Lindert is a great historian on social spending stats. This is a wonderful overview of the area: showing the tremendous importance of welfare expenditures relative to charity, and the tax + spend efficiency of the welfare state.

10 Great Historical Books (2)
1) Pax Economica - @MWPalen
A wonderful recent work, covering an often forgotten history, left wing visions of free trade. Covers: radical liberals, socialist, feminist and radical Christian groups, and reasons for the decline in this thought 2) The Economic Consequences of the US Mobilisation for the Second World War - Alexander J Field
A fantastic recent work reassessing the long run growth effects of WW2 on the USA. Interesting implications for growth theory and TFP calculations.

10 Excellent Papers on Inequality
1) What is the Point of Equality? Elizabeth S Anderson
A terrific exploration of egalitarian frameworks, critiquing "luck egalitarianism" in favour of her own "democratic equality" framework. Fantastic place to start.
jstor.org/stable/10.1086…
2) Economic Growth and Income Inequality - Simon Kuznets
A giant in inequality discourse, this paper remains a classic. While the 'Kuznets Curve' would be contradicted by later events, its depth and nuance makes it still worth reading.
jstor.org/stable/1811581

10 Great Papers to Expand Your Econ Frameworks
1) Rational Fools - Amartya Sen
Sen at his best, engaging with Econ models whilst having a strong philosophical background. This paper presents insightful challenges to revealed preference theory.
jstor.org/stable/2264946
2) Restoration of Welfare Economics - Anthony Atkinson
Convincingly argues for economists explicitly justifying the ethical criteria for their welfare statements, which are unavoidable in most workable economic models. V short and definitely worth reading. jstor.org/stable/29783733

10 Favourite Economics Books (4)
1) Economics in America - @DeatonAngus
A wonderful collection of musings from a leading economist of welfare and inequality. Covers topics ranging from healthcare, to pensions, to broader questions of what economics is for. Absolutely recommend. 2) Career & Family - Claudia Goldin
Terrific work, analysing the gender wage gap for US college educated women over the last century. Argues "greedy jobs" explain most of the remaining barriers, as they exclude people with caring responsibilities.

10 Favourite Economics Books (3)
1) Who Gets What and Why - Alvin E Roth
Terrific introduction to matching theory, covering real world uses from university applications to coffee beans. Roth's research on kidney exchanges has saved many lives, definitely worth engaging with. 2) Making Social Spending Work - Peter H Lindert.
Lindert is a great historian on social spending stats. This is a wonderful overview of the area: showing the tremendous importance of welfare expenditures relative to charity, and the tax + spend efficiency of the welfare state.

10 Favourite Economics Books (2)
1) Economics Rules - @rodrikdani
A robust defence of economic modelling, as well as its flaws. Would recommend to anyone unsure why economists are so obsessed with 'models', and why they matter for policy formation. 2) Bigger Government - Marc Robinson
An excellent primer on the government's biggest expenses and what will shape them in the future.
The scale of expenditures is something often missed in discourse on public spending. Covers medical technology, dependency ratio, cost disease etc

10 Great Books on Economics and Legal Institutions
1) The Code of Capital - Katharina Pistor
This work begins with a simple formula: capital = assets + legal code. In detailing the ways the law creates capital it'll revolutionise the way you understand this important concept. 2) The Progressive Assault on Laissez Faire - Barbara H Fried
Robert Hale is often forgotten but v much worth revisiting. A legal realist, he wrote persuasively about how the state creates markets and property rights. Great read.

10 Terrific Books by Female Economists
1) Career & Family- Claudia Goldin
Great work, analysing the gender wage gap for US college educated women over the last century. Argues "greedy jobs" explain most of the remaining gap, as they exclude people with caring responsibilities 2) Economic Philosophy + An Essay on Marxian Economics - Joan Robinson
A profession dissident, Robinson both contributed to modern models and was later deeply critical of the field's foundations. These 2 are short, well written, and question the philosophical foundations of Econ.

10 Favourite Economics Books
1) Inequality - Tony Atkinson
Absolutely THE book on inequality and what can be done about it. Atkinson was a giant in the profession and this book reflects this, covering everything from tech to tax. Incredible considering its moderate length. 2)Creating A Learning Society - @JosephEStiglitz + Greenwald.
This gem begins with the insight: when technology is endogenous, the presumption of perfect competition leading to efficiency breaks down. An excellent primer on why growth promoting policy can be so complicated.

Great Introductions to Economics
1) Overall Introduction
Economics in 2 Lessons - @JohnQuiggin
Quiggin manages to present economics simply, while keeping the limitations and contingency of models front of mind. A great starting material to understand the basics (and more). 2) Intro to Economic Thought
The Worldly Philosophers - Robert Heilbroner.
Probably the most accessible Econ book, detailing the lives and theories of the great economists. Apologies this book keeps coming up in lists but it transcends categories.

Wonderful rundown of problems with means testing from Amartya Sen
1) Information Distortion
Any policing system to find welfare "cheaters" will result in some needy people missing out on benefits. This is a consequence of asymmetric information, it can't be fully eliminated 2) Incentive Distortion
Means testing acts similarly to a tax, withdrawn benefits reducing disposable income. This can result in very high effective marginal tax on lower income earners, which may discourage productive activities

Here goes:
10 Great Policy Books (2020-23)
1) The Economics of the Welfare State - Nicholas Barr
The main textbook on welfare state econ and still a classic. Covers everything from theories of just distribution to pensions to health insurance. Great starting resource.

https://twitter.com/GrattanInst/status/1749266893989380510

2) Bigger Government - Marc Robinson
An excellent primer on the government's biggest expenses and what will shape them in the future. The scale of expenditures is something often missed in discourse on public spending.

10 Excellent Short Econ Books (<300 pages) (2)
1) The Great Demographic Reversal - Goodhart + Pradhan (280 pages)
Great example of grand economic theory, arguing that the aging of the world population can explain macroecon trends over the past decades and into the future. 2) Cogs and Monsters - @DianeCoyle1859 (272 pages)
An incredibly interesting and candid discussion on how economists should adapt in a changing society and economy. Pretty comprehensive, including discussions of diversity, technology, individualism etc.

10 Great Books on Globalisation
Global Inequality - @BrankoMilan
1) An excellent place to start, focusing on global inequality and it's evolution. This work combines economics with ideology and polices examining the changing importance class and nationality over centuries. Six Faces of Globalisation - @AntheaERoberts + @nicolas_lamp
2) Amazing overview of the topic, presenting 6 competing narratives people have about globalisation. It's worth engaging with all of them, challenge your priors and learn other worldviews.

10 Excellent Works on Ethics and Economics to Expand Your Framework
1) Economics for the Common Good - Jean Tirole
A great defence of orthodox welfare frameworks. Good place to start if you're not familiar with why econs reason how they do. This is covered in the first few parts. 2) Justice - Michael J Sandel
Absolutely THE best general introduction to major ethical frameworks (utilitarian, Rawls, Kant etc) I've found, also available on YouTube as a lecture series. Not Econ focused but essential prior knowledge.

10 Lateral Thinkers to Challenge Your Economic Priors
1) Albert Hirschman
A truly extraordinary life, Hirschman was a Republican soldier in the Spanish Civil War, Nuremberg interpretor, economist and political theorist. His work is truly interdisciplinary and he's a great writer. 2) Joan Robinson
Robinson both invented much of modern imperfect competition theory, and was later one of mainstream econ's harshest critics. Economic Philosophy is an easy and concise read for those new to her writing, which challenges the philosophical foundations of economics

10 Excellent Short Econ Books (<300 pages)
1) The Haves and the Have Nots - @BrankoMilan (272 pages)
Terrific, accessible short intro to inequality and the economic ideas around it, presented with memorable vignettes such as "who was the richest person ever?" Definitely recommend 2) An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation- Amartya Sen (270 pages)
1980s Sen text which changed the way we understand famines (The Entitlement Approach). The approach is also useful way to understand distribution in general, and forms the basis of Sen's later capability approach