Peter Temin on An Economic Historian’s Favourite Books
Distinguished economic historian, Peter Temin, talks us through some of his favourite books. His own latest book, The Vanishing Middle Class, charts America’s regression towards a pre-industrial society: with many poor, a few rich, and not much in between.
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1
Fluttering Veil: Essays on Monetary Disequilibrium
by Leland Yeager -
2
Money Mischief: Episodes in Monetary History
by Milton Friedman -
3
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
4
The Midas Paradox: Financial Markets, Government Policy Shocks and the Great Depression
by Scott B. Sumner -
5
The Great Recession: Market Failure or Policy Failure?
by Robert L. Hetzel
The best books on Monetary Policy, recommended by Lars Christensen
The best books on Monetary Policy, recommended by Lars Christensen
Monetary policy isn’t just about setting interest rates and if we think about it in those terms, we’ll never really understand it, says Danish economist Lars Christensen. Here, he recommends books to better understand monetary policy, and explains why reading about the past is so important for avoiding mistakes in the future.
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1
The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present
by David S Landes -
2
Growth Recurring: Economic Change in World History
by Eric Jones -
3
The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
by Robert C. Allen -
4
The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain 1700–1850
by Joel Mokyr -
5
Forging Ahead, Falling Behind and Fighting Back: British Economic Growth from the Industrial Revolution to the Financial Crisis
by Nicholas Crafts
The best books on Industrial Revolution, recommended by Sheilagh Ogilvie
The best books on Industrial Revolution, recommended by Sheilagh Ogilvie
The Industrial Revolution transformed the world forever by enabling self-perpetuating economic growth. But historians are still at odds about why the industrial revolution happened where it did and when it did. Here, Sheilagh Ogilvie, Chichele Professor of Economic History at All Souls College, Oxford, guides us through the debates and why they are still relevant today.
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1
The Dutch Revolt
by Geoffrey Parker -
2
The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500–1815
by Ad van der Woude & Jan de Vries -
3
The Dutch Moment: War, Trade and Settlement in the Seventeenth Century Atlantic World
by Wim Klooster -
4
Calvinists and Libertines: Confession and Community in Utrecht, 1578-1620
by Benjamin J. Kaplan -
5
Rembrandt's Universe: His Art, His Life, His World
by Gary Schwartz
The best books on The Dutch Golden Age, recommended by Maarten Prak
The best books on The Dutch Golden Age, recommended by Maarten Prak
The Netherlands witnessed a flourishing in the late 16th and first half of the 17th century, leading the world in technology, commerce and the arts, particularly painting. Historian Maarten Prak recommends five books to help you understand why the Dutch Golden Age saw the invention of stock exchanges and why it produced Rembrandt, too.
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1
The Passions and the Interests
by Albert Hirschman -
2
The Worldly Philosophers
by Robert L Heilbroner -
3
The Classical Economists Revisited
by D. P. O'Brien -
4
Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet and the Enlightenment
by Emma Rothschild -
5
Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life
by Jonathan Sperber
The Best Books on the Classical Economists, recommended by Brad DeLong
The Best Books on the Classical Economists, recommended by Brad DeLong
They were an eclectic bunch, including, among others, a stock market speculator, a moral philosopher, a cleric, a lawyer and a journalist. From the late-18th to the mid-19th century, they provided the first systematic explanations of how economies work, where they fail and how they might be made to work better. Here, Brad DeLong, a professor of economics at UC Berkeley, introduces the classical economists, and suggests books to read to learn more about them and what they were trying to achieve.
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1
Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists
by Luigi Zingales & Raghuram G Rajan -
2
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
by Albert Hirschman -
3
Antitrust Paradox
by Robert H. Bork -
4
Lectures on Antitrust Economics
by Michael D. Whinston -
5
Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
by E. Glen Weyl & Eric A. Posner
The best books on Market Competition, recommended by Jason Furman
The best books on Market Competition, recommended by Jason Furman
Despite the large number of brands, most Americans buy their beer from just two companies. Consumer choice in the new digital economy is hardly better. Economist Jason Furman, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama and now a professor at Harvard, recommends books to better understand market competition.
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1
The Interesting Narrative
by Olaudah Equiano -
2
Capitalism and Slavery
by Eric Williams -
3
The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas
by David Eltis -
4
Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving Port 1727-1892
by Robin Law -
5
American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia
by Edmund S Morgan
The best books on The Slave Trade, recommended by William A. Pettigrew
The best books on The Slave Trade, recommended by William A. Pettigrew
In the 17th and 18th century millions of Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas as slaves. This trade took place at the same time as ‘liberal’ ideas about the importance of human freedom took root in Great Britain and North America. Here, historian William A. Pettigrew recommends five books to help understand the slave trade, how it was established, why it flourished and why it was eventually abolished.
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1
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
2
Macroeconomic Effects from Government Purchases and Taxes
by Robert Barro -
3
Identifying Government Spending Shocks
by Valerie Ramey -
4
Essays on the Great Depression
by Ben Bernanke -
5
The Great Depression in the United States from a Neoclassical Perspective
by Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian
The best books on The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
The best books on The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
Harvard macroeconomist Robert Barro takes issue with some common assumptions about the Great Depression, and how America got out of it.
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1
Mercantilism
by Eli F. Heckscher -
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Nationalism
by Elie Kedourie -
3
The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931
by Adam Tooze -
4
Economic Nationalism in Old and New States
by Harry G. Johnson -
5
The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era
by Barry Eichengreen
The best books on Economic Nationalism, recommended by Fredrik Erixon
The best books on Economic Nationalism, recommended by Fredrik Erixon
Economic nationalism is more than just protectionism, it is rooted in a view of the national economy as a unique national phenomenon that needs protecting. As economist Fredrik Erixon explains, its roots are to be found as much in the progressive nationalism of Woodrow Wilson as they are in 19th century Prussia or the mercantilism of 17th century Europe.
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1
A Brief History of Neoliberalism
by David Harvey -
2
Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism
by Quinn Slobodian -
3
The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–1979
by Michel Foucault -
4
Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution
by Wendy Brown -
5
Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism
by Melinda Cooper
The best books on Neoliberalism, recommended by Gary Gerstle
The best books on Neoliberalism, recommended by Gary Gerstle
Neoliberalism is, arguably, the dominant political and economic ideology of the Western world, although its dominance is contested and the ills of the world are often laid at its door. Here Cambridge historian Gary Gerstle discusses five books that will help you understand neoliberalism’s origins, its ambitions and why it has been supported and opposed with such partisanship.