Books like Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

01

Capitalism and Freedom

Milton Friedman · Economics

Capitalism and Freedom was published in 1962, and the ideas it contains had been circulating even longer — the book grew from lectures Friedman gave at a 1956 conference.

Shares individual liberty and monetary policy with Free to Choose: A Personal Statement.

02

The Road to Serfdom

F. A. Hayek · Politics

The Road to Serfdom, published in 1944, is Friedrich Hayek's argument that central economic planning is incompatible with political freedom and will, regardless of intent, produce a form of totalitarianism.

A kindred economics read.

03

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson · Economics

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson argue that the fundamental difference between rich and poor countries is not geography, culture, or bad luck.

A kindred economics read.

04

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith · Economics

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, is Adam Smith's comprehensive account of how modern commercial economies work and what policies promote prosperity.

Both dig into free markets.

05

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman · Psychology

Thinking, Fast and Slow is Daniel Kahneman's account of the two cognitive systems that govern human thought.

A kindred economics read.

06

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy

Thomas Sowell · Economics

Thomas Sowell published the first edition of Basic Economics in 2000 and has since revised and expanded it through five editions.

Both dig into government intervention.

07

Economics in One Lesson

Henry Hazlitt · Economics

Henry Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson in 1946, based on a single insight he credited to the nineteenth-century French economist Frédéric Bastiat: the difference between a good economist and a bad economist is that the good economist considers the effects of a policy on all groups, not just the immediately visible beneficiaries, and over the long run, not just the immediate term.

Both dig into free markets.

08

The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World

Johan Norberg · Economics

Johan Norberg has made a career of making the case that open markets have lifted more people out of poverty than any other force in human history, and The Capitalist Manifesto is his most direct statement of that argument.

Both dig into free markets.

09

America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve

Roger Lowenstein · History

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913, but the story of how it came into existence spans three decades and involves a level of political resistance, financial panic, and legislative maneuvering that makes the eventual outcome seem unlikely in retrospect.

Both dig into monetary policy.

10

100 to 1 in the Stock Market

Thomas Phelps · Economics

100 to 1 in the Stock Market, published in 1972 by Thomas Phelps, is a study of the conditions under which stocks return one hundred times an investor's original investment — and an argument that such stocks are more common and more identifiable in advance than most investors believe.

A kindred economics read.

11

A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Burton G. Malkiel · Economics

A Random Walk Down Wall Street is Burton Malkiel's argument that stock prices move in a way that is effectively unpredictable, that professional fund managers cannot consistently beat the market, and that the rational response for most investors is to buy and hold a diversified index fund.

A kindred economics read.

12

A Short History of Financial Euphoria

John Kenneth Galbraith · Economics

A Short History of Financial Euphoria is John Kenneth Galbraith's compressed account of speculative bubbles from the tulip mania of 1630s Holland through the 1987 US stock market crash.

A kindred economics read.