I was first introduced to Economics in High School. I was fortunate enough to take an Advancement Placement (AP) Economics course with one of the best teachers of my academic career so far. Indeed, there is a direct correlation between Mr. Jameson and my score of 4/5 on the AP test. To say his class sparked an interest in economics is an understatement; Mr. Jameson's class continues to serve as my foundation for econ and has led me to actively seek information on economics.
A mandatory read for Mr. Jameson's econ class was Charles Wheelan's Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (and quite frankly this should be a mandatory read for all). Wheelan's witty insights into macroeconomics are very moderate and very well written. Unless, you are so conservative as to be blind to simple, straightforward facts, you too will find this an interesting and enjoyable read. I might add this book had 110 consumer reviews of 5/5 and only 3 reviews of 1/5... those that didn't like it labeled it "strongly influenced by liberal left ideas."
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Economics-Undressing-Dismal-Science/dp/0393324869/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237512728&sr=8-1
In hindsight, the three main points I got out of this book are that:
1. Markets are amoral; the markets do not care if a person makes money selling Coca-Cola or selling cocaine. The markets also does not care about the "losers" in a capitalist system. Did you just go outta business because the Wal-Mart down the street took all your customers with their smiley face man and their "Always Low Prices"? Tough, that's capitalism at work.
2. Incentives matter. Growing up poor (relatively speaking) was a helluva good incentive for me to go to school and make something of myself. An unattended $100 laying around is also a perverse incentive for me to steal. (Hey, I have bills to pay...)
3. Finally, no matter what anyone may say, there must always be government regulation in place for any market to properly function period. However, government regulations should be there to help the markets run smoothly, not hinder them.
When I reread the book, a little over a year after Mr. Jameson's class, these points were again drilled into my head; the thought of reading Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street was also revisited and this time I had a much bigger University library at my disposal...
