Make sense of the economic mess with a good book

30 April 2010

The economy was the subject of last night's televised pre-election leader's debate. Trying to determine where the differences between the parties lie, require some ideological and historical analysis, as full scrutiny of the leaders words is possibly less useful than trying to guess the omitted details of their parties prospective programme.

The economy is considered to be the single most important issue of concern to voters in next week's General Election, and we know that the UK budget deficit is so enormous that the country risks having its credit rating downgraded. Constantly the politicians and economists debate the pro's and con's of austerity measures versus the expansion of government spending, but unless you have a Masters in macro economics it is impossible to be certain of the right approach to tackling the deficit, and this perhaps is why many people are struggling to know which way to vote, and let's face it - we have no confidence in the integrity of any politicians at the moment.

However, perhaps we can try and make some sense of the economic issues that challenge the country in the future, and perhaps will challenge us as individuals in the management of our personal and household finances. For those who do have capital, is now the time to buy assets, or would saving for a rainy day, which is surely around the corner, make more sense.

The answers to these and many more financial questions are available in a selection of popular books on economics and finance, available here at find-book.

Stabilising an Unstable Economy by Hyman P. Minsky – A thesis about the crisis prone nature of capitalist markets, that revolve around risk taking lending practices which inevitably result in boom and bust government finance.  Minsky predicted the banking credit crisis and explains how this situation could be avoided. His views are experiencing invigorated political interest.

Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and why it Matters for Global Capitalism (Hardcover) by G A Akerlof and R J Shiller –The authors explain the reasons for the current financial crisis and explain and how Keynes theories would help resolve it and prevent reoccurrence.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything and SuperFreakonmics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers should Buy Life Insurance by S D Levitt and S J Dubner – Both books look at the reasons behind bizarre economic statistics, in an exceptionally absorbing and entertaining style.

The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means, by Vince Cable –discusses and explains with clarity, both the national and global economic crisis, its implications, and his view for the best route out of it.

Who Runs Britain?: And Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess we're in, by Robert Peston – Peston was the first to break the news of the near collapse of Britain's banks. He describes in details why it happened, and explains all those incomprehensible terms such as, 'hedge funds' and 'toxic waste'. Peston asks and answers 'who stole our pensions?' and why the gap between the rich and poor has got wider during the regime of the Labour Party; which professes an ideological vision to protect the vulnerable.

Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed by Paul Mason – BBC Newsnight Correspondent has a down to earth way of explaining macro-economics. He explores the causes of the crisis and considers the impact of a new era of hyper regulation.

The abundance of the last decade came to a grinding halt during the banking crisis. In the future every penny will count. Therefore don't forget that the principle of our service is to find books at the cheapest price in real time, in order that you are able to get the best deals.