Kim Gentes

Prelude

This curriculum is intended for people who want to learn more about economics. Some of the materials are simple and easy to get through. Some of them are more detailed and will require more time. Even if you are already a studied person, I am guessing there will be material here that you can learn from. If you are a novice, this could help be a springboard for more study.

This curriculum is comprised of three things:

1. This curriculum introduction, overview and outline provided on this page.
2. The accompanying reading list
3. The recommended (though optional) assignments.

This information is presented here with no obligation.  The resources/books are your responsibility. They are not included and you must find access to them on your own. Even if you are not an avid reader, there is still a good reason to take this curriculum- all of the listed books readings are available through audio products such as audio books and apps. So, for those who don't feel they would read the volume of pages the materials that this program requires, you could theoretically listen your way through this entire curriculum. This may be the only reading program you can actually complete it without doing any reading! That said, I do highly recommend reading as much as you can, even if you listen to audio as a guide while reading through the books. If you have questions, feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

Economics at Your Own Pace: A Guided Reading Program with Kim Gentes

Economics is a generic term that is often narrowly interpreted. People see the word and decide it means "how to run your checking account" or "how investments work" or "how the government reports on inflation and interest rates". The truth is the term  economics is a broader term. And even its general definition is actually widely debated across scholarly authorities.

I will start with a very general definition.

economics - the study of scarcity and related use of resources.

This definition would fit for almost everything that might generally be categorized under the term. However, while this is a good generalization, it is so cautious as to be almost useless.

But Oxford, Webster and Wikipedia (and others) all have a hard time concisely agreeing on a common rendering of the concept. This is partly because, for over 200 years, economics has been tightly coupled with governance and government. In fact, in the early 20th century the primary scholarly term that was used was political economy. The reasoning for it had to do with the direct relationship that many took for understanding the purpose of societal governance and its unwritten (but assumed) responsibility to properly manage the resources of said society for the betterment of its members. But that doesn't mean economics isn't about handling your checking account, or investing money well or managing the fiscal responsibilities of a central bank and its setting of interest rates. Each of those are part of economics, but not all of it.

Central to economics is action in the form of decision making.

While not a definition, I would suggest that at the core of a discussion about economics is an acknowledgement of scarcity (quantified limits) and the development of a decision process (justification) which leads to use of those limited resources (expenditures).

What I propose here is a curriculum of reading that will lead you through some (in my opinion) excellent books on economics. The order is purposeful so that you can start with a good overview and build out from there. If you read them in that order, it may help grow an understanding and appreciation for the subject by having appropriate concepts in mind as you move to further reading. I generally have arranged this reading to start here with an overview, add some historical context and go from there into more specifics of technical and political economics study.

I also want to be clear on something. This reading list is one I recommend from my studies. It is not neutral, but I do believe it is generous while being pointed. I have included works both that I personally agree with (such as The Road to Serfdom, which is strongly focused on political economy and the results of economic thinking to political power) and those I didn't agree with from a political standpoint (such as Debt: The First 5000 Years), because I wanted to give the reader a balance of understanding that didn't explicitly exclude some important viewpoints. That said, this reading list is heavily influenced by my viewpoint and perspective. I am a solidly free market economy proponent, with important constraints and divergences.  In the readings here you will find broad sketches of many political economic viewpoints (such as those that are interested in ideas I don't agree with such as controlled and command economies, socialism and more), but if you wanted detailed learning on political theories focused and fashioned for those arcs, this will not be the program for you. If you are interested in The General Theory by Keynes or The Communist Manifesto by Marx, you won't find them on this reading list, though I do think reading them is helpful once this curriculum is complete. You will be more complete in your understanding if you read things you both agree and disagree with. That said, Keynes and Marx economic theses are covered (as are all main contributors to the field) in their contributions, main theories and essential critiques by the material herein (especially Skousen's The Making of Modern Economics).

Each book/resource listed has a link to my review included to help you before you begin each one. While this curriculum list of books is readable by all people, there are a couple of books which are more scholarly in their approach because of the audience intended (such as von Mises Human Action). They will be more arduous to get through.  But I highly encourage you to read them in any case. The value you will receive from these books will be directly proportionate to the struggle you make to digest them. Conversely, some books are both easily understood and simply written for the exact purpose of reaching a broader audience (such as Economics In One Lesson). Despite the simpler approach in these books, they provide excellent understanding and learning that should not be passed over because they are not written for a scholarly, technical audience.

Economics at Your Own Pace: Program Reading List (in order)

Were you to read this material and do the assignments (below) in a college format, this would be comparable to a 10 credit program in economics (9 credits for the courses and their assignments, and one additional for the major assignment). Given there are no lectures with this program, the credit values are diminished from a program that included weekly time investments of listening to a professor. That said, the pages and hours listed on each book are the publisher listed size of the book or hours of audio content. If you are a good student, you will be spending much more time than the listenable audio content hours studying the materials. Reading and re-reading, note-taking, preparation and writing for each assignment will flesh out approximately 40 hours per credit hour alloted to each course. As a guideline, I would give yourself 2 months for each course. This eases you into the program with a medium first course, then 3 heavier courses in the middle, and ending on 2 easier courses with your major assignment. Completing the entire program should be easily digestable in one calendar year of study.

Course I - Overview  [1 credit]

1. The Making Of Modern Economics / Mark Skousen - (500 pages / 19.6 hours audio)

Course II - Historical Perspectives on Economics, Debt and Money  [2 credits]

1. Debt: The First 5000 Years / David Graeber - (544 pages / 17.75 hours audio)
2. The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History of the World / Niall Ferguson - (442 pages / 11.5 hours audio)

Course III - Foundations of Free Market Capitalism  [2 credits]

1. The Wealth of Nations / Adam Smith - (1130 pages / 45.5 hours audio)

Course IV - 20th Century Political Economy and Its Fruits  [2 credits]

1. Human Action: A Treatise On Economics / Ludwig von Mises - (912 pages / 47.75 hours audio)
2. The Road to Serfdom / F. A. Hayek - (283 pages / 11.5 hours audio)

Course V - Practical Understanding of Economics  [1 credit]

1. Economics In One Easy Lesson / Henry Hazlit - (218 pages / 7 hours audio)
2. 50 Economic Ideas You Really Need To Know / Edmund Conway - (208 pages / 6.75 hours audio)

Course VI - Economics in Application [1 credit]

1. To Sell Is Human / Daniel Pink - (272 pages / 6.1 hours audio)
2. Earnings, Economics and Ecosystems: Discovering Your Divine Call / Kim Gentes - (4 pages)

The last two entries on the list are unique. Daniel Pink's To Sell Is Human is a book about sales, but about how the core of sales is economics (about resources) and how that intersects with human need. Even if you don't like sales (and I hate it) I feel this book is an excellent application of economic theory to human practical engagement. The final entry is an article by yours truly. It focuses on the impact of economics and personal earnings as part of the the concepts that need to be explored as you look for your sense of a life's calling in vocation. Again, this is another example of practical application of economic theory.

Optional Assignments:

1. Individual Course Assignments (for each book in each course) [credits already included in each course] - Write a short (2 to 4 paragraphs) summary of what you learned (agree or disagree) for each book read. Each summary should include:
   1. Book summary
   2. At least 2 citations/quotes (one that you agreed with and one that you disagreed with)
   3. Explanation on why you liked/disliked the quotes cited.
   4. Post your assignment online (to a blog, website, etc)
2. Major Project [additional 1 credit to program] - Write a 1500-2000 word essay about a single practical application derived from what you have learned about economics. If it is just an idea, that is fine. Flesh out the idea and its main concepts as a plan you would like to act on. If it is something you actually can use immediately (such as a budget for saving for college), turn it into a manual that someone else could use and include all the necessary steps and background needed for a novice to take your concept and put it into action.
   1. Post your major project online (to a blog, website, etc)

Finally, share your ideas and outcomes from this curriculum and readings. You can share them directly by sending them to me. But more than that, publish those ideas on your own blog, feed or other avenues to let others engage in a conversation with your learning. It could help both them and you!