Will Thomson, who organised the Scottish Festival of Economics, at which I spoke recently, has been chasing other presenters and me at that festival since then for a recommended book or books that he might share with the 600 or so people who were engaged with the festival over the three days over which it ran.
This did, I admit, present me with something of a dilemma. I am not a person who has favourites, nor am I someone who creates lists. An invitation to take part in Desert Island Discs would be my idea of a nightmare because of the issues it would raise in determining selection criteria for just eight pieces of music to be played. The same is pretty much true of books.
The reason there are cases full of books behind me when I make videos is that, over a period of 50 years, I have accumulated a lot of them and disposed of very few. Some, I admit, would never make it to any reading list that I would now prepare, but a great many could. As a result, I spent some time considering this request before sending my response to Will last night. This is what I had to say.
I actually want to suggest two books to you, neither of which is glaringly obvious.
The first is John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics by Richard Parker, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2005. The book is, of course, a biography of John Kenneth Galbraith, who I consider to be the second most important economist of the 20th century, after John Maynard Keynes. I chose the book rather than one of Galbraith's own because this mammoth biography explains Galbraith, his thinking, his impact, and his philosophy of action. I share his belief that a philosophy of action is much more important than technical finesse when it comes to economics, where far too much time is spent discussing the nuance of ideas and literature, and far too little on how solutions that might change the world for the better are created.
The second is The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen, which was dedicated to the memory of John Rawls and published by Allen Lane in 2009. Rawls massively influenced my thinking on the concept of justice, and Sen took that thinking further as one of the very few empathetic political economic philosophers. He as asked some of the most fundamental questions that few in political economy do, such as what does it mean to live well, what does it mean to avoid needless suffering, and what does it mean to be genuinely free in the context of everyday life. His emphasis was on what people are actually able to do and be, or what their capabilities are, and that is the question that I think MMT helps answer. When most of economics is shallow, evasive, and apparently devoid of ethics, Sen put fundamental and even existential questions at the centre of his economic thinking.
In this sense, Sen and Galbraith perfectly complement each other in their concern about the consequences of what we, as economists, do, and that is why I think they are so important.
Those choices surprise me. I stood and looked at my shelves, and these are what I came up with. I am not pretending that I could not have come up with something else. I am not suggesting that there are not other equally meaningful books on there, including some very good ones published more recently on themes often discussed here, which are well worth spending time on, but my choices last night were justified for the reasons I note, and I think they are significant.
But why share this here, and now? That is because we have also thought that a reading list might be of interest on this blog. James has been doing some preparatory work on this and has proposed ordering such a list under various headings, such as MMT, neoliberalism, politics, and so on, all of which make sense to me. Whether the list might be a separate page on the blog or a page in the glossary, which would make it easier to link to it more often, is an issue not yet resolved.
However, if you have a book that you think should be included in such a list, we are open to suggestions. Might you make these in the order of title, author, year of publication, publisher, and a link to the book, preferably on a site such as Bookshop.org or AbeBooks, together with a short note, maybe 50 to 100 words at most, as to why you think it is important? Please do so in the comments below. You are not restricted to one book, but please also do not get excessive. The selection process is important here. I will also apologise and say that I doubt I will be able to respond to all suggestions. Please do, then, accept my thanks in advance.
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Richard
I have so many books but at the top of my list is 2015’s ‘The Joy of Tax’.
Tax gets such a bad rap – misunderstood, hated (associated with death for goodness sake) and your book attempted to shatter that with a measured, calm exposition of what it really does.
It maybe that an updated version might be a good idea – the use of tax with MMT and the problems created by under taxing (the growing threat to demcoracy by oligarchs) but it still stands up today for me.
I’ll see what everyone else comes up with.
I guess it could be in there…..
You stood up for tax; tax is extremely misunderstood as is how money is really ‘made’. The effects of these misunderstandings are all around us. I’m not brown-nosing here. I’m deadly serious, thank you.
Thanks
Roger Bootle – The Trouble with Europe: Why the EU Isn’t Working
Bootle gets it spot on. He says the EU suffers from the euro’s fatal flaws — trapping diverse economies in one rigid currency, causing chronic unemployment, low growth, and lost competitiveness in the South. It is also undemocratic, over-regulated, and obsessed with ever-closer union. Solutions: radically loosen integration, cut red tape, restore national sovereignty, and allow weaker countries to exit the euro for devaluation and recovery. He may divide opinion but his arguments are solid.
Boogie is unlikely to make any cut here. He has never yet promoted a worthwhile idea.
OK – two books about austerity:
‘Austerity – The History of a Dangerous Idea’ – Mark Blyth (Oxford University Press, 2013) – basically sets out that the technical economic aims and objectives are pure testicular material.
‘The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism’ – Clara Mattei (University of Chicago, 2022) – Mattei does to Austerity what Nancy MacLean did to Public Choice Theory – she goes and looks into the archives and papers (primary research sources) of those who invented it and reveals austerity to be nothing but ideological and certainly authoritarian in nature and practical use – ergo, the destablisation of democratic society and remaking of society under the auspices of capital.
These two books make clear the mens rea and actus reus elements of austerity practioners.
Since Mike Parr put me onto Abby Innes, I hope that he can talk about her book.
Both first rate choices
Perhaps to add a little bit of levity, may I recommend Terry Pratchett’s ‘Men at Arms’, part of the Discwirld series. It has the wonderful “Sam Vimes’ ‘Boots’ Theory of Socio-Economic unfairness. Very briefly the Police Captain earns 38 dollars a month. He wears boots all the time at work. When he needs new boots he can only afford 10 dollar boots which last about 6 months and usually let the water in. If he could buy 50 dollar boots they would last for years and keep his feet dry all of that time. But he cannot afford them, so he ends up paying a lot more for an inferior product.
It perfectly sums up the cost of being poor in modern society.
Noted
I think Robert Westall’s Futuretrack 5 is a fascinating look at near future Britain where tech has taken over our lives and the class system is authoritively embedded. It’s not a long book and perhaps tries to fit a lot of ideas on without exploring all of them but it holds a special place in my heart.
I think you could twin it with Riddley Walker by Russel Hoban for a much darker look far post apocalyptic Britain.
Could you recommend some reading for James Meadway? He rubbished MMT in an interview with the Green Ed Poole, then in a DM to me said it’s a bad description. He seems to have the ‘issue money ad lib’ stereotype or is deliberately trashing it, which is my view. Not good for the Greens given the position he’s popped up in
Search Meadway on this blog
The Marxist view on money assumes we are still on the gold standard, and that money gets its value from the labour inherent in gold’s production. It is all rather bizarre. The problem is he asks all the wrong questions. MMT needs better answers, I agree. But Marxism is not providing it.
This is his root article.
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/06/against-modern-monetary-theory
“Our Money” by Malcolm Henry (I think you just might have a copy)
I did not find it helpful, and in many places it was just wrong.
I’ve mentioned before that this week’s bedtime reading is The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. Not a book on economics but a zoologists view of the human animal who’s instincts and behaviour are at the core of all our discussions. Controversial when first published in 1967 it was always intended to be an easy read for everyone rather than an academic textbook.
Similarly un-economic but also very informative regarding human behaviour, specifically regarding altruism to those close to us versus agression to those who are not, is Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. Possibly the most significant description ever written of how evolution works in practice this is a much longer read but the talking book, narrated by Dawkins himself and his wife Lalla Ward, is an excellent alternative to Led Zeppelin or Mozart when commuting.
Both books are available for kindle on Amazon.
Thanks
Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapters 12 to 15, is worth a look.
Great thread! Some great titles noted that I will investigate.
The Real Meaning of Money, by Dorothy Rowe and The Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Perkins, 3rd edition 2023.
Thanks
The Paradox of Debt by Richard Vague. Introduced me to the shocking (but in retrospect, obvious) idea that GDP growth requires money supply growth and this means more debt. Public debt and/or Private debt must grow and almost all crises come from excess private debt. We need debt but it always causes a crisis.
Good one
Thanks
I found Credo by Brian Davey very useful for exposing the flaws in conventional economic assumptions and offering different perspectives on alternatives.
It’s out of print now, but you can download the PDF for free at https://credoeconomics.com/
Thanks
it was “Kicking Away the Ladder” by Ha Joon Chang that finally shattered my illusions re neoliberalism.
it’s a bit more academic and dry in parts, but he’s since written a lot more engaging stuff aimed at a non-academic audience.
so I’d recommend his work in general for very clearly explaining why neoliberalism/laissez faire in general does not explain how economies actually develop.
Thanks
Macroeconomics by Mitchell, Wray and Watts is the only textbook of which I’m aware that fully details macroeconomics with an MMT understanding of fiat money and debt.
Thanks
A couple of books come to mind:
23 things they don’t tell you about capitalism, Ha-Joon Chang, 2011. Published by Penguin: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism by Chang, Ha-Joon: Good (2011) | WeBuyBooks
And
Vulture Capitalism: How to survive in an age of corporate greed, Grace Blakely, 2024. Published by Bloomsberry: Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakeley, Grace Blakeley: New (2025) | GreatBookPricesUK
23 Things was a huge eyeopener that was introduced to me when studying my degree in Sustainable Rural Development and pushed me to develop my understanding of how we’ve gone wrong so that in practice I could try to do better.
Vulture Capitalism I read last year and in many ways lays out something of a map of how neoliberalism has got us to where we are as well as setting out suggestions for how we might overturn that status quo and replace it with something that’s not only better, but that works.
Thanks
Thomas Piketty Capital and Ideology and also Capital in the 21st century are both illuminating takes on the inequality the world over. Sven Beckert, Capitalism reduces the history of Capitalism to 1100 pages and makes you acknowledge how much Capitalism has changed. Point being, because we’re fixed in a particular moment we accept it as unchanging, which couldn’t be further from truth.
Thanks
Sorry, one more from me. The Invisible Doctrine by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison. Published 2025 by Penguin:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Invisible-Doctrine-George-Monbiot-Peter-Hutchison/32238691296/bd
This one is rather more of a compact read, though none the worse for it. What stood out in particular to me was the chapter on the rapacious resource consumption by Portuguese sugar plantations that set the template for industrialised capitalism that we’re still seeing today. It was both eye-opening and at the same time rage inducing that for all of the steps forward, endless growth and consumption of finite resources with wanton abandon is still the prevailing thinking.
Thanks