Economics Recommendations?

[Gill]

The recent Northern Rock run has made me aware of how much economics theory I've forgotten since I studied it at 'A' level many moons ago. Heck, that was back in the days when economists reckoned chunky LCD watches were pretty cool, never mind calculators !

I saw Mervyn King being questioned by the House of Commons committee the other day and it occurred to me there were questions that could have been asked but weren't. I also saw a video on YouTube recently called "The Money Masters" which describes how monetary control can be used to manipulate the economy, but I'd rather learn more about it from independent sources because that programme undoubtedly had an agenda.

Can anyone suggest a good economics primer? Naked Economics - Undressing the Dismal Science appears to be popular on Amazon but that's no guarantee of quality.

Gill

 

[Paul Chapman]

Income £1 expendidture £1-0-6d...............

Reckon that covers it :wink:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[RogerS]

Can't really help on books but I find that if I buy the FT over a few days whenever something like this happens then there is a wide range of articles and topics which tend to be pretty factual.

I'm wondering if I can get the Bank of England to bail me out of all my gambling debts since that is what they appear to have done with Northern Rock.

 

[DomValente]

The Economist. Forbes, The FT.

Dom

 

[norman]

Hi Gill

Investers chronicle.The Economist. Forbes, The FT.


Regards
Norman

 

[Good Surname or what ?]

Interesting that they think Economics is a science

 

[mailee]

:? I used to have a LED watch once.

 

[devonwoody]

My theory on economics re the N.R would have been to let everyone draw out their money (let the BOE keep pumping it in) and it would have all come back to the BOE because people would have to put their money somewhere else and if it was a NR cheque the receiving bank should have been made to deposit it with the BOE.

I didn't study eonomics but I survived self employed for 33 years.

ps I didnt draw my money out of the NR. I reckoned a bounced cheque would perhaps not be covered by the depositers safety net!

 

[Gill]

I'm wondering if I can get the Bank of England to bail me out of all my gambling debts since that is what they appear to have done with Northern Rock.

Our presbyterian Prime Minister is hardly likely to help a sinner with his gambling debts, Roger , but it's intriguing that the Chancellor is looking at ways to guarantee some bank deposits. I'm also intrigued by Mervyn King's testimony to the House of Commons Select Committee that he was hamstrung by recent legislation. I can't believe Gordon Brown wouldn't have been aware of this legislation's potential impact. He's the man who hindered Tony Blair's Private Finance Initiative and sought to eliminate debt in Africa. He's recently said that he would like to see all the international governmental bodies restructured. Nikolas Sarkozy in France is confronting public sector workers in an attempt to reduce the National Debt.

The price of gold is at a record high and heading higher as the money supply is tightened. Something's going on behind the scenes in the world of high finance and I wish I was better informed. I used to tinker with the stock market back in the late 90s and fortunately I took my profits before the market crash. Although I read a variety of reputable publications such as the FT, Investors Chronicle, Shares Magazine and subscribed to various bulletins, none of them seemed to be better informed than me. But something didn't smell right then and it doesn't smell right now. I think I'll pop into Brum later today and see what the books stores have to offer. My unfamiliarity with global fiscal matters is beginning to worry me.

Gill

 

[Paul Chapman]

The price of gold is at a record high and heading higher as the money supply is tightened.

And one of the (many) daft things Gordon Brown did when he became Chancellor was to sell off a load of the UK's gold reserves :roll: How stupid was that.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Gill]

Yet he's not a stupid man, Paul; even his political foes will concede that. I can't accept that he did many daft things when he was chancellor - he's so cerebral he wouldn't know how to be daft even if he went on a course for clowns :lol:. At the time of that gold sale I wondered what was going on and I even questioned how much authority he personally exercised over it. Now I suspect he may have used the sale to convey a message that he wanted taking seriously.

There's a lot more going on than meets the eye. Although I'm not into party politics I'm beginning to suspect that Brown may be one of the shrewdest men to ever lead our country.

Gill

 

[Paul Chapman]

I can't accept that he did many daft things when he was chancellor

Well, I could give you a list as long as your arm - but better not or else this will get too political and I'll have the mods on my case

Let's just agree to differ. By the way, my original post about income £1, expenditure £1-0-6d was not meant to be flippant - it's not rocket science :wink:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

And one of the (many) daft things Gordon Brown did when he became Chancellor was to sell off a load of the UK's gold reserves :roll:

And all at once, thus further lowering the price #-o

By the way, my original post about income £1, expenditure £1-0-6d was not meant to be flippant

I assumed it was meant to be Dickens, not Flippant.

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

I assumed it was meant to be Dickens

You assumed right

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[devonwoody]

Why does it have to be annual income,

Why not 5 yearly income? 8)

Thats what chancellors do!

 

[Losos]

Gill,

Here's a couple from my bookshelf:-
Economics by Frederic Benham

The 'Economic Journal' said ...."This book has aquired a maturity and wisdom to be added to the qualities of accuracy and precision that it has long possesed........"

But be warned it's old & maybe out of print now.

A more modern and very good book IMO is:-
Economics by Paul A. Samuelson

The original text is also old but has been revised in the last ten years

If your looking for suggestions on investment (As opposed to economics) just PM me and I'll send you loads.

BTW you don't need to buy the FT every day, if you buy the Saturday edition you'll get a good coverage of the weeks activities. It's produced by a different team from the weekday edition and they therefore have more time to put it together and I always thought the quality was better.

If your nervous about the world economic status, so am I, and I put a lot down to the financial markets engaging in activities which are pure out and out gambling and should be banned IMO :x

 

[Gill]

By the way, my original post about income £1, expenditure £1-0-6d was not meant to be flippant - it's not rocket science :wink: l

Neither is fractional reserve banking . Using those principles, not only could Mr Micawber have balanced his books, he could have turned in a nice profit .

Anyway, I've got a couple of new books so I'm happy now . Having browsed the bookstores in Brum, I've come to the conclusion that the economics of book retail might bear closer analysis. Most of the textbooks cost around £40! Sheesh!

Gill

PS Just seen your post, Losos. I'll see if I can find the books you mention - thanks .

 

[engineer one]

interesting to see apparantly rational people consider mr brown to be a shrewd man :?

shrew politician yes, but as a financial guru, well :roll:

he studied at the school of adam smith, who stated that once taxes go above 10% all men will try to avoid paying as much as they can get away with, and yet does not employ any smith rules at all.

as a hospital patient on a regular basis these days, i can tell you that his so called reforms are not working, except to give a few people mega pay increases, and landing us with a long term increasing pension programme.
etc etc.

the conspiracy theory is an easy route to take, but does not hold water unfortunately. not least because at this time too much is going on with the american financial markets not to influence every body else.

remember that the usa is gonna be the worlds biggest consumer for years to come because china and india and other countries have a long way to go to bring the majority of their population up to the basic level in america.

one of the best books still to buy is adam smith.
:twisted:
paul :wink:

 

[StevieB]

Most of the textbooks cost around £40! Sheesh!

You should try looking at science textbooks - you can easily treble that price for a slim volume of say 150 pages depending on the topic! Course the smaller the market for the book the higher the price tag - having written a couple of chapters in books however I can say that the authors don't see any of it :evil:

Steve.

 

[Chris Knight]

I reckon economists and politicians are cut from the same cloth ("Never mind the quality, feel the width"). Both are masters of explaining the past and total crap at forecasting the future.

I think Willie Sutton had the best answer to basic economics ( I rob banks because that's where the money is). Mind you, Northern Rock might have given him pause for thought!