I read Principles of Economics by Mankiw. This is the only economics textbook I’ve read, so I’m not a great source for a recommendation, but I think this book is likely to be lead to a better understanding than a non-academically marketed book.
The table of contents is fairly detailed. (I’m able to view this under “Search inside this book”). You can see this is not a narrow text, but that no topic is dwelled on to the point of tedium. Each chapter is only 20-30 pages of so, and that covers an introduction, results, and examples. The examples (“In the news”/”Case Studies”) are clearly chosen to interest a layperson who has some interest in economics, including an introduction to some lesswrong staples like signaling and voting. There are introductory chapters that try to introduce the economic approach, but most of the meat is in inducting from the gazillion examples and topics presented. The headings for Chapter 23 (explaining GDP) are a good example of the background technical knowledge that this book assumes (almost none).
Remember also that textbooks are absolutely brimming with pictures and graphs, which seldom appear in large numbers in non-textbooks. This alone is a serious advantage of textbooks. In this case, there is also a little math involved, but the “Graphing: A Brief Review” section should give you an idea of the level required.
What are the weaknesses of the format? It’s doesn’t push the narrative-social-interest button. Meaning, it doesn’t follow a particular person through a particular story, which we’re hardwired to find interesting. Related to this, it’s also weak on history of economics. If I remember right, there are some nods to foundational figures (Adam Smith), and then a little bit on the evolution of modern macroeconomics.
I agree that textbooks are undervalued, but I’m still unsure that textbooks that meet my requirements exist.
Do you have any examples of textbooks that help a layperson understand economics in the way I envision that’s better than a more “popularized” book?
I read Principles of Economics by Mankiw. This is the only economics textbook I’ve read, so I’m not a great source for a recommendation, but I think this book is likely to be lead to a better understanding than a non-academically marketed book.
The table of contents is fairly detailed. (I’m able to view this under “Search inside this book”). You can see this is not a narrow text, but that no topic is dwelled on to the point of tedium. Each chapter is only 20-30 pages of so, and that covers an introduction, results, and examples. The examples (“In the news”/”Case Studies”) are clearly chosen to interest a layperson who has some interest in economics, including an introduction to some lesswrong staples like signaling and voting. There are introductory chapters that try to introduce the economic approach, but most of the meat is in inducting from the gazillion examples and topics presented. The headings for Chapter 23 (explaining GDP) are a good example of the background technical knowledge that this book assumes (almost none).
Remember also that textbooks are absolutely brimming with pictures and graphs, which seldom appear in large numbers in non-textbooks. This alone is a serious advantage of textbooks. In this case, there is also a little math involved, but the “Graphing: A Brief Review” section should give you an idea of the level required.
What are the weaknesses of the format? It’s doesn’t push the narrative-social-interest button. Meaning, it doesn’t follow a particular person through a particular story, which we’re hardwired to find interesting. Related to this, it’s also weak on history of economics. If I remember right, there are some nods to foundational figures (Adam Smith), and then a little bit on the evolution of modern macroeconomics.