Recommend a good economics book

[V8S]

I read all these threads about pensions, mortgages, LTV (whatever that is), banking systems, bonds and all sorts of stuff and I understand the very thinnest veneer of it all. Tonker's posts are littered with intriguing acronyms that seem to have you all nodding, and I'm just

I would really like to find out how the country works and how it is all tied together, so I'm hoping someone can recommend a good, comprehensive book that explains it all without needing a degree in the very subject I wish to study.

Thanks all!

[V8S]

Bump

[Thorny]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Need-Know-About-City/d...

This is excellent.

[scotal]

V8S said:

LTV

You don't need a book for this... it's Loan To Value. i.e if your house is worth £200k and your mortgage is £100k then the loan to value is 50%, if the mortgage is £150k then the LTV is 75%.

Lenders use it as a way of (partially at least) grading their risk. i.e if you have a high LTV the loan is inherently more risky, so they may well charge a higher interest rate for it.

[V8S]

Any others?

[minimax]

V8S said:

Any others?

http://freakonomicsbook.com/

and

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kPtrBv1y6GQC&am...

..should keep you occupied

[dontfollowme]

Free Lunch

[fido]

Positive Economics - Lipsey

[dan1981]

try "applied economics" by Griffiths & Wall - very easy to understand. covers lots of bits and pieces and is a failry easy read. Kinda of a txt book tho.

Intermediate Macro Economics is by the same two guys and isn't bad.

or of course you could try

The Wealth of Nations by Smith. Still extrmely relevant.

But whatever you do - don't read "confessions of an Economic Hitman" by Perkins

Edited by dan1981 on Wednesday 6th August 23:00

[Fittster]

Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis

His blog, The Daily Reckoning is always worth a read

[ninja-lewis]

Best textbook I've used has been John Sloman's Economics.

Fits in around A-Level/first year of university standard. Covers book microeconomics and macroeconomics in the one book and it's all actually relevant to the UK.

Other than that, wikipedia does a decent job at explaining concepts and should help you get the gist of pretty much everything.

[Olivero]

Not a book, but a website. If you want an idea of currency movements and markets then this is a good simple site http://www.dailyfx.com/

[mcflurry]

I would add Liars Poker to the list. It's not "technical" but gives some background to the City thing

[V8S]

Thanks all.

[jamesgrrr]

I second Freakonomics

[littlegreenfairy]

ninja-lewis said:

Best textbook I've used has been John Sloman's Economics.

Fits in around A-Level/first year of university standard. Covers book microeconomics and macroeconomics in the one book and it's all actually relevant to the UK.

Other than that, wikipedia does a decent job at explaining concepts and should help you get the gist of pretty much everything.

I've got this - its very good. Well recommended.