Economy reading list for non-economist

When I was a child, I always thought that Economics is all about money. Just like every idealist youth, I’m not a big fan of the concept of money; conversely, I held the idea that money is highly related to sin, not through a puritanic understanding, but more of a shallow observation from a teenager’s eye.

However, my understanding of Economics, if not incorrect, is inaccurate. After several search I found that since the rise of behavior school, Economics has become a discipline that tries to abstract human into mathematics in order to understand them, (for me) as an alternative and simple black-box method instead of Psychology.

That is what I’m really interested in.

Also, from practice perspective of views, it’s also helpful in my later game project, where I need to build a fictional country with at least basic economy systems for players to tweak around. Therefor I believe that some Economy readings is necessary.

The requirement for the readings is only 1: Not Boring.

Here is my list:

1. Poor Economics, by Duflo and Banerjee;
2. Why Nations Fall, by Acemoglu and Robinson;
3. The Other Path, by de Soto;
4. Capital in the 21th Century, by Piketty;
5. The Price of Inequality, by Stiglitz;
6. Triumph of the City, by Glaeser;
7. The Grabbing Hand, by Shleifer;
8. The Economics of Life, by Becker;
9. Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Malkiel;
10. Irrational Exuberance, by Shiller;
11. Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Kahneman;
12. Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner;
13. The Honest Truth of Dishonesty, by Ariely;

A good number for the amount of reading list. I’m so evil.