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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 7, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Hey friends, I have recently started to read nrx blogs and hanging out on this corner of the internet. I realized I need to understand economics better to be able to make sense of the world around me. It seems overwhelming to start from scratch, what do you recommend would be the highest ROI way to understand the major principles and events in economics? as that is closely intertwined with the history of states

Reading economics is like reading politics or history, there are many opposing schools of thought. Comparative advantage vs industrial policy and so on.

I'd just be wary of reading one book and thinking 'that's it, whew, I've got my economics'. Like politics or history, there's a great deal of it floating around, you're most likely to only find the orthodox versions. Yet orthodoxy changes! Tariffs and protection used to be despised and derided, yet they're coming back into fashion. Game theory is related and something to consider as well.