Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science

Great non-mathematical introduction to a broad spectrum of topics in economics. Discusses the power of markets, how government helps and hurts them, how they succeed and fail (externalities and information asymmetries), the importance of productivity and human capital, how the Fed and financial markets work, the benefits of free trade, the power of organized interests (i.e., political economy).

Laura's choice excerpts:
http://myurbanrevolution.com/2010/02/09/interesting-excerpts-from-naked-economics/

This book was informative, enlightening, and intelligent. I think it brings up many salient economic points that are utterly unexamined in typical news analysis, for example, that inflation is sometimes encouraged by corrupt governments to minimize their debt. And yet ...

There are some blatantly unexamined assumptions here. This book gives some pretty short shrift to the arguments against the way free trade agreements are being hashed out, and doesn't even mention the phrase "sustainable economics." It's as if Schumacher never wrote Small Is Beautiful. If you're looking for a more nuanced explanation of what's happening with Social Security, World Trade, and the Federal Reserve that what your getting on the TV, this book would still be a great start.