Professor Paul Palley's
          Economics Seminars

Here are some books and I like;

Books about Economics

1. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. This is a very good book about unusual applications of economics.
   
2. On The Wealth of Nations
   - By P. J. O’Rourke. This is a good and irreverent look at The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
   
3. The Economic Naturalist – by Robert H. Frank. This is another interesting book about applications of economics.
   

Books Related To Economic History

1. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
   - by Liaquat Ahamed. This is a very good book about the events that led to the Great Depression.
   
2. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance - by Ron Chernow
   
3. The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World - by Niall Ferguson
   
4. The Cash Nexus: Economics And Politics From The Age Of Warfare Through The Age Of Welfare, 1700-2000
   - by Niall Ferguson
   

Interesting Biographies

1. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - by Ron Chernow
   
2. Alexander Hamilton (the first Sectretary of the treasury)
   - by Ron Chernow
   
3. Andrew Carnegie – by David Nasaw
   

Newspapers, Business News Sites, Blogs

1. The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/home-page. This has a more conservative editorial page.
   

Interesting Blog: Real Time Economics (http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/)

Interesting Blog: MarketBeat (http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/)

1. The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/. This has a more liberal editorial page.
   

Interesting Blog: Paul Krugman (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/)

Interesting Blog: Freakonomics (http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/))

1. CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/
   
2. CBS Market Watch: http://www.marketwatch.com/
   
3. MSN.Money: http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
   
4. Yahoo!Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/
   
5. Bllomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/
   

Websites Related to Economic Thought

The History of Economic Thought Website: http://homepage.newschool.edu/het/

Encyclopedia of Law and Economics: http://users.ugent.be/~gdegeest/

Paul

There really isn’t a set standard differing a recession from a depression. It is really a matter of perception, but economic conditions were significantly worse during the great depression versus today by almost any measure.

Here is an interesting link making a comparison from the current winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Paul Krugman; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/the-great-recession-versus-the-great-depression/

Paul

Here is a link to a very good and brief debate in the Washington Post about the President’s tax proposals: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030602955.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Here is a good, brief column, supporting universal health care in the U.S. See this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01Kristof.html?ref=opinion

Paul