Recommended reading
Recommended reading
One of the common questions from new IB teachers is what books do I recommend for the school library? The simple answer to this is to fill the library with books that students want to read. Planning your library list for students who might do an extended essay may result in many books that no one ever reads. Below is a list of some of the books and journals that I would recommend, but you may find that your students might suggest their own titles which you can add to your collection.
Magazines and newspapers
The following texts provide a good resource for the IB economics student looking to broaden their knowledge and interest in the subject.
The following journals are all available free on the Internet, though some come with certain restrictions for free subscribers.
This UK magazine provides insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science and technology. Subscribers can also receive daily updates on assigned topics to their mobile phone. The Economist provides a balanced perspective on topical news events.
This UK based newspaper is particularly good for articles on International economics and offers comment and analysis from some of the world's leading liberal voices.
This New York based newspaper claims to be the place where the world goes for the facts. The newspaper has a worldwide influence and readership and provides a combination of news, comment and opinion.
This independent news site provides up to date news from around the world in markets, business and politics. This is an excellent source for articles on Development economics.
This UK based newspaper compliments the Guardian well, offering a slightly Right of centre perspective and is a strong supporter of open borders and free trade. It has long been recognised as one of the world’s greatest newspapers.
This is the largest newspaper in the US capital and provides an excellent source for in-depth political opinion and is particularly strong on political and economic issues relating to the US.
One of Asia's most popular newspapers provides current affairs news and articles, with a strong Asian focus but also covers news stories from a round the world. This newspaper is available as an app which can be downloaded onto a mobile telephone.
Recommended IB Books (new curriculum)
Economics for the IB Diploma – Cambridge University Press by Ellie Tragakes
This Cambridge text has been updated for the new curriculum. Written by the Chief Examiner for IB Economics between 2007-2009 the book is the most academic rigorous of 
the new textbooks and includes excellent evaluations of concepts. With more than 600 pages it can be a little daunting for new pupils and students requiring ESL support.
Economics course companion - Oxford by Joselyn Blink and Ian Dorton
This well written textbook explains difficult conceptual material in a way that makes it easily digestible for students and is, in my opinion, the best foundation text for IB Economics currently on the market. Easy to read, full of diagrams and suitable for either beginning or year two students. While not as detailed as the Ellie Tragakes textbook, is probably slightly more manageable for most IB students.
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Other recommended books
Moneyball - Michael Lewis
You may think that this book is about baseball and in some ways it is. However there is a strong financial background to the story. It concerns Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and his attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis, copied from Wall Street, to draft his players.
The Big-Short - Michael Lewis
You may have watched the film but the book is more informative and records the doomsday events that contributed to the financial crisis in the USA.
Meltdown - Ben Elton
Meltdown is a fictional book about a group of friends who meet at university, have stellar careers only to have their lives impacted by the financial crisis of 2007.
Thinking, Fast and Slow - Kahneman, Daniel
Thinking fast and slow, is an award winning book that is useful for behavioral economics, taking us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1, fast, intuitive and emotional and system 2 - slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation.
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic.
Mission Economy: A moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism
Mariana Mazzucato
In her book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism Mariana Mazzucato sets out how governments should change the role of the state in tackling the world’s most complex problems focusing particularly on climate change.
Mariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London. She is the founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and her work here is focused on challenging the traditional relationship between the government and the private sector in solving the world’s most significant challenges such as global healthcare, sustainability and climate change. This book is particularly useful for the market failure and the government intervention section of the course.
Edge of Chaos - Dambisa Moyo
In the book Edge of Chaos, Dambisa Moyo puts forward the new political and economic challenges facing the global economy and the innovative solutions needed to resolve these issues. Dambisa sets out the four headwinds of demographics, inequality, commodity scarcity and technological innovation that are driving social and economic unrest, and she argues for realignment of democratic capitalism to address current problems and deliver better outcomes in the future. This book is very useful for studying economic growth and economic development.
Please feel free to contact me with alternative titles that you think should be added to this list.