I want to try out our idea for list-based questions.
So I figured I'd try it here in the Meta.
Please suggest either a single textbook, website, or resource that a user should check before posting here.
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6 Answers
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This is the obvious one. Most good questions will not be easily answerable with a visit here. But many bad questions ("please explain this basic concept in an excruciating level of detail") could pretty much be answered by copying and pasting from that site.
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3$\begingroup$ Contrary to Statistics, Wikipedia on Economics is rather mediocre. I wouldn't advise it. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 13, 2014 at 18:47
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$\begingroup$ I wouldn't advise it for quality posts either. But many "Why do we need a central bank"-type questions would be answered there, so it works as a good first broad filter. $\endgroup$– FooBarCommented Dec 14, 2014 at 15:32
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https://economics.stackexchange.com/search
It's a tired cliche, but people should definitely search this site for similar questions before posting a new one.
Also, newcomers to Stack Exchange should check out our Welcome to Economics.SE! post.
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Let's for once "appeal to authority".
MIT has the MIT OpenCoursWare website.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/
answered Dec 13, 2014 at 18:50
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For micro theory questions:
Mas-Colell, Whinston, and Green (1995): Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Not everybody should be checking this, of course, but if you are a grad student+ then you should probably own this book. Moreover, since grad school is basically all about learning to figure things out for yourself you should probably at least look in MWG and try to understand what you find there.
That said, some of this material is tricky, so I am okay with questions liek "Eeek! I saw this in MWG and don't understand it."
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1$\begingroup$ Not an Answer: The question was about "minimum resources that someone should check". You're providing "Grad students should own this book". $\endgroup$– FooBarCommented Dec 14, 2014 at 15:31
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$\begingroup$ @FooBar I am saying that people who ask the kinds of questions this book can answer should check it. How does that not answer the question? $\endgroup$– Ubiquitous ModCommented Dec 14, 2014 at 16:53
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$\begingroup$ I see, that was not clear. I thought the question was about one unique resource that everyone should check against. $\endgroup$– FooBarCommented Dec 14, 2014 at 17:07
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$\begingroup$ @FooBar I see, my understanding was that each answer should contain one resource. $\endgroup$– Ubiquitous ModCommented Dec 14, 2014 at 17:24
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$\begingroup$ @FooBar, FWIW, that's what I meant by the question, each answer should be a resource, then we can take the top answers and add them somewhere to the documentation. $\endgroup$– Jason Nichols ModCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 1:19
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$\begingroup$ Right. But how do we understand each resource in the list? I understood that we generate a list of minimum requirements that everyone has to check against before asking any question. Clearly, with MWG, that doesn't make sense. I would prefer a list of very few items that are relevant for all posters over a longer list with specialized suggestions (Undergrads: Wikipedia, Krugman/Obstfeld, Grads: MWG). $\endgroup$– FooBarCommented Dec 15, 2014 at 1:46
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answered Dec 22, 2014 at 19:49
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2$\begingroup$ You should have used lmtgfy. :) $\endgroup$– Jason Nichols ModCommented Dec 22, 2014 at 19:52
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1$\begingroup$ yeah ;) thought of it but then got "lazy" (way to save 10 seconds...). $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 20:49
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Mankiw, N. (2012). Principles of Macroeconomics (6th ed.).
I like all three of the Mankiw texts I've read so far, but I thought this one provided a great foundation.
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1$\begingroup$ Extremely expensive. I won't expect people to go to the next scientific library to have a peak. $\endgroup$– FooBarCommented Dec 22, 2014 at 22:17
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