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Zadok Paper S98 Autumn 1999
Christian Theology and Economics:
a Reading Guide
by Paul Oslington
Introductions to economic theory and
policy
FIRST YEAR UNIVERSITY ECONOMICS
textbooks are usually dull, expensive
and probably not the best starting point. Nevertheless, some of the most
popular in Australian universities at the moment are McTaggart, Findlay
and Parkin's Economics,34 Gans, King and Mankiw's Principles of Economics,35
while Richard Lipsey's Positive Economics36 and Paul Samuelson's Economics36
are known older texts. Textbooks which take a less conventional approach
are Eatwell and Robinson's An Introduction to Modern Economics38 and Foundations
of Economics39 by Yanis Varoufakis.
A better general overview for the reader unfamiliar with economics would
be general books on economics such as Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly
Philosophers,40 Joan Robinson's Economic Philosophy,41 and The Cunning
of Reason42 by Martin Hollis.
The dominant strand of modern economics, neoclassical economics, tries
to explain everything in terms of rational maximising individuals facing
certain constraints. A vigorous presentation of this approach is the first
chapter of Gary Becker's The Economic Approach to Human Behavior,43 Paul
Heyne's The Economic Way of Thinking44 or Robert Frank's Microeconomics
and Behaviour.45 Another way in to economic theory is through the winners
of the Nobel prize in Economic Science which has been awarded since 1969-details
of the winners and their speeches may be found in the Scandinavian Journal
of Economics,46 and are collected together in several books.
The major professional economists journals-such as the American Economic
Review,46 Journal of Political Economy,48 European Economic Review,49
Econometrica,50 The Economic Journal,51 and even the Economic Society
of Australia's journal The Economic Record52-are mostly inaccessible to
the beginning student. Some of the more readable journals which can give
the beginner a feel for the current state of economics are the Journal
of Economic Literature,53 Journal of Economic Perspectives54 and the Australian
Economic Review.55 If you are looking for further material on an economic
topic, some large libraries hold the Journal of Economic Literature CD
ROM index to economics articles and books which may be searched by author,
title and subject. A comprehensive economics reference dictionary available
in many libraries is John Eatwell and Joan Robinson's An Introduction
to Modern Economics.56
To: The
policy question
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Paul Oslington has been lecturer in
economics at Deakin University Geelong since January 1998, after
completing a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Sydney on the
relationship between trade and unemployment, and a Bachelor of Divinity
from Melbourne College of Divinity. Comments and suggestions on
the guide are welcome and he can be contacted at School of Economics,
Deakin University, Geelong, Australia 3217. E-mail: osling@deakin.edu.au
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