It is ironic that many Americans have the time to learn free-market economics because the government has shut down most of the free market due to COVID-19.

Reading about economics and business has been a hobby of mine for many years. I came to the subject both formally, as a student, and informally as an adult interested in learning more about the things that interested me.

There are lots of books about how the economy works and it is impossible to read all of them. Here are some of the books that I found valuable:

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

The Law by Frederic Bastiat

America's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard

Hot Commodities by Jim Rogers

Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell

Human Action by Ludwig von Mises

The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek

I came to discover most of these mind-expanding books informally. After reading one of the books I went on to read other books by those authors or books I discovered in the mentions and footnotes of the books.

I hope you find these books as interesting I have and I hope you are on a journey of life long learning regardless of what interests you.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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