Good books on financial markets

[charley]

I hope this is the right forum for this. I'm interested in learning about the global economy and how markets work (topics like the underlying economics of financial markets, the role of the Federal Reserve, the role of the Treasury, etc). This is really to satisfy personal interest in the subject and not to directly inform personal finance decisions. I'm a scientist by training and didn't take any economics or finance classes, so I'm not exactly sure what subject this falls under or if there is a single book that discusses this subject. I read and enjoyed Sorkin's 'Too Big to Fail' and Lewis's 'The Big Short,' but felt that I lacked a broader understanding to really appreciate and contextualize the subjects of these books.

There seem to be a lot of forum members with interests in economics and history, and I wonder what people would suggest. Thanks for your help.

[midareff]

While not fitting into a role model Easterlings book; "Unexpected Returns", is quite the work on markets, historical returns and what might be expected moving forward.

[peppers]

Against The Gods by Peter L. Bernstein

[NAVigator]

I am also looking for such a book described by the OP. I am considering "The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World", by Greg Ip. The second edition will be released on Jan 14.

Jerry

[charley]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm really interested in the Little Book of Economics. It seems a bit like a light textbook, and I think that's what I'm looking for. It looks like Against the Gods and Unexpected Returns would be good followups after getting a good foundation.

[clast]

One book I read that really made me grow some brain cells was The Alchemy of Finance by George Soros. It's dense reading, but I learned a lot.