Micromotives and Macrobehaviour
Thomas C. Schelling
Although this is definitely a classic book, I have to say that I did not enjoy reading it very much. Published in ‘78, it’s the spiritual forebear of “Freakonomics,” in that it is about applying economic reasoning and analysis to situations that don’t involve the exchange of money for goods and services. I’m not even really a fan of “Freakonomics,” but it is more enjoyable than MM because it focuses heavily on specific real-world issues. Schelling’s book is entirely hypothetical. He discusses some issues of real significance, such as residential segregation, but not once does he take his models to the real data. This book is all about setting up models and seeing what they tell you.
I may be somewhat at fault here for reading the book at this time in my life. If I had read it when I was first being exposed to economics, I imagine it would have felt more engaging; as it was, it just felt a little flat.