[sambarina]

"All" you have to do is watch "How the economic machine works (in 30 minutes)" by Ray Dalio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0

Read his insights and watch his interviews. That's a good basic start. Everything more then that: Nobody really knows.

I have read countless of books, but one thing you have to know:

It is a market - period. Something has value just because another person wants to buy it (at a given price). That's basically all there is. If you think that some asset is worth more in 10 years then it is now - buy it.

The "markets" go heavily up and down currently. That's just because different people price in the current health crisis in different ways.

[sideshowb]

For a longer term read I'd recommend Hill & Myatt, the Economics Anti Textbook. It's a fair introduction to Economics 101 but at the same time provides more in depth critique than an introductory book usually would, of where Economics 101 fails, and how it tends to get over-applied in policy.

Ha Joon Chang, Economics: the Users Guide and 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (don't dismiss it as an anti-capitalist treatise, it's not) are also good, lighter weight (unlike Hill & Myatt no maths) but give an overview of the different schools of economics and what can be drawn from each.

[ipnon]

A great follow up in the "New York billionaires explain basics of the economy" curriculum:

William Ackman: Everything You Need to Know About Finance and Investing in Under an Hour | Big Think [0]

Covers the money making, Wall Street side

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8

[manishjhawar]

I found this recent interview [0] of his by TED to be quite insightful.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrxYhv2O3wU

[war1025]

I got about halfway through Principles when it came out and eventually gave up on it (had newborn twins at the time).

Was having a slow morning here so your comment led me on an hour and a half of checking out that video and some of his other content.

His videos seem a lot more approachable than the book.

[yamrzou]

I wish there was a book (or even video lectures) that goes more in depth, but with the same style as that video.

[edsykes]

Not in the same style, but this is the research that the video summary is based upon. https://www.principles.com/big-debt-crises/

It's free