The magazine's senior economics writer, Callum Williams, recommends five books for people starting to study the subject.
Senior staff of The Economist recommend works from their areas of expertise.
The Economist's Rome correspondent, John Hooper, on the six books that serve as the best guide to a country that can be infuriatingly difficult to understand.
Climate change demands huge and important decisions by central government. Have we learned the right lessons from Think Big? Former energy policy adviser John Boshier's new book, Power Surge, traverses those times.