Noah Smith cobbles together a list of science fiction novels that might be of interest to economists:
Diane Coyle has a blog post called “Classics for economists,” and someone on Twitter requested that I do a companion piece called “Science fiction for economists”, so here it is.
Really, most science fiction is about economics. What makes most future visions interesting is not just the technical particulars of the cool new Stuff, but the social ramifications. Here are some of the sci-fi books that I thought dealt with important economic issues in the most insightful and interesting ways. I also chose only books that I think are well-written, with well-conceived characters, engaging plots, and skillful writing.
1. A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge
2. Makers, by Cory Doctorow
3. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
4. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow
5. Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge
6. Accelerando, by Charles Stross
7. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
8. The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi
9. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
10. Schismatrix, by Bruce Sterling
11. Permutation City, by Greg Egan
12. Reamde, by Neal Stephenson
13. The Game of Thrones series, by George R.R. Martin
In addition to the ones I’ve marked in boldface (that is, I’ve read them and agree they belong on this list), I suspect Stephenson’s Reamde would be worth reading, although I didn’t like Anathem and Smith lauds that as being Stephenson’s “#1 awesomest book”. The best comment on this post is the first one by Anonymous: “When Hari Seldon predicted his exclusion from this list a single tear rolled down his cheek.”
