Boost Your Economic Literacy, with the Teaching Company

Since I spend over an hour in the car each weekday, I've become a huge fan of the courses offered by the Teaching Company. Some of their best offerings are in the field of economics. Listening to the following will give you an excellent grounding in basic economics:

Economics, 3d edition -- This is essentially an introductory economics course. The first half is focused on microeconomics, the second half on macroeconomics. It's one of their most popular courses, and rightly so.

Modern Economic Issues -- Each lecture deals with a different issue, including free trade, income inequality, budget deficits, and so on. Excellent, balanced discussions. However, because these were prepared about two years ago, the current recession is a 300-lb. elephant in the lecture room.

Thinking about Capitalism -- A wonderful journey in intellectual history. The professor explores what leading Western philosophers, economists, and reformers have written about capitalism, from the ancient world up to the present.

A word about Teaching Company prices: Their "everyday" prices are extremely, shockingly high. But all of their courses go on sale at one time or another during the course of a year. ("Thinking about Capitalism" is on sale now.) The sale prices are high but not out of line for what you get.