Books to read before starting MPP/IR?

[loveglove]

As I wait for my remaining decisions, it's starting to dawn on me that I've been out of school for a while and I worry I will be out of practice by the time I start my program in the fall. Would anybody have any recommendations in terms of books, practice exercises, or anything else that you think would be useful for someone before they start their masters? Thanks

[Poli92]

Check out Chris Blattman's blog/site. He is a prof at SIPA and frequently posts useful info and media recommendations.

[manutdftw]

Depends on what your interests are, but this is a pretty good list by Professor Stephen Walt of HKS - http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/04/09/my-top-ten-books-every-student-of-international-relations-should-read/

[loveglove]

Could anybody recommend resources to review quant skills and econ? 

[Poli92]

Simon and Blume's Mathematics for Economists is a great resource. 

For a free, basic review of economic concepts, Khan Academy is pretty decent. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Poli92

[Pichichi]

If you're interested in International Development check out these books and sites that were included in an email to incoming students to Georgetown's MIDP a couple years ago.

·         Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, Why Nations Fail
·         Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Poor Economics
·         William Easterly, White Man’s Burden
·         Dean Karlan, More than Good Intentions
·         Bjorn Lomborg, Global Crises, Global Solutions
·         Lant Pritchett, et al, Moving Out of Poverty: 2
·         Dani Rodrik, One Economics, Many Recipes
·         Chris Blattman: http://chrisblattman.com/
·         Owen Barder: http://www.owen.org/
·         Dani Rodrik: http://rodrik.typepad.com/
·         Tyler Cowen: http://marginalrevolution.com/
·         IPA Blog: http://poverty-action.org/blog
·         World Bank Impact Eval Blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/
·         CGD Policy Blog: http://www.cgdev.org/section/opinions/blogs
·         J-PAL Website: http://www.povertyactionlab.org/
·         3ie Website: http://www.3ieimpact.org/

[loveglove]

Great suggestions, everyone! Thank you!

[chocolatecheesecake]

Something a bit outside of the recommended scope: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. If you are interested in federal policy, social policy, education policy, housing, transit, labor, public finance, tech policy, state and local government, or even national security, I think this book is hugely important. It challenges conceptions about public policy and the role of the government, and as a history lesson, will make you wonder what the hell you were learning back in high school. 

[ajak568]

In addition to Pichichi and chocolatecheesecake's recommendations, I'd say Bottom Billion (Paul Collier) is a good read and gives you an overview of some of theories floating out there with respect to trade as it relates to development.

Also Nelson Mandel's autobiography is pretty boss, just throwing that out there.

Edited February 23, 2016 by ajak568

[beefmaster]

May I suggest reading all the novels you can get your hands on? Certainly what I plan on doing before having 2 years of materials to read for my graduate degree