I've become fascinated with economics again, must be the celtic tiger's mysterious disappearance after the last election. The dismal science just seems juicier when the financial auguries are being read for signs of impending salvation or damnation. Be it property busts or peak oil, a financial apocalypse seems only a few years around the corner. I was going to read Adam Smith's seminal Wealth of Nations again but PJ Rourke's helpful critical review and analysis is an entertaining starting point and several hundred pages shorter. There's a great line in it defining an economist as
"someone who knows 101 ways to make love but doesn't have a girlfriend"
Seems about right. I'm in Athens at the moment, the birthplace of (pseudo) democracy. It's a fun city to spend some time with an attractive mix of history, weather, affordability. Reminds me of home :)