The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
27 people recommended it in 17 threads, 2007–2025.
What people on Hacker News said
He and Locke are the two main guys to read for a solid start on Classical Liberalism, which is completely different than modern political liberalism.
And all 3 were wrong in a similar fundemental way because they didn't fully grasp the concept of value.
To understand financial market movements in the short term (like what is happening now), read about crowd psychology, behavioral biases (Kahneman), and black swans (Taleb).
Having been written in 1778 it still stands prominent with regard to its descriptions of how markets work, and the importance of the division of labor.
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