Economics textbooks: which edition, how to cite, where to find

Economics reading lists are relaxed about editions, and not always right. The University of York (2026d) asks its first-years for Alpha Chiang's mathematics textbook, "Ideally the 4th edition (2005)", then adds that the 1984 third edition "would work as well". MIT's Principles of Microeconomics recommends Jeffrey Perloff's seventh edition by an ISBN that, looked up for this guide, belongs to the third.

EdCitation publishes this guide. Its lists come from York, the London School of Economics (LSE) and Edinburgh for 2026/27, and from three MIT OpenCourseWare courses, each read at source on 23 September 2026. It works through the sources economists cite, editions, and citing a textbook, a working paper and a statistics release with Cite a source, and ends in EdCitation's Library, where the books sit together.

What books are on an economics reading list?

An economics reading list sets a principles textbook, often CORE's open one, with mathematics and statistics in the first year; intermediate microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics in the second; and, often from the start, papers and data rather than one book.

York and Edinburgh, 2026/27

York's first-year Principles of Economics sets "The CORE online textbook" (University of York, 2026f); Market Failure and Economic Policy sets Mankiw and Taylor's Economics, sixth edition, 2023, and Sloman, Garratt and Guest's eleventh, 2024 (University of York, 2026c). In the second year, Microeconomic Theory lists Perloff's Microeconomics with Calculus and Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics with no edition (University of York, 2026e), Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy sets Carlin and Soskice's 2014 Macroeconomics (University of York, 2026b), and Econometric Analysis sets Wooldridge (University of York, 2026a).

Edinburgh's first-year Economics 1A sets Frank and Cartwright's Microeconomics and Behaviour in its fourth UK edition, with Renshaw's Maths for Economics, the fifth "or any" edition (University of Edinburgh, 2026b).

LSE, 2026/27

LSE's Microeconomics I has no set textbook: required reading comes from journal articles and reports, and for extra study it names Varian and Perloff, adding "Any edition can be used" (London School of Economics and Political Science [LSE], 2026a). Macroeconomics I suggests Charles Jones's Macroeconomics, fifth edition (LSE, 2026b); Econometrics I names Angrist and Pischke's Mastering 'Metrics and Stock and Watson (LSE, 2026c).

MIT OpenCourseWare

Jonathan Gruber's 14.01, fall 2023, has no formal textbook and recommends Perloff's Microeconomics (Gruber, 2023). Ricardo Caballero's 14.02, spring 2023, sets Olivier Blanchard's Macroeconomics, eighth edition (Caballero, 2023). David Autor's 14.03, fall 2016, pairs two books with papers, NBER working papers among them (Autor, 2016).

Which kinds of source does an economics degree cite?

An economics degree cites five kinds of textbook, and beside them journal articles, working papers, statistical releases and data sets.

Is CORE's The Economy free?

Yes. CORE Econ says The Economy is free for anyone to read online. The Economy 2.0 comes in Microeconomics and Macroeconomics volumes, the original Economy 1.0 is still online, and a print edition is for sale. York's entry does not say which version, so ask. CORE's note asks for the ebook to be cited under The CORE Econ Team (2023), and a unit under its own authors: unit 1 under Bowles, Carlin, Stevens and Osei-Twumasi.

Working papers and official statistics

Economists circulate research as working papers before a journal prints it. Autor's course recommended Doleac and Hansen (2016), NBER Working Paper No. 22469; the Journal of Labor Economics published it in 2020 under a new title, "The Unintended Consequences of 'Ban the Box'" (Doleac & Hansen, 2020). Figures come from a statistics office's bulletin, a central bank's report or a data set, and the American Economic Review requires every data source used to appear in the reference list (American Economic Association, n.d.).

Which edition of an economics textbook should I use?

Buy the edition your module lists. When the list names none, or says any will do, an older copy serves for reading; when a newer one exists, see what it changed and check with whoever runs the module before changing.

Sources: the lists above and the publishers' pages (McGraw Hill, n.d.; Oxford University Press, n.d.; Pearson, n.d.; W. W. Norton & Company, n.d.).

What changes between editions

The publishers' pages lead with new examples and recent events. Titles change too: Carlin and Soskice's subtitle moved from the financial system to inequality, so searching the list's wording misses the new book. So can authors: Pearson's page for Blanchard's ninth Global Edition names Alessia Amighini and Francesco Giavazzi of Bocconi University beside Blanchard, while the eighth's copyright page names Blanchard alone (Blanchard, 2021). Take authors from the title page.

When any edition will do

When the list says so: LSE of its microeconomics textbooks, Edinburgh of Renshaw, York of Chiang's third edition. Editions also move with courses: Edinburgh's Economics 1, which set Frank and Cartwright's third edition, is not delivered in 2026/27, and Economics 1A sets the fourth (University of Edinburgh, 2026a, 2026b).

How do I check an edition by its ISBN?

Search by the ISBN when a list prints one, and check what comes back: the ISBN, not the list's wording, says which edition it is. Of the lists here, only MIT's print ISBNs.

1. Copy the list's entry exactly, ISBN included.
2. Give the ISBN to Cite a source on EdCitation: no account, no charge. MIT's ISBN for Blanchard, 9781292351476, returned a 2020 book from "Pearson Publishing" with no edition; its copyright page reads © Pearson Education Limited 2021.
3. Check the edition behind the number. MIT's 14.01 syllabus prints Perloff's "7th Edition", 2012, with ISBN 9780321160737 (Gruber, 2023); Cite a source returned the third edition, 2004.
4. Run the title through EdCitation's Library, newest first, for later editions.
5. Read the publisher's page for what changed, and ask before you switch.
6. Buy a copy, locate a library that holds one, or bookmark it into My Books; then record the edition you read, the one your reference names.

How do I cite an economics textbook, working paper or statistical release?

Cite what you read, in your department's style. Cambridge University Libraries (2026) says the Faculty of Economics recommends Harvard and accepts any style used consistently; the American Economic Review asks for author-date references following the Chicago Manual of Style. EdCitation's Cite a source sets APA 7, Harvard (Cite Them Right, 12th edition) and Chicago 18 author-date, each looked up in the publisher's record, never written; these runs were made on 23 September 2026. More in the Harvard referencing guide, the Chicago author-date guide and how to cite a book or ebook.

Blanchard's Macroeconomics, a textbook

Given MIT's ISBN for the eighth Global Edition, Cite a source returned, in APA 7:

Blanchard, O. (2020). Macroeconomics. Pearson Publishing.

The record behind the ISBN gives 2020 and no edition. APA's year is the one on the copyright page, whatever the release date, and the edition goes in parentheses straight after the title (American Psychological Association, 2020a):

Blanchard, O. (2021). Macroeconomics (8th ed.). Pearson Education.

In Harvard, the 12th edition of Cite Them Right keeps the place, as Cambridge's economics examples do: Blanchard, O. (2021) Macroeconomics. 8th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education. Under a 13th-edition guide, delete "Harlow:". In Chicago author-date, with no place (University of Chicago Press, n.d.): Blanchard, Olivier. 2021. Macroeconomics. 8th ed. Pearson Education.

Doleac and Hansen, a working paper

Doleac and Hansen's DOI, 10.3386/w22469, returned the title in the sentence case APA asks for:

Doleac, J., & Hansen, B. (2016). Does “ban the box” help or hurt low-skilled workers? Statistical discrimination and employment outcomes when criminal histories are hidden. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22469

Two fixes: APA wants a numbered report's number, not italicised, right after its title (American Psychological Association, 2020b), and NBER's page gives Doleac's middle initial:

Doleac, J. L., & Hansen, B. (2016). Does “ban the box” help or hurt low-skilled workers? Statistical discrimination and employment outcomes when criminal histories are hidden (NBER Working Paper No. 22469). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22469

In Harvard and Chicago author-date, add the initial and put "NBER Working Paper 22469" after the title, where Cambridge's working paper example puts its series and number. Harvard also lowers the title to sentence case; Chicago's headline case came back right. If you read the 2020 article instead, cite that: it is a different reference.

The ONS inflation bulletin, a statistical release

A bulletin has no registry record, so Cite a source reads its details off the page and lets you fix them before the entry is built. The ONS's August 2026 inflation bulletin came back as:

Consumer Price Inflation team. (2026, September 15). Consumer price inflation, UK. Office for National Statistics. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/august2026

The page names that team as its contact, not its author; it was released on 16 September 2026; and its title includes the month (Office for National Statistics, 2026). Corrected, with the site name left blank because it repeats the author (American Psychological Association, 2020c):

Office for National Statistics. (2026, September 16). Consumer price inflation, UK: August 2026. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/august2026

Office for National Statistics (2026) Consumer price inflation, UK: August 2026. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/august2026 (Accessed: 23 September 2026).

The bulletin also reports a classification error in some low-level indices from February to July 2026, left unrevised for those months: cite a statistic by its release and date.

Where can I find economics textbooks in one place?

An economics reading list comes together best in EdCitation's Library, because the list is scattered across publishers, editions and formats: tracing this guide's editions took four universities' pages and four publishers' sites. The Library replaces that trail with one catalogue, searched by title, author or ISBN and filtered by discipline, kind of book, language and year.

What the searches found

On 23 September 2026, the Economics and finance discipline held 8,011 textbooks and 3,704 study guides. Frank and Cartwright's title brought up the 2025 fourth edition, and a search for CORE found The Economy 2.0 and Economy, Society, and Public Policy. Blanchard's Macroeconomics, newest first, gave 92 records, a 2025 Global Edition at the top and many MyLab and access-card packages below: pick the record whose ISBN is the book. Carlin and Soskice's 2024 book was not there by title or ISBN, so the publisher's page is the check.

Each result carries its cover, authorship, publisher and year, and a mark saying whether you read it in the Library or buy it. Its card offers four moves: buy the paid copy, list the nearby libraries that stock it, file it in My Books, or turn it into a citation with one click. With Max comes the reading itself, over 5 million books to read through or borrow, in a collection EdCitation has compiled for its readers: an economics degree's shelf, editions and references in one account.

Papers, working papers and the finished list

For papers, EdCitation's Find sources covers about 300 million published works. "Ban the box employment" with Source type set to Report returned 3,599 works, Doleac and Hansen's working paper first; set to Article, with Year published from 2018, their journal version led. The finished list then goes to Verify references: both Doleac and Hansen entries came back verified, each DOI matching its record. The corrected Blanchard entry came back verified against a library catalogue record, as did Frank and Cartwright's fourth edition; the ONS bulletin was verified at its link, its page carrying the entry's title. When the catalogue is slow, a book comes back "Could not check", never "Not found": run it again in a minute.

What costs what

Without paying anything, an EdCitation account opens the catalogue, My Books, shop links and a search for copies in nearby libraries. Reading and borrowing belong to Max, $24 a month (or $216 for a whole year), and Theoretics QA comes with it. Find sources, Cite a source and Verify references need no account; plans are on Pricing. Other subjects have shelf guides of their own: computer science, engineering, medicine, nursing and psychology.

Quick questions

Which books does a first-year economics student need?

The ones their module sets. York sets CORE's online textbook and Mankiw and Taylor's Economics; Edinburgh's Economics 1A sets Frank and Cartwright; LSE's first-year micro and macro courses set none.

Is CORE's The Economy free?

Yes: CORE Econ publishes The Economy 2.0 to read online at no cost, in two volumes, with a print edition for sale.

Which edition of Blanchard's Macroeconomics should I use?

The one your course names. MIT's 14.02 set the eighth, 2021; Pearson published the ninth Global Edition in November 2025, copyright 2026.

How do I cite an NBER working paper in APA 7?

Authors, year, the title in italic sentence case, "(NBER Working Paper No. 22469)", the National Bureau of Economic Research and the DOI. Give the DOI to Cite a source on EdCitation, then add the series and number.

Where can I find economics textbooks in one place?

A single catalogue in EdCitation's Library holds them: choose Economics and finance, filter by kind, language or year, and keep titles in My Books. Max opens a shelf of over 5 million books to read or borrow.

References

• American Economic Association. (n.d.). AER style guide. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/aer/style-guide
• American Psychological Association. (2020a). Book/ebook references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/book-references
• American Psychological Association. (2020b). Report with individual authors references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/report-individual-authors-references
• American Psychological Association. (2020c). Webpage on a website references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-website-references
• Autor, D. (2016). 14.03 Microeconomic theory and public policy: Readings [Course, fall 2016]. MIT OpenCourseWare. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/14-03-microeconomic-theory-and-public-policy-fall-2016/pages/readings/
• Blanchard, O. (2021). Macroeconomics (8th ed.). Pearson Education. https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781292351520_A41441160/preview-9781292351520_A41441160.pdf
• Caballero, R. (2023). 14.02 Principles of macroeconomics: Syllabus [Course, spring 2023]. MIT OpenCourseWare. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/14-02-principles-of-macroeconomics-spring-2023/pages/syllabus/
• Cambridge University Libraries. (2026). Economics: Referencing. https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/economics/referencing
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• Doleac, J. L., & Hansen, B. (2016). Does “ban the box” help or hurt low-skilled workers? Statistical discrimination and employment outcomes when criminal histories are hidden (NBER Working Paper No. 22469). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22469
• Doleac, J. L., & Hansen, B. (2020). The unintended consequences of “ban the box”: Statistical discrimination and employment outcomes when criminal histories are hidden. Journal of Labor Economics, 38(2), 321–374. https://doi.org/10.1086/705880
• Gruber, J. (2023). 14.01 Principles of microeconomics: Syllabus [Course, fall 2023]. MIT OpenCourseWare. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/14-01-principles-of-microeconomics-fall-2023/pages/syllabus/
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