Reddit mentions of Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor

You should read Off the books It's the guy that Levett and Drubner are talking about.

Kids just want respect and they see money or violence as a way to get it. They'd take the money over the violence no question. They just run hand in hand.

Dope dealing has the same appeal as all the dumb shit that surburban moms sell they just have a bit more commitment.

When Hannity and TV cop shows are your only source of information about this stuff a lot of well reasoned ideas can seem pretty crazy at first.

Edit: For anyone who wants a pretty good starting point for understanding this stuff "Off The Books" by Sudhir Venkatesh is worth a look. That chapter in Freakenomics about the drug war talks about this same guy's work.

http://www.viewfromtheground.com (it's a little broken, but we're fixing it)

https://beta.prx.org/stories/1369

http://www.amazon.com/American-Project-Rise-Modern-Ghetto/dp/0674008308/

http://www.amazon.com/Off-Books-Underground-Economy-Urban/dp/0674030710/

http://www.amazon.com/High-Rise-Stories-Chicago-Housing-ebook/dp/B00G1SRCTC/

Pre-public housing: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Metropolis-Study-Negro-Northern/dp/0226162346/

I'll post more later. Thanks :D

Go buy a copy of Freakonomics and then see if you are really interested and what specific areas interest you. Depending on what aspect of economics you like then you can start focusing on what makes sense.

Generic US macro economics and monetary policy is what most people seem to be focusing on but that is more political than strictly economic. Most of what I in r/economics tends to be political in nature and that ends up being corruption driven rather than simply economic.

If you are really driven to understand personal core economics I would recommend off the books This book answers a ton of questions about how things really work.

If you get that far you'll know where your interests lie and where to direct your next steps.