Economics: Public Choice 
Essential
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (CEE)
This encyclopedia contains articles by leading economists on basic concepts, economic systems, schools of economic thought, macroeconomics, economic policy, taxes, money and banking, economic regulation, environmental regulation, discrimination, labor issues, international economics, corporations, financial markets, the marketplace, the economics of special markets, economies outside the U.S., and biographies of famous economists.
The Calculus of Consent
"The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy, by James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, is one of the classic works that founded the subdiscipline of public choice in economics and political science. To this day the Calculus is widely read and cited, and there is still much to be gained from reading and rereading this book."-Robert D. Tollison
Public Choice Theory
By Jane S. Shaw: "Public choice takes the same principles that economists use to analyze people's actions in the marketplace and applies them to people's actions in collective decision making."
Frederic Bastiat - What is Seen and What is Not Seen
There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen. Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.
Project on Social Security Choice
The Cato Institute's experts examine the problems facing the current social security system, the methods that can be used to move towards a system of personal retirement accounts, and the effects that a new system would have on workers.
Recommended
Inequality and Excess
By Arnold Kling: "What the American people really should feel awkward and defensive about is the level of inequality and excess of political power. Instead of asking ourselves what we can do about Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, we should be asking ourselves about what we can do about the Clintons and the Spitzers. Those who want more and more power should be our biggest concern."
Incentives, Incentives, Incentives
By Allen R. Sanderson: "If incentives work so well, maybe there are ways to improve public sector outcomes through the application of these same 'incentives matter' principles."
Public Choice
"Public Choice studies the intersection between economics and political science. The journal plays a central role in fostering exchange between economists and political scientists, enabling both communities to explain and learn from each other’s perspectives." Now available online.
Atlas Shrugged and Public Choice: The Obvious Parallels
By Bryan Caplan: "Though there is little evidence of mutual influence, Ayn Rand and public choice converge on a strikingly similar vision of the political process. Both emphasize the contradiction between the propaganda of government intervention and the reality. Government supposedly intervenes to advance the interests of the majority. In reality, however, its goal to advance the interests of political insiders at the expense of everyone else."
Tim Hartford on BHTV
Cato's own Will Wilkinson speaks with author and economist Tim Hartford about his new book, The Logic of Life. "Tim’s book isn’t just another foray into pop econ. It’s a fascinating and entertaining overview and synthesis of a good deal of the most important recent research in economics." - Will Wilkinson
5 Myths About Our Ballot-Box Behavior
By Bryan Caplan: "We haven't even made it to the New Hampshire primary, but millions of Americans are already sick of hearing about the 2008 race. Bad as the torrent of news is, I find the repetition of myths about voters and voting even more galling. Whether you're arguing with friends or watching the news, you hear many claims about how American democracy works that just aren't true."
Regulatory Competition: A Primer
By Jennifer Smith-Bozek: "A given government jurisdiction—local, state, or federal—can provide regulatory alternatives to compete with those of another government. Regulatory competition can attract more businesses and jobs, yield regulations that are more efficient and less expensive, and thereby provide more options to consumers."
Pigs Don't Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics
By Russell Roberts: "Politicians are just like the rest of us. They find it hard to do the right thing. They claim to have principles, but when their principles clash with what is expedient, they often find a way to justify their self-interest."
Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist
"The economist and blogger Tyler Cowen provides quirky and insightful advice for life based on his signature urbane style of economic reasoning."
Undercover Economist: Your Vote Doesn't Count
The concept of a “vote” is meaningless when it comes to the market. If Benn’s claim [that the poor are better represented in a democracy than in a market] means anything at all, surely it means this: that a poor person has more influence over the service he or she receives from the government than over the service he or she receives from the market. That claim means something, but it is also hard to sustain.
So You Want to be a Masonomist
By Arnold Kling: "Years from now, perhaps people will be saying that something big got started recently at the George Mason University department of economics. Maybe if you become a Masonomist now, you will be getting in early on a trend that will soon catch on much more widely."
Robert Frank on Economics Education and the Economic Naturalist
"Frank argues that the traditional way of teaching economics via graphs and equations often fails to make any impression on students. In this conversation with host Russ Roberts, Frank outlines an alternative approach from his new book, where students find interesting questions and enigmas from everyday life. They then try to explain them using the economic way of thinking."
Democracy and Other Failures
By Doug Campbell: "The theory of public choice helps explain why we get stuck with so many bad economic policies. Or does it?"
The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
By Bryan Caplan: "In theory, democracy is a bulwark against socially harmful policies. In practice, however, democracies frequently adopt and maintain policies that are damaging. How can this paradox be explained?"
Rent Seeking Behind the Green Curtain
Jonathan H. Adler explains that "due to the cost and complexity of environmental rules, the environmental policy arena presents an extremely attractive target for those who wish to seek rents in Washington. Indeed, if there is one consistent interest group, it is the inside-the-beltway consultants, lobbyists, and litigators, who benefit from the continuation of a Byzantine regulatory structure, the intimate knowledge of which is incredibly valuable and rare."
The Fundamentals of Rent Seeking
By Gordon Tullock: "Once the concept of rent seeking was discovered - and defined as the outlay of resources by individuals and organizations in the pursuit of rents created by government - there followed a flourishing of research as relevant ideas began to disseminate throughout economics. It is now rare to find an issue of an economics journal that does not refer at least implicitly to the concept of rent seeking."