What Should I Read About "x"?
Every year, without fail, I get asked about what books to read to understand key ideas in <insert field of choice here>.
Because I teach Principles of Economics at the Gokhale Institute, it is usually a question related to economics - in micro, macro, international trade, and the like.
Five Books, the website, is a genuinely great resource to get started, and Noah Smith had a nice little write-up on the topic recently. (And here are book recommendations from EFE in the past)
But what if you wanted to use AI to get started?
Try this prompt on for size:
Outline ten major conceptual ideas or concepts that in your opinion a good international trade theorist should know, but do so by asking me one question at a time. The question should test my knowledge about the concept, and my ability to explain it well. Regardless of how good my answer is (and please do let me know your opinion about how good a job I did), explain the idea to me in your words, and cite the economist and the paper that is responsible for the theory. Recommend a good book to read about the topic, and the canonical paper. Then, create a question for the next concept, and repeat the process, until we do it ten times in all. If you've understood, please ask the first question. Otherwise, please ask for clarifications.
This goes without saying - modify the prompt for the subject in question, specify which particular time period you are interested in (developments in international trade theory over the last ten years, for example), or suggest intersection sets (international trade and the environment, for example).
That is, please use this prompt only after having customized it to suit your purposes. And above all, please make sure you are using a paid account, or use DeepSeek.
And hey, AI is the kindest viva taker, ever. Feel free to say "I don't know, please go ahead and tell me all about it" for every question that you struggle with (but in that case, please, I beseech you, please do read the answer that is given carefully!)
By the way, if you're wondering, I got all ten right, but tripped up a little over the specific factor model. Which is fine by me, because I never enjoyed learning it or teaching it - too many strait-jacket assumptions, if you ask me, even for an econ model.