>>1097907The best thing you can do to understand actual economics is to read current analysis pieces, think economics/finance op eds in the Wall Street Journal, American Affairs, Jacobin, New York Times, The Economist, etc.
Texts are hard because most economists cannot write. I would recommend instead becoming familiar with the theories of various economists and what they've contributed to the discipline: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Michał Kalecki, Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, Thomas Picketty, David Ricardo.
