Most people perceive Economics today to be pretty much about Interest Rates, Exchange Rates, foreign policy and other seemingly standard what-nots. However, this is an incomplete representation of the powerful analytical tool that Economics truly is. Today, the application of Economics as a 'way of thinking' falls within Sociology, Demographics, and even Science subjects like Chemistry, Physics, Biology...and I-kid-you-not, sports like Football, Basketball and Badminton!

Good introductions to Economics would be light reading material that do not focus on the stereotypical aspects of Economics. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt is a great example of such a book. As per its description in Wikipedia:

The book's topics include:

• Chapter 1: Discovering cheating as applied to teachers and sumo wrestlers
• Chapter 2: Information control as applied to the Ku Klux Klan and real-estate agents
• Chapter 3: The economics of drug dealing, including the surprisingly low earnings and abject working conditions of crack cocaine dealers
• Chapter 4: The controversial role legalized abortion has played in reducing crime. (Levitt explored this topic in an earlier paper entitled "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime.")
• Chapter 5: The negligible effects of good parenting on education
• Chapter 6: The socioeconomic patterns of naming children

Levitt's book is an interesting read and it comes very highly recommended to those interested in the other side of Economics. Not only does it open up the frontiers of previous limits to the field, but it allows one to fully appreciate what this tremendously useful tool can be used for.