Tax-chick is right about ‘BASIC ECONOMICS’ don’t read “Applied” until you’ve read ‘Basics’, though. Be willing to take your time through it....the book LOOKS intimidating because it is thick, but the man or woman who reads it carefully will be much smarter having worked through it.
The reading isn’t difficult, you just have to pay attention.
I also would recommend “The Conservative Mind” by Russell Kirk.
Finally, if you’re just traveling or sitting on the beach, consider a simple four or five dollar copy of the Constitution...and I’m not being sarcastic. So many people do not know what is in our founding document. If you really want to delve deeper, get the Heritage Guide to the Constitution...it goes through every clause of the document and explains them and their history in Supreme Court decisions.
Also, subscribe to a magazine like World, Human Events, National Review or The Weekly Standard. These not only take on current events, but they also provide an insight into popular books, film, etc. and give a conservative point of view on the culture.
Thanks for the ideas. Basic versus applied economics...Got it :)
Will check out Kirk.
Not sure how much time college student will devote to current events, but trying to give them some perspective so that when they do see stuff on fb, twitter, and daily show (ugh, that seems to be a source of news for college students?!?!?), they will be more discerning!