What breeds do you think are "easy" or good for first time dog owners? I know Goldens and Labs are a couple of them.
I actually don't consider Labradors "easy" at all. Goldens maybe a bit more so, but people don't seem to understand that they are RETRIEVERS that are highly active and very mouthy that need a lot of attention, training, and exercise to mature to be a good family pet. Add on the fact that the average pet breeder is pumping out dogs with questionable temperaments and health...not easy at all. We had a client who had purchased a Golden Retriever pup as their very first ever dog, because "they had heard such wonderful things about them". Then they proceeded to label their 9 week old, spunky, amazing puppy as "dominant" and "aggressive" and "out of control" because she barked at them, mouthed them, and jumped on them. Yes. Such a correct diagnosis. All the while this poor puppy just needed some clear, consistent signals from them that they were NOT giving (nothing like yelling sitsitsitsitsitsit while getting progressively louder and clicking a clicker to mark nothing to get your puppy to listen to you).
So, in short, I think if you've never had ANY experience around a dog, at all, that the best thing for you to do would be to adopt an adult, trained dog from a rescue or breeder that can match your needs, wants, and expectations to the dog.
If you've been around dogs, know about dogs in general, and are willing to attend classes/devote the proper time/do your research, I think adopting either a puppy of a breed that is known for its amenability or an adult of a "harder" breed (a breed more prone to shyness or aggression) isn't a bad choice. If it is your first time with a puppy, it's harder to screw up a pup that is genetically programmed to be social, sweet, and friendly than it would be a pup that has fearful or aggressive tendencies.
Breeds or dogs that are bred for sport or working homes should hopefully never be in the hands of someone who is a "first time" owner, unless they have extensive experience with dogs. I'm not talking about the dog person who is getting their first dog and wants to do agility and disc with a Border Collie, I'm talking about a family with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence going out to the farm and picking up a stock working cattle dog pup to be their toddler's companion, because they had a cattle dog growing up that was just the best dog, even though they haven't had a dog for the past 20 years and their living environment now is not what their environment was 20 years ago when they had their awesome cattle dog.