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Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt
ppetropoulakis's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting defense of classical macroeconomic theory. It is a very extensive book dealing with all phenomena of the economy in an efficient and passionate way. The position of the author is that market forces can have more economic stabilization power over government intervention. Needless to say that the author is very much against Keyes theory and the whole economics school that he represents.
lunalullaby's review against another edition
5.0
I wish a lot of people would read this! It’s been around a long time and the logic and wisdom in it is solid. It’s definitely one I’ll add to my read again list and there aren’t many books on that list.
anonymous_dimwit's review against another edition
4.0
Easy to understand, sprinkled with a large number of realistic, close-to-life examples. A bit repetitive at times, though. Makes for a great introduction into economics and underlines a large number of economic fallacies and political shortcomings (as in, political measures undertaken to influence the free market).
librariandest's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't get very far in this book before I put it down in frustration because Hazlitt kept saying things like, "I'm not going to debate the benefits of low income housing (or social services, or unemployment, etc.), I'm just going to say that it's a bad idea economically." Well, that's great. Too bad we live in a world that isn't ruled by pure economics, right? We'd all be so much better off! (I don't know, maybe we would be better off, but it seems completely cold and unrealistic to me.)
lipsandpalms's review against another edition
3.0
A very good overview of basic economic concepts and how things like price fixing, tariffs, printing money, rent control, and minimum wage increases may help a niche group of people in the short term but harms everyone in the long term. This is due to a decrease in efficiency and sometimes a direct destruction of wealth. Very similar to Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell but with less references to the polarizing narrative of political groups. Definitely recommended for anyone who wants a better grasp of government policies' effect on the economy or someone who just needs a refresher on the concepts.
jdferron's review against another edition
5.0
For anyone who is interested in learning economics, this book should be on your list of books to read first.
almamalmberg's review against another edition
3.0
As much as I hate economics, I could somehow understand how it works using this so doing it's job...
lordfinkelgravy's review against another edition
3.0
I will appreciate this book more after reading about the effects caused by Reaganomics (and thereafter). I cannot help but wonder what Hazlitt’s analysis would be on the mass wealth inequality that has been growing since the 80’s. There is no mention in this work about government interference in propping up companies that are “too big to fail” or TARP post 2008. I assume he would be against those equally.
batbones's review against another edition
4.0
Speaking from the standpoint of someone who has not liked her tiny sample of economics from school and who has zero knowledge of how things work, this book was a suitable primer. It wasn't difficult to understand.