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151 reviews for:
Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
Henry Hazlitt
3.75 AVERAGE
151 reviews for:
Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
Henry Hazlitt
3.75 AVERAGE
An enlightening and sometimes eye opening quick read that's split into short chapters, each covering a particular topic or fallacy, and then the truth about that same topic or fallacy. The "one lesson" the title refers to is stated at the beginning of the book, which is that the science of economics consists not only of looking at the direct/seen and short term impacts or results of any particular policy or economic activity, but also at at the indirect/unseen and long term impacts or results. The book's premise is that most people and politicians, knowingly or unknowingly, only focus on the direct/seen/obvious, short term impacts while ignoring the rest, which often end up harming people and the economy rather than helping. Each chapter emphasizes that point and traces the impacts through to their conclusion.
I found the book very interesting and helpful, particularly the chapters on the role of profits and losses, and inflation. Even though the book was written in the 1940's, some of the authors comments ring even more true today and were quite prophetic.
One thing to keep in mind is the book is a high level summary and the author makes that clear. Each chapter could end up being a book of its own, however there are some citations and other references. So even though I wish some more detail was provided on certain topics, that's not the point of the book.
I found the book very interesting and helpful, particularly the chapters on the role of profits and losses, and inflation. Even though the book was written in the 1940's, some of the authors comments ring even more true today and were quite prophetic.
One thing to keep in mind is the book is a high level summary and the author makes that clear. Each chapter could end up being a book of its own, however there are some citations and other references. So even though I wish some more detail was provided on certain topics, that's not the point of the book.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
My cousin is getting a degree in economics. He said this is the book he read before he started studying this subject. It was a great introduction to the field, although I'd want to see more of the research behind some of the conclusions found in this work before I accepted it all as fact.
informative
medium-paced
Very insightful. It's a crime that societies keep repeating the same economic blunders.
this book is outside my wheelhouse, for sure, but it was also super boring. i get that it's probably a good read for a high school class in 1946 but i found myself struggling to even bother finishing it. i suppose i should have just stopped but i'm a dumbass completionist.
a personal highlight was the notion that GM is the greatest company in the world. another fun bit was counting how many times my boy henry used the word 'fallacy'. almost seems to me ol' hen got hisself a sweet piece of the pie from Big Fallacy at some point
a personal highlight was the notion that GM is the greatest company in the world. another fun bit was counting how many times my boy henry used the word 'fallacy'. almost seems to me ol' hen got hisself a sweet piece of the pie from Big Fallacy at some point
I liked this book and all the topics covered within it. Going into this book, I did not know very much about economics other than two high school level classes I took 5-6 years prior to reading this. It is a very dense book with lots of information on various categories of economics, so it took me a while to get through. I ended up having to read it a chapter or two at a time so I could process all that was mentioned. Definitely a good introduction to economics as well as good for expanding basic knowledge of economics.
The revisions on this book really work well for how economics holds true today.
The book is well written - short and concise, however, I found title completely misleading. It is not a book of economics, rather one-sided view of a particular view of the economy - Free Market. In short, it states that all of the problems will be solved by the market itself and with this in mind, government actions usually just make it worse. One can agree or disagree with this but what I particularly didn't like is that most of the arguments are based on questionable (weak) premises and gross oversimplification, not to mention that any other idea is dismissed (also mocked) as not right without any proper argumentation.
Give it a go if you are looking for a one-sided view on economics based on Austrian School.
Give it a go if you are looking for a one-sided view on economics based on Austrian School.