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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
Biased review...don’t really agree with all the author says. Maybe in a perfect world. That’s why I’m giving it two stars. But it’s always nice to read other perspectives.
Single most important book on economic theory since Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.
I liked the message overall, but it was quite wordy and could've been accomplished in 1/4 the pages.
I also didn't like the shallow treatment of prevalent economic ideas, which I found a bit intellectually dishonest.
However, the delivery was clear and the information was useful, so I enjoyed the book. It's probably the most approachable book on the topic that I've read, and I didn't feel like the author did too much "hand waving" as other texts seem to do.
In general, I liked it, but I think it could be improved on.
I also didn't like the shallow treatment of prevalent economic ideas, which I found a bit intellectually dishonest.
However, the delivery was clear and the information was useful, so I enjoyed the book. It's probably the most approachable book on the topic that I've read, and I didn't feel like the author did too much "hand waving" as other texts seem to do.
In general, I liked it, but I think it could be improved on.
Reading Hazlitt's economic primer, I was reminded of the recent vice presidential debate, in particular Paul Ryan’s statement: “If you don't have a good record to run on, paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” Unfortunately, this book was plagued by a similar ailment. The author spends page after page decrying the evils and ineffectiveness of his opponents while spending far less time building evidence for his own theories. Even when Hazlitt tries to make an argument in favor of a particular economic belief, his conclusions are often invalid due to weak premises or they contradict earlier statements. This is not to say the conclusions themselves are untrue but that he does not adequately support them. So while I see the merit of Hazlitt’s general thesis and some particulars, his book is neither as well written nor argued as one would think a book that has received so much praise would be. There is one basic insight that you should take away from this book: that the negative effects of government action which seeks to remove money from consumers (e.g. taxes, tariffs, subsidies, etc.) are often hidden. We see the bridge built with taxpayer money but not the jobs destroyed because taxpayers were without the funds to purchase them. It should be noted though that this example is over-simplistic and does not take into consideration such facts as the volume of consumer savings. That said, it still serves the purpose of illustrating an important correlation.
One final note for anyone interested in reading this book: it is not an introduction to economics. Although its title would make you believe that it serves this purpose, it is in fact a rebuttal of other economic philosophies.
One final note for anyone interested in reading this book: it is not an introduction to economics. Although its title would make you believe that it serves this purpose, it is in fact a rebuttal of other economic philosophies.
While described as a primer I'd say readers without an elementary knowledge of much of the terminology used in this book will find terms going over their heads. With that being said, Hazlitt does make an effort to look at many problems our country and other developed countries of the world face because policy makers mainly commit two economic fallacies. Through the Austrian lens he targets said problems in fathomable explanations.
The newest edition of this book includes an added chapter at the end written by Hazlitt himself 32 years after its first publication in 1946. He concludes much of the world, in particular the United States, still adheres to fiscal policy introduced in Keynes’ “General Theory” despite being harshly refuted by academic analysis for two decades after publication. Now in 2018 one can see nothing has changed and world's debt will continue to pile up. Perhaps my generation or my future son or daughter’s generation will have to answer for it when it crumbles.
The newest edition of this book includes an added chapter at the end written by Hazlitt himself 32 years after its first publication in 1946. He concludes much of the world, in particular the United States, still adheres to fiscal policy introduced in Keynes’ “General Theory” despite being harshly refuted by academic analysis for two decades after publication. Now in 2018 one can see nothing has changed and world's debt will continue to pile up. Perhaps my generation or my future son or daughter’s generation will have to answer for it when it crumbles.
Extremely repetitive, but a convincing overview of free markets and their value.
Approaching a subject I was not particularly interested in, Hazlitt's presentation of economic principles and arguments against prevalent economic fallacies were engaging and easy to understand. A page-turner; concise yet rich.
This was a re-read for me from some years ago as I plan my oldest son's syllabus for next year. I wanted to check and make sure I felt it was still "current" and relevant in today's economic times. It is, stunningly so. Dozens of times I found myself linking this cogent analysis directly to our current economic problems; a better educated economist could probably have found hundreds of points. How I wish we could somehow distill all this into the heads of our leaders who seem hell-bent on utterly ruinous policy. I wish I could prescribe a strong dose of Hazlitt all around.
The logic in Hazlitt's crisp prose is infallible.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
The middle’s pacing slowed to a gut-wrenching crawl discussing parity prices and union influence. Everything else was engaging and useful.
Has a different approach to basic economics by dissecting common fallacies first and analyzing long-term effects of those fallacies and the forgotten “unseen producer/consumer” second.
Has a different approach to basic economics by dissecting common fallacies first and analyzing long-term effects of those fallacies and the forgotten “unseen producer/consumer” second.