Take a photo of a barcode or cover
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
Hazlitt makes a lot of salient points regarding the harm of overly controlled economic policy. He is extremely thorough in his explanations and they make sense.
That said, I don't think the books voice holds up well to the test of time. The author is very dry and matter of fact in his style. He repeats himself a lot. And his examples are completely outdated.
Not knowing that much about economic theory, I can't know for sure, but it seems Hazlitt likes to make a lot of strawman arguments. He characterizes the world into two types of people: bleeding heart big government socialists and free market economist. His views don't really help us understand how to make difficult decisions about fiscal priorities in complex environments.
That said, Hazlitt does impart a lot of sensible wisdom here. And the book is worth reading if not only to get a basic understanding of how the economy works in theory.
That said, I don't think the books voice holds up well to the test of time. The author is very dry and matter of fact in his style. He repeats himself a lot. And his examples are completely outdated.
Not knowing that much about economic theory, I can't know for sure, but it seems Hazlitt likes to make a lot of strawman arguments. He characterizes the world into two types of people: bleeding heart big government socialists and free market economist. His views don't really help us understand how to make difficult decisions about fiscal priorities in complex environments.
That said, Hazlitt does impart a lot of sensible wisdom here. And the book is worth reading if not only to get a basic understanding of how the economy works in theory.
This is one of those books that gets effusively praised by a certain kind of student of economics. Upon actually reading it, however, I think the problem lies mostly with the praisers: namely, that their favorite work doesn't actually do the work they say it does.
Oh, to be sure, Hazlitt has some fun rebutting various arguments for government intervention in an economy, and often those arguments come from those of a "progressive" or "leftist" mindset.
But Hazlitt deserves praise for his carefulness in rebutting the arguments alone, and not categorically dismissing every claim in itself. For example, he's not against unions, taxes, or public works per se: he just refutes certain claims that such things will work economic miracles.
That said, this book is very much a product of its time, that is, the immediate postwar period. My copy is from the 1960s. As such, Hazlitt had no opportunity to deal with the sometimes complicating factors that were revealed by more modern research in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics. That said, I don't think his arguments would be changed that much.
Overall it's an interesting little book that should at least serve as a concise example of "laissez-faire" economic thinking.
Oh, to be sure, Hazlitt has some fun rebutting various arguments for government intervention in an economy, and often those arguments come from those of a "progressive" or "leftist" mindset.
But Hazlitt deserves praise for his carefulness in rebutting the arguments alone, and not categorically dismissing every claim in itself. For example, he's not against unions, taxes, or public works per se: he just refutes certain claims that such things will work economic miracles.
That said, this book is very much a product of its time, that is, the immediate postwar period. My copy is from the 1960s. As such, Hazlitt had no opportunity to deal with the sometimes complicating factors that were revealed by more modern research in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics. That said, I don't think his arguments would be changed that much.
Overall it's an interesting little book that should at least serve as a concise example of "laissez-faire" economic thinking.
Good lessons here though he implies a free market among “men of good will” while ignoring market externalities such as air and water pollution. A free market is an ideal construct that does not exist and certainly not at scale.
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.
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).
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.)
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.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
As much as I hate economics, I could somehow understand how it works using this so doing it's job...