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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.