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A review by t_shaffner
Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell
5.0
This was a truly fantastic book. It is a very thorough, thoughtful, and deep analysis of a topic presented in way that is both consumable and fascinating even if one is not in the field. And while the author has a fairly open right lean, he is so thoughtfully, with very specific and well-laid-out arguments supporting his belief, and with a thorough understanding and addressing of the points of the other side in many cases.
I will say though, in the end I found the book fantastic but was mixed on where I actually agreed or not. For example, the sections on rent control and the housing market in general were fantastic and I was fairly thoroughly on board. In comparison, the section on monopolies was well argued but felt to me to address the issue in a way that effectively presumed them away, and seemed to give no credence to their reality outside situations caused by government control. This seems to me somewhat far fetched, and if I have time I'd like to reread this section to narrow down more exactly where I disagree with the argument as laid out.
In other areas I was a bit more mixed as well, often agreeing and finding deeply useful the broader perspective on economics but in particular cases (e.g. predatory pricing) felt the treatment wandered a bit away from fair. The author was a pains to note that such can neither be proven nor disproven (fair point), but then proceeded to cast such skepticism on the idea being possible to a degree that felt unwarranted based on the evidence he was citing. In both this and the discussion of monopolies I was particularly struck with the sense that the effort/time involved to set up or create a business or situation was simply something he consistently underplayed, and the de facto monopolistic situations that often exist or the effective predatory pricing that can occur by virtue of economies of scale in the age of truly massive corporations on the whole got short schrift. Where I felt something was unfair or incomplete it often tended to be related to this point.
That said, even where I disagreed I learned, and as such would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a profoundly thoughtful, well researched and thoughtful description of how economics works from a right-leaning perspective. I might not agree with everything in here, but it seems unquestionable to me that the arguments here are powerful enough to treat with great consideration even when the conclusion is to disagree.
I will say though, in the end I found the book fantastic but was mixed on where I actually agreed or not. For example, the sections on rent control and the housing market in general were fantastic and I was fairly thoroughly on board. In comparison, the section on monopolies was well argued but felt to me to address the issue in a way that effectively presumed them away, and seemed to give no credence to their reality outside situations caused by government control. This seems to me somewhat far fetched, and if I have time I'd like to reread this section to narrow down more exactly where I disagree with the argument as laid out.
In other areas I was a bit more mixed as well, often agreeing and finding deeply useful the broader perspective on economics but in particular cases (e.g. predatory pricing) felt the treatment wandered a bit away from fair. The author was a pains to note that such can neither be proven nor disproven (fair point), but then proceeded to cast such skepticism on the idea being possible to a degree that felt unwarranted based on the evidence he was citing. In both this and the discussion of monopolies I was particularly struck with the sense that the effort/time involved to set up or create a business or situation was simply something he consistently underplayed, and the de facto monopolistic situations that often exist or the effective predatory pricing that can occur by virtue of economies of scale in the age of truly massive corporations on the whole got short schrift. Where I felt something was unfair or incomplete it often tended to be related to this point.
That said, even where I disagreed I learned, and as such would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a profoundly thoughtful, well researched and thoughtful description of how economics works from a right-leaning perspective. I might not agree with everything in here, but it seems unquestionable to me that the arguments here are powerful enough to treat with great consideration even when the conclusion is to disagree.