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Economics in One Lesson by Hazlitt. It's old but many of the lessons he teaches are still relevant today. It opened my eyes to the danger of only thinking abou
by filleokus 8y ago
Economics in One Lesson by Hazlitt.
It's old but many of the lessons he teaches are still relevant today. It opened my eyes to the danger of only thinking about the things that are easily observable, and ignoring the "unseen" things.
> The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.
- viburnum 8y agoThis book is complete trash. You should find a better book.
- YaxelPerez 8y agoCare to explain why?
- bepotts 8y agoI'm not the guy who posted, but probably because the book has a conservative lean. Regardless, I think the book is great as well.
- keyvin 8y agoCare to suggest one?
- abecedarius 8y agohttps://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Order-Economics-Everyday-Life/dp/0887308856/ https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Order-Economics-Everyday-Life/... I agree that the book upthread presents weak arguments. I didn't like it even though I sympathize with much "libertarian nonsense".
- segmondy 8y agoHaven't read the book, but it doesn't matter. One man's trash is another man's treasure. The book might have been just what OP needed at the time they read the book. There are tons of books that I've read that were instrumental to me at some point, but today they are complete trash to me. From fiction to non-fiction.
- jumbopapa 8y agoAn absolutely excellent book. Read this when first starting to think about economics and followed it up with Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.
- gizmo 8y agoThis is one of those books where if you know only a little about economics after reading it you'll know even less. Economics in one lesson is heavy on rhetoric and light on substance. The lesson is "look for hidden externalities". Which is by itself totally fair: we should indeed be mindful of externalities. However when dealing with complex sociological questions there are always negative externalities and the case can always be made that there are additional hidden externalities we don't fully understand yet. And therefore the correct solution to all these sociological problems according to Hazlitt is to do nothing. Because only the externalities of action are considered, not the externalities of inaction. That's the slight of hand applied throughout the book. So the solutions are the same libertarian nonsense we're all familiar with: no government, no taxes, no minimum wages, no unions, no tariffs, etc. "Economics in one lesson" is by no means a good book, but it's pleasantly written, freely available online, and it can be read in an afternoon. Additionally it makes the reader feel smart because it provides a very simple solution to a multitude of very complex problems. So that explains the appeal. If people want to learn basic economics they should study a reputable college textbook instead.
- sdfin 8y ago> when dealing with complex sociological questions there are always negative externalities and the case can always be made that there are additional hidden externalities we don't fully understand yet. And therefore the correct solution to all these sociological problems according to Hazlitt is to do nothing. How can he propose to do something about what's not understood? Both action or inaction have consequences and those consequences once understood would motivate a new action or inaction. I'm not criticizing, I ask this because I didn't understand well the argument in its abstract form.