Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues-and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the reader. These include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as mistaken ideas about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries. One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power-and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous. Written in the easy-to-follow style of the author’s Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Required Reading for candidates
My fantasy of having great wealth is to start a foundation that would give a book a week to every member of Congress, every state legislator, every government policymaker, every opinion columnist and every candidate. This would be the second book we'd give out. First would be Sowell's "Basic Economics." Yes, it might not do any good. I recently cited to a newspaper columnist Sowell's history of what happens to government revenues when you increase the Capital Gains tax (hint: the opposite of what's ... Read More
Rating: - Economic Facts and Fallacies
Thomas Sowell is a remarkable writer. He explains economics and politics in such a common sense way. Thomas Sowell's books and articles in [...] are always refreshing to read.
Rating: - Further your economic education
I decided that as a responsible citizen I should try to learn a few things about economics. I found that this book is a great aid in that endeavor. Dr. Sowell is a master in making the complex principles of economics easy for the layman. Although my favorite is his book, "Basic Economics," this book is an excellent further examination into some of the principles he brought up in that one. My favorites here were the chapters on college education, income disparity, and the third world. For those ... Read More
Rating: - Solid and Interesting
Many of the economic facts in his book contradict conventional wisdom and are somewhat counter-intuitive, but you cannot deny the facts and it makes me realize how little I really understand about economics.
In this election year it is interesting about how much bad economic policy is being spewed out by politicians on both sides of the aisle. Every politician should read this book....however, good economic policy is rarely popular since in many cases it is counter-intuitive.
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Rating: - Almost mesmerizing
Because Dr. Sowell writes so very well it is easy to get swept up in his arguments. And because he is so edifying even to those with some expertise in economics, it is easy for us to put aside our critical faculties and go blithely along without noticing some unstated assumptions and what he leaves out.
Underlying Sowell's approach to economics are two main assumptions:
One, when it comes to humans, more is good. Conservatives tend to believe this because they fear that stagnant ... Read More
- Required Reading for candidates
- Further your economic education
