Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest & Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not only is this book outdated, it’s also obviously ideological. Don’t read this book — get an Econ 101 textbook instead. You have to be generally wary of pundits who think they can explain an entire social science ‘in layman’s terms’ — but especially those who wrote 70 years ago! You wouldn’t think you could pick up the basics of physics or biology off of one ~200 page book, so why think the same for economics? I haven’t read them, but if you really need a short book on economics, maybe try Thomas Sowell’s works.

Henry raises valid points and lessons (broken-window fallacy, luddite fallacy, etc), no doubt. But his work is way too simple. It really vulgarizes the entirety of economics in service of making it understandable to layman. If you’re one of these layman, please just put in a little more effort and purchase a textbook. Some chapters are plainly outdated, especially those on international trade — though, again, the general points are legitimate.

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