Rating: 
Summary: A great Introduction to Economics
Review: "Economics in One Lesson", Henry Hazlet's, book makes a powerful and persuasive argument in favor of a free market economy. Written in a very lucid style "Economics in One Lesson" makes the usually dry subject of economics easily understandable and a pleasure to read. Hazlitt doesn't obfuscate the truths of matters with cumbersome graphs and math. For non-economists like my self it makes a great introductory book to the subject. Even though the book was published in 1946, the topics covered by Hazlitt are still pertinent and examine issues that still confound us more than 50 years later. Chapters include inflation, tariffs, taxation, price fixing, labor unions, savings, and the importance of profits, rent control, and more. As a retired Army officer and student of political philosophy, I found "Economics in One Lesson" a great book for anyone who wants to understand basic economic theory.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast, simple and dated, with one massive error.
Review: A lot of opinion with few backup examples. Luckily most of the opinions are correct, but some are dated and there is one massive error.
How can economic theory be dated?! Well, this book makes it possible. Written just after WW II and apparently not much revised since, it offers substantial criticism of government efforts such as domestic price controls and make-work programs which are little used today, but which were an enormous part of Roosevelt's "New Deal". If you know something about the New Deal, you will understand Hazlitt's justified backlash fervor.
What's the massive error? It's the claim that foreign trade between nations must quickly balance out because the nations building trade deficits will soon lack the foreign currency to continue importing from the nations with surpluses. While this could theoretically be true in a model in which all the trading nations adhere to a gold standard (and has been true at times), Nixon's 1971 closing of the US gold window, and the advent of pure fiat money almost worldwide, has rendered this theory obsolete. The absolute proof is in the steadily growing US trade and current account deficit over the past couple of decades. Oh sure, eventually the US may equalize imports and exports with China. But how many more DECADES will it take? And, will the US economy still be recognizable? And will the US dollar have any international value? Or domestic value? Will we all be happy when our standard of living is the same as that in China?
Even the great Milton Friedman theorized that trade imbalances are self correcting, without presenting the now obvious fact that the time element in such an equalization could be sufficient to sink a nation.
Rating:
Summary: Put This Book In Your Children's Hands
Review: And make them read it. Less a primer in economics than a concise debunking of crank positions on economic issues, this book can clear the air (and the mind) quickly after some interested sophist plumps for a discredited idea. Hazlitt's parable of the broken window, meant to show how what dosen't happen as a result of human action is at least as important as what does, is the best introduction to economic theory for the average reader since Adam Smith. The visible results that people see as a result of government intervention in the market must be weighed against what did not come to pass because of the reallocation of resources (i.e., your hard-earned money) that such action necesitates. This book is timeless, in that it is not tied to concrete examples drawn from the headlines of 1946, and is also remarkably free of venom , passion, or spite, which too often mar polemical works on economics - and serve to camouflage bad reasoning. This book can be a basic education in itself, or the beginning of deeper study, in the works of Von Mises, Von Hayek, Schumpeter, or of Hazlett himself. Unlike his opposition (Keynes, et al), Hazlitt is actually readable. -Lloyd A. Conway
Rating:
Summary: This may be the best short introduction to economic thought
Review: ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON may be the best short introduction to economic thought. Henry Hazlitt begins with an example discussed by Frederic Bastiat - the 'broken window fallacy' - from Bastiat's essay 'On What Is Seen And What Is Not Seen'. Bastiat's point, and Hazlitt's, is that much common thinking focuses on visible, short-term results and ignores invisible, longer-term consequences - because the latter often consist of things that did *not* happen. Hazlitt explains this insight and applies it brilliantly to many specific economic issues (inflation, unemployment, price controls, international trade, and others). By the time the reader has completed this book, he or she will be 'thinking like an economist'. Despite the remarks of a previous reviewer, I do not think Hazlitt is 'sarcastic' in this book or has very much in common with novelist Ayn Rand. Miss Rand owed quite a lot to Hazlitt's work, and especially to this volume (which she highly recommended despite some disagreements on particular 'philosophical' points). However, there was no debt whatsoever in the opposite direction.
Rating:
Summary: Great economics starter!
Review: Having poor public schooling on economics, I decided to pick this book up. This is the perfect starter book for anyone wanting to learn about economics. Relatively short book, just goes through major topics each chapter. Short and to the point. After this book, I would recommend "Naked Economics" by Charles Wheelan. I started off reading Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, and in comparison, this is a much easier read. I think I might have started backwards. =). A must read for beginners.
Rating: 
Summary: Very clear, well argued, and timeless economics lesson
Review: Hazlitt has a gift for clarity. His arguments simply cannot be misunderstood. With nearly unassailable logic he explains the subtle economic implications of many government policies in terms the simplest novice can follow. This is an awesome book for any reader. This book was not at all what I expected when I ordered it. I expected a textbook like approach to all the classic concepts of economics (supply/demand curves, law of diminishing returns, effects of shortages/gluts on prices, etc.) Instead, Hazlitt simply states that true economics involves tracing both the seen and unseen consequences of each action or policy. This is primarily a book about government policy in economics, but it scope reaches to every choice we make with regard to the economic well-being of our nation. I had many 'Ah ha!' moments while reading this book. I felt I had a fairly good grasp on many economic prinicples after reading Skousen's 'The Making of Modern Economics', but Hazlitt has a way of crystalizing thoughts that are still fuzzy. One thing that comes through consistently is how money confuses and distracts people from a true understanding of wealth. Money is not wealth. True physical wealth lies in the products (goods and services) you have or can afford to buy. The wealth of a nation lies in the aggregate products it produces. If you want economic prosperity, increase production. Not senseless production, but production of things people actually want. When all is said and done, money is just the "medium of exchange". Ultimately, all products are paid for by other products. Despite my high regard for this book, at times it dragged. Many topics are similar, and it seemed at times repetitive to go over the same ground again. I wish every American (especially politicians and aspiring politicians) would read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good But Some Holes
Review: Henry Hazlitt's book starts with a single lesson-that economics means looking beyond the immediate effects of any act or policy to the consequences of it for everyone. The rest of the book is a series of short chapters giving examples of the application of this lesson.
Hazlitt's lesson in itself is great. I wish it were better known. His examples vary in quality. Some are a bit dated; natural for a book which mostly dates to 1946. The chapter on rent control is as relevant today as ever. The discussion of the cost of war and other types of destructive activities punctures a misconception that is still common. In his discussion of unemployment, however, he fails to mention immigration and population growth as part of the cause.
The section on tariffs is good as far as it goes. The problem with his analysis is that transportation today is in effect heavily subsidized. Oil companies and the like don't have to pay for the air pollution and climate change caused by their products, or for roads, or for the armies protecting the oil flow. Subsidized transportation costs make nonsense of the idea that local and imported goods are really on the same footing. Free trade with countries having non-existent environmental laws simply sets up a race to the bottom, with responsible companies heading for bankruptcy and irresponsible companies destroying the economic foundations of their own countries.
Hazlitt swallows whole the idea that growth in GNP is always good and can continue indefinitely. Given that GNP doesn't include the costs of pollution, resource depletion, the effects of population growth, or quality of life, this is very questionable. Hazlitt needs to apply his own "one lesson" here.
Hazlitt states in his first sentence that economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. I tend to agree. Hazlitt points out some of them and does it in a very readable way. Hazlitt fails with some of the other fallacies. Read the book, but read it with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Good But Some Holes
Review: Henry Hazlitt's book starts with a single lesson-that economics means looking beyond the immediate effects of any act or policy to the consequences of it for everyone. The rest of the book is a series of short chapters giving examples of the application of this lesson.
Hazlitt's lesson in itself is great. I wish it were better known. His examples vary in quality. Some are a bit dated; natural for a book which mostly dates to 1946. The chapter on rent control is as relevant today as ever. The discussion of the cost of war and other types of destructive activities punctures a misconception that is still common. In his discussion of unemployment, however, he fails to mention immigration and population growth as part of the cause.
The section on tariffs is good as far as it goes. The problem with his analysis is that transportation today is in effect heavily subsidized. Oil companies and the like don't have to pay for the air pollution and climate change caused by their products, or for roads, or for the armies protecting the oil flow. Subsidized transportation costs make nonsense of the idea that local and imported goods are really on the same footing. Free trade with countries having non-existent environmental laws simply sets up a race to the bottom, with responsible companies heading for bankruptcy and irresponsible companies destroying the economic foundations of their own countries.
Hazlitt swallows whole the idea that growth in GNP is always good and can continue indefinitely. Given that GNP doesn't include the costs of pollution, resource depletion, the effects of population growth, or quality of life, this is very questionable. Hazlitt needs to apply his own "one lesson" here.
Hazlitt states in his first sentence that economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. I tend to agree. Hazlitt points out some of them and does it in a very readable way. Hazlitt fails with some of the other fallacies. Read the book, but read it with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Concise and Precise Economic Doctrine
Review: Henry Hazlitt, one of America's greatest economists, presents the best refutation of socialist and Keynesian beliefs. It is a tremendous pity that such a brilliant thinker is rarely considered among the greatest economists. He certainly is more rational, realistic, and correct than Marx or Keynes, and I would even go as far as to say he provides a better constructed argument for free market capitalism than either of the celebrated neo-classical economists, F.A. Hayek or Milton Friedman. Both men are brilliant thinkers and economists as well, but they have never been able to convey their ideas in such an concise manner. Hazlitt's "brick through the window" analogy is the best economic illustration since Adam Smith's pin machine. It displays the fundamental fallacies of controlled economics, which always misses the secondary and future consequences for the short term gain that may be incurred. For anyone interested in why minimum wage laws, price controls, tarriffs, taxes, and inflationary policies have failed to provide the social justice and economic progress promised by radicals and leftists and has instead caused economic decline and stagnation, this book is a must read. It has stood the test of time and deserves to be regarded as the finest inquiry into the nature of economics since Adam's Smith "The Wealth of Nations".
Rating:
Summary: Fun, easy, and important read
Review: I have a BA in economics and am currently in a PhD program in economics so this stuff wasn't new to me. That being said, it was definitely a worthwhile read because, as Hazlitt points out, even economists often lose sight of some of the most fundamental concepts that he demonstrates.
Also, as a teaching assistant for a university level introductory macroeconomics class, this book is invaluable. Most of the quarter is spent developing a Keynesian model of the economy but, with excerpts from this book, I can inform my students of other side of coin. In my opinion, understanding the concepts in this book should be a prerequisite to any study of Keynesian theory. I can just imagine students who have taken an introductory macroeconomics course espousing the powerful way the government can stimulate the economy, but without understanding the way a free market works and the benefits that come along with it. I'm not a Keynes basher at all--I just think understanding how a free market economy works is much more important than the idea that government can stimulate aggregate demand. While setting out to demonstrate common economic fallacies, Hazlitt also paints a lucid picture of the free market and illuminates some of the hard to see implications of the way the invisible hand works.
Also, this book is so well written that anyone could easily read it very quickly and understand all of the concepts without any background in economics.
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