Rating: 
Summary: The Most Important Book of Our Time (If we read it)!
Review: Why are the lights going out in California? Why were there lines at gasoline stations in the '70s? Why is it so difficult to find a decent appartment in NY city? How can nations with less natural resources be so much more wealthy than others? Why can't Russia and China feed it's own people even though they have tremendously rich farmland? Thomas Sowell answers these and a million more questions in this easily read book on economics. This is not a text book! Sowell spent 10 years writting this book that reads like a cross between a public policy paper and a novel!Economics is the study of the allocation (economization) of SCARCE resourses (time, money, labor, services, natural resources, etc.) with alternate uses. How efficiently a society allocates these scarce resourses utilmately determines the standard of living of it's citizens. When citizens lack the basic understanding of these principles, they typically are indifferent to detrimental governmental action and often actually encourage it! For example, price controls have a history of producing shortages back to the Roman Empire. Why then would politicians continue to institute such disatuours policies? Because there are more consumers (voters who think they benefit) than producer (voters who get punished) and Economists (voters who know the whole thing is a losing proposition). Dr. Sowell uses copious examples to demonstrate as he makes each point. Early on he uses the example of a Protestant and Chatholic church each pursing a building program. In a free market economy, these churches are bidding against each other for scare building materials. Based on the level of funding, the churches may decide volutarily to scale back on their building programs. But, because the competition is systemic, there is no animosity between the churches. If, however, the government determines the allocation of resources, then the Protestant and Catholic churces come into direct competition with each other and animosity will develop as any extension of resources to one church will be seen as a direct reduction of resources to the other. Additionally, neither will have any reason to scale back voluntarily. This book will make you look very differently at the economy and consumer choices. It should be mandatory reading for all highschool students. I've been buying this book and giving it to all my family and friends. You should too! Note: Sowell is from the Monetarist branch of economics as most associated with Miton Friedman (He is the Friedman Fellow of the Hoover Institute). While definitely better than than the long discredited Keynesian wing, I disagree with some of the premises of the monetarists (I am more aligned with the Von Mises theories), but it is irrellevant at this basic level.
Rating:
Summary: If Liberal Politicians Would only Read and Heed this Book
Review: Mr. Sowell begins this excellent textbook with British economist Lionel Robbins's classic definition: "Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses." Mr. Sowell then explains the economic theory of prices, industry and commerce, work and pay, time and risk, the national economy, the international economy, and concludes with popular economic fallacies. He accomplishes this without any graphs or equations to scare some people away. The reader, no matter his educational level or political persuasion, must come away with one overpowering and disturbing conclusion and that is: When it comes to having the most rudimentary knowledge of economics, the vast majority of politicians and talking heads are either complete idiots or socialists who are still in denial. This book allows anyone to analyze thorny and difficult economic issues in a relative simple manner by applying basic principles. It allows one to instantly recognize the ridiculousness of so many arguments that are continually put forth. My only criticism of the book is that the publisher did a very poor job of editing. These errors should be corrected in subsequent printings and there should be many additional ones. This is one of those rare books that everyone should read and is certainly suitable for use as an elementary economics textbook in high school and college. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Worth Reading
Review: Economist Thomas Sowell has chastized his profession for not doing enough to teach basic economics to the lay public. The consequence has too often been an uncritical acceptance by voters of government policies that, in the long run, do more harm than good. Taking up his own challenge, Dr. Sowell has penned this remarkable book which teaches us about free markets using a clear narrative devoid of mathematical jargon. We learn that often the best way to grasp the importance of free market ideas is to view the consequences of violating them. He provides numerous examples from the former Soviet Union and India of sometimes comic, but most often tragic, outcomes when prices are not allowed to guide the allocation of scarce resources. Often, this has lead to needless misery for millions of people. But, let's not be smug. America is hardly immune to economic folly. A public largely ignorant of economics does not understand why outcomes sometimes fall woefully short of expectations, and continues to allow politicians to promote flawed policies. For example, why does rent control ultimately make affordable housing less available for lower income families when its intended purpose is exactly the opposite? Why do minimum wage laws reduce the number of jobs available to the young and unskilled? Why can tariffs on imported goods lead to a net loss of jobs? And why did NAFTA fail to produce the "giant sucking sound" so widely anticipated? Professor Sowell will provide the answers. Economics is not a subject that should be blissfully ignored. When voters allow politicians to establish government policies that run afoul of free market principles, the consequences for the country as a whole can be severe. Look no further than the Great Depression to see how misguided programs can make something bad even worse. So, by all means, read "Basic Economics" for a wonderful introduction to an important subject. Maybe you will learn to use the ballot box more effectively and help provide a better standard of living for all. Not too bad for the price of one book.
Rating:
Summary: Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
Review: Sowell has done an excellent job of presenting economic principles without the mathematical calculations that discourage so many people from understanding market principles. No one should be allowed to graduate from college without this basic understanding of how our economy works. Without this basic understanding you have a major hole in being an educated person. Unfortunately we have a country with a majority claiming they want to get to city A but kept taking the route to city B because they don't know how to read the ecomonic map. This book clearly explains the incentives created from laws, regulations, taxes, price controls, etc. and the many unintended consequences they yield in our economy because lawmakers and voters didn't understand the economic rules of the road that could easily have predicted these consequences. This read is of lifetime value for: (1) an individual (2) and the country as we exercise our collective guidance to politians as voters.
Rating:
Summary: Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
Review: Fans of Sowell's conservative perspective will appreciate this book for its expansive treatment and supporting references not found in Sowell's frequent newspaper columns. The book's emphasis on historical examples and its helpful overview chapters will sustain the interest of its intended general reader audience. Unfortunately Sowell (Hoover Institution and author of numerous publications including the recent Conquest and Culture: An International History, CH, Jan'99) sets up straw-man counterarguments to his insistent free market policy recommendations, focusing on bugaboos to conservative economists such as rent control and the minimum wage. Robert L. Heilbroner and Lester Thurow's Economics Explained (rev. ed., 1998) is preferable because it recognizes the logic of competing viewpoints. Sowell's most convincing sections examine the role of business innovation, risk, and profits. Other topics covered include income distribution, economic growth, money and banking, property rights, international trade and finance, and popular economic fallacies. Appropriate for general collections and especially useful for undergraduate students interested in an updated, if one-sided exposition of ideas put forward in Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman's Free to Choose (1980). Public and academic library collections
Rating:
Summary: If Liberal Politicians Would only Read and Heed this Book
Review: Mr. Sowell begins this excellent textbook with British economist Lionel Robbins's classic definition: "Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses." Mr. Sowell then explains the economic theory of prices, industry and commerce, work and pay, time and risk, the national economy, the international economy, and concludes with popular economic fallacies. He accomplishes this without any graphs or equations to scare some people away. The reader, no matter his educational level or political persuasion, must come away with one overpowering and disturbing conclusion and that is: When it comes to having the most rudimentary knowledge of economics, the vast majority of politicians and talking heads are either complete idiots or socialists who are still in denial. This book allows anyone to analyze thorny and difficult economic issues in a relative simple manner by applying basic principles. It allows one to instantly recognize the ridiculousness of so many arguments that are continually put forth. My only criticism of the book is that the publisher did a very poor job of editing. These errors should be corrected in subsequent printings and there should be many additional ones. This is one of those rare books that everyone should read and is certainly suitable for use as an elementary economics textbook in high school and college. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime in its simplicity
Review: The author presents a solid synopsis and analysis of economic data that span most of Humanity's history. He uses these data to clearly explain complex economic phenomena as an application of simple, seemingly immutable, economic rules. The consequences of failure to account for these rules by policy makers over both time and distance are well described. The primary review of this book is objectionable. The reviewer erroneously applies the label "conservative" to Dr. Sowell, lamenting the author's expressed point of view. Dr. Sowell writes the book as an economist, not an ideologue, and the book is simply an economic treatment of evidence, devoid of any political bend. What should be clear to the reviewer is that economics is not a belief system, but rather the study of the allocation of scare resources. A study-of employs scientific method and standard statistical techniques to test hypotheses and to draw inferences. This process, done correctly, must be free from ideology. Therefore, while a liberal might very well continue to support rent control as a policy, he does so in lieu of the demonstrated consequences of such policy. One can disagree with a political or philosophical stance; one cannot "disagree" with accumulated evidence. There are some annoying typographical errors that should have been culled during editing. However, it is a great work overall. I endorse the sentiment that this book should be required reading for anybody that votes, anybody that holds office, and for anybody that has not given substantial thought or study to the subject of economics, yet considers himself educated.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: I have currently outsourced this review to India, thus freeing up my thoughts for more productive & profitable endeavors. See? I read the book! LATE NOTE: Just got the review back -- it says, "Veddy, veddy goot. It is as a delightful disport in which you are must to read it".
Rating: 
Summary: Prepare to be indoctrinated
Review: If you are looking for a clear introduction to the concepts of economics I suggest you look elsewhere. If you are looking to be indoctrinated with conservative ideology, you've found the right book! Although this book in indeed well written and does discuss many concepts from economics in an accessible manner, political statements abound, sometimes in the form of dubious claims about the wonderful world that would result from purely Laissez-faire economic policy. Mr. Sowell can barely contain his disdain for those who disagree with him and never presents the other side of any of his arguments (unless in the form of a straw man). Worst of all he has the nerve to claim that he is presenting empirical facts (which he sometimes is -- he just neglects to notify the reader when he departs into speculation).
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Anyone not familiar with the work of Thomas Sowell would be well advised to check out the blurbs on the back of the dust jacket of Basic Economics, where praise flows from conservative bastions like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times and the American Enterprise Institute. Take this as a warning that, even though Sowell's book does offer an excellent plain-English explanation of fundamental economics, its real mission is to explain how many societal catastrophes are caused by government policies he deems faulty. In so doing, he takes aim at minimum wage standards, rent control and, through his spirited defense of international trade, the anti-globalization crowd. But no matter which side of the ideological fence you occupy, we suggest reading this book for its insightful distillation of some of our most passionate political debates down to their economic essentials.
| 
