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Summary: Common sense on economic issues
Review: Don't let your Congressman play with your mind, get a straightforward primer in basic economic cause and effect, written for the layperson, which is also amazingly easy to read and even entertaining. Sowell is a good writer and a good fundamental analyst and you'll like the book even if you don't agree with the conclusions.If you do agree with the conclusions, hold your Congresscritter accountable to vote accordingly!
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Summary: Excellent Book!!
Review: All of Dr. Sowell's books are great but this one is just flat out "head of the class". Despite the rather discouraging (to some folks) title this book is not at all dry or hauty. A great, great book!
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Summary: The standard for college Economics
Review: An excellent book that should replace the economics books used in most Freshman college Economics courses. Sowell explains concepts in a simple language and uses real world examples to help people understand (I personally like the description of Economics based off a battlefield medic). People interested in Economics but ill-informed (like myself) should read this and become enlightened.
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Summary: superb summary of economics
Review: I majored in economics in college (graduating with honors) and I consider this book by Dr. Sowell on the same level as those of such other erudite economics scholars/authors as Robert Heilbroner ("The Making of Economic Society", etc) in that it maintains intellectual integrity while presenting complex subjects in layman's terms. The book is a joy to read, not only for newcomers to the academic world of economics but as a great "refresher course" for those of us who've been away from the proverbial "Halls of Ivy" for several decades. I highly recommend this publication!
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Summary: Everybody should read this book
Review: easy to read, easy to understand... and the best book I've read in years! nowadays, with so many politicians on TV, citizens should read this book to be informed. Specially citizens from South American countries!
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Summary: Easy to understand - real world examples
Review: Some of the conclusions he makes can be a bit cloudy but overall the theory and concrete examples are there in a very understandable way. If you are interested in finding out why things are priced the way they are... this is the book for you.
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Summary: When Thomas Sowell Writes, I Read
Review: Basic Economics is an excellent exposition of the subject. It is not a textbook; it is a polemic, if you will. Regardless, the material in the book is so well chosen and the argument so clearly made that I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to be an informed citizen. The media elite would have you believe that to be "informed" is to simply subject yourself to 15 minutes of sound bites every day or reading through the headlines of the newspaper. After reading this book, and you will never take at face value what the political pundits deliver. A simple example from this book: basic economics dictate that farm subsidies drive up prices of farm products and creates hardship for the poor. However, by voting for large farm subsidies AND food stamps for the poor, the politicians got two "constituency" vote blocks loyal to them. Over time, these policies sculpt a webwork of entitlements. Guess who pay for it? One reviewer disagrees with Sowell and argues that the Scandinavian countries have a higher standard of living than the United States "by almost every quantifiable standard" such as life expectancy, infant mortality rate,etc. Well, in order to provide these social benefits, Swedes pay 75%(!) of their income for unemployment insurance, and when they buy something, they pay an astonishing 25% national sales tax, and the Swedish government is running a deficit consistently several times higher as a percentage of GDP compared with the U.S. Moreover, the tax burden is so high and the incentive to work so low, that the Scandinavian social welfare systems are on the verge of financial collapse! And the Swedish politicians know it. This also makes me think of what Einstein said: "Not everything that counts can be counted; not everything that can be counted counts." What the Scandinavian folks have less is freedom. Most of their basic needs are taken care of through very high taxation. But if ones want to get anything other than "basic", something different - simple things like imported foodstuff, you pay out-of-the-earth prices. Most people therefore do mostly "necessary" things and do them mostly the same way. Instead of looking to the market for answers, they look to the government. In Sweden, for example, because the government essentially pays for child rearing through public education and other subsidies such as food and health care, children are increasingly regarded as charges of the state, and there are laws that govern how children must be raised as (for example, spanking a child is illegal.) The free market is not perfect, but it is the imperfection that makes progress possible, and hence makes it the best system there is. Basic Economics is not Sowell's best book, but it is very readable for the general audience. After reading this book I gave a copy to my teenage son. I want him get a no-nonsense course on basic economics, so he can make up his mind on important issues with more than just sound bites, headlines, and classroom indoctrination.
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Summary: Great, Easy-to-read Book
Review: Basic Economics is a very straightforward and easy-to-read book on economics that is very interesting and thoughtful at the same time. Mr. Sowell is truly one of the great American thinkers of this century. It is real pleasure reading such a well-written book that contains so many keen insights not only about economics, but about human nature.
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Summary: Another Excellent Book from Dr. Sowell
Review: I really enjoyed the book because it is written on a level that I, a person with little education in economics, could readily comprehend. Dr. Sowell has demonstrated, in this and many other books, the ability to explain something that is not easily understood in a way that anyone can understand. My brother (who has a Masters Degree in Economics) also enjoyed the book because it helps him explain things to his Economics 101 class that he teaches. My brother told me that very often he can't put his knowledge into easily understood layman's terms and this book provides him with many examples to illustrate a particular point he is trying to make. So I recomment this book to everyone from the uninformed on up.
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Summary: Ideological and not a textbook, but clear explanations
Review: If you are looking for an explanation of the most basic things in economics, written for a lay person, then this book is for you. Be warned however that you will be treated to a good dose of free market ideology. Throughout the book the author draws comparisons between late Soviet Union and the United States (there are other examples as well), exposing weaknesses of the government regulations and showing the strengths of the free market. The reader gets the impression that the less regulation and government the better. Unfortunately, he does not go too much into the seamy side of capitalism, especially global capitalism, and positive effects of regulation, as though they do not exist. As someone who comes from the former Soviet Union, I cannot agree with the assertions that people there were "suffering from the low standard of living." I agree 100% that the economy was much less efficient and dynamic compared to the US, on the other hand nobody cared. As Dr. Sowell says himself, prosperity is a relative concept. People in the Soviet Union enjoyed stability and access to good health care, free higher education, decent standard of living, guaranteed pensions etc. Did anybody care that you can't publish anything you want in a newspaper? No. You can talk all you want in your kitchen. Services and goods were of worse quality than those in the leading capitalist nations, but better than in the majority of the world. Let's not forget that the great majority of the world's population is living under more or less free market system. The United States is not a rule, but rather a rare excetpion. Capitalism did not work miracles for the Third World countries. As for the Soviet Union, free market brought devastation, war, and poverty to the most of former Soviet republics. The only place that benefited from free market system is Moscow, not surprisingly, where the standard of living is 20 to 30 fold that of the rest of Russia. Unfortunately, it's almost as difficult to get a permit to live in Moscow as to get a green card. Being a proponent of capitalism myslelf, I would nevertheless be more cautious about proclaiming free unregulated market as the ultimate truth. If you want an unbiased view on capitalism and free markets I highly recommend speeches or books by George Soros. On a positive note, I must say that I liked the authors approach to emotions good or bad as a distortion of reality, same as political retoric. In this book, you will find explanations of many misconceptions and fallacies propagated by the media. I must also give Dr. Sowell credit for not using ideological labels such as "socialism is evil and capitalism is good." I am giving this book the highest mark for the clear introduction to the basics.
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