|
Henry
Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson was first published
in 1946. This was just ten years after John
Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment,
Interest and Money had revolutionized economic thinking.
But Hazlitt saw many fallacies in the conventional wisdom of
his day, including fallacies in Keynes' thinking and other fallacies
that had persisted for centuries.
Hazlitt's
masterpiece examines and debunks a number of ideas that continue
to plague economic reasoning. Among these fallacies of economics
are: overlooking secondary or long-run consequences; overlooking
indirect or unseen consequences; thinking in abstractions (i.e.
a nation) rather than specific (i.e. a specific individual);believing
that automation or efficiency destroys jobs; and believing that
a fixed amount of work exists in the world. Other fallacies
include confusing need with demand; thinking of wealth as money
rather than purchasing power; and thinking that one person's
gain is another's loss.
The
central message of Henry Hazlitt's book is brief and
concise:
"The
whole of economics can be reduced to a single lesson, and
that lesson can be reduced to a single sentence. The art of
economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate,
but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists
in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for
one group, but for all groups."
(out of stock until March 2006)
|
