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Economic Facts and Fallacies
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Economic Facts and Fallacies

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Description:

From one of America's most distinguished economists, a short, brilliant and revelatory book: the fundamental ideas people most commonly get wrong about economics, and how to think about the subject better.

Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.

One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.

Written in the easy to follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.

Features:
Product Details:
Author: Thomas Sowell
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication Date: December 31, 2007
Language: German
ISBN: 0465003494
Package Length: 9.3 inches
Package Width: 6.2 inches
Package Height: 1.1 inches
Package Weight: 1.0 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 79 reviews
 
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:4.5
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5Thomas Sowell Delivers Excellent Insights  Nov 03, 2009
Thomas Sowell is an excellent author and thinker. "Economic Facts and Fallacies" presents some excellent insights into fallacies that are often accepted as fact in American society. This book is the concise presentation of well developed thoughts.

5MORE PROOF THAT FREEDOM = WEALTH  Oct 23, 2009
"Economic Facts and Fallacies" successfully debunks most of the fallacies used to justify the tyranny perpetrated by the fourth branch of government - the bureaucracy. Reading Mr. Sowell's book was part of the research done to write "21ST Century Common Sense" and the time was well spent. However, Mr. Sowell is too charitable towards those who would usurp our freedom and who use many of the fallacies listed in "Economic Facts and Fallacies" to that end.
These CHARLATANS routinely use such misinformation for political gain and most are much too intelligent to believe the validity of these fallacies. No wonder that those who support suppression of individual liberty and freedom hysterically denounce "Economic Facts and Fallacies".


Felton Williamson, Jr.
Author of "Common Sense - The Way Back"
[...]
Common Sense - The Way Back

1 of 7 found the following review helpful:

1Completely dissatisfying  Aug 24, 2009
This book in no way measures up to its relatively high rating. I read Chapters 1,2 and 4 and retired it. Sowell's points on urban fallacies are superficial in the extreme, and I assumed the other chapters would follow suit. Came away with nothing of value from this book - a rare occurence. Stay away.

1 of 2 found the following review helpful:

4Great Book - Easy Reading - Important Analysis  Jul 04, 2009
This is a good read for those seeking to understand basic applied economic thought. Sowell is a good author who doesnt concern himself with impressing the reader with comlexity - rather - he crystallizes the problem and solution in an easy to read form for the reader.

12 of 27 found the following review helpful:

1Dishonest  Jun 25, 2009
This book is dishonest. I know that is a strong accusation, but let's judge from its contents. The book is replete with misleading comparisons and statistics. A representative example is his chapter on "Income Facts and Fallacies". He sets out to refute the "fallacy" that average US wages have not risen in decades. In particular he cites Washington Post comments on the slight decline of average wages from 1980 to 2004. Sowell first responds by citing a 74% increase in average real consumption over the same period. What he doesn't discuss is how much of this consumption was funded by borrowing, particularly mortgages. We now know all too well why this is important.

Sowell later argues that wages have not fallen because of replacement of high paying manufacturing jobs with low paying service jobs. By citing figures for 1993-1996 to support this he "refutes" a 24 year trend with a 3 year slice of time. The problem is that those 3 years are far from representative. The major employment gains in those years were in business services and non-depository financial institutions ([...]). The Bureau of Labor Statistics report I cite attributes financial services growth in the 90's to "buying and refinance activity, especially for mortgage bankers and brokers" and the business services growth to the rise in temporary staffing services. The 3 year figure does not refute the larger 24 year fact.

Throughout the book Sowell purports to refute "fallacies" about apples with statistics about carefully selected oranges. His credentials do not indicate the level of incompetence that would be necessary for making so many specious arguments unintentionally. So we're left to conclude that Sowell is intentionally trying to mislead the reader.

Sowell clearly has a severe ideological bias. If what you want is clever spin to support an ideology of "market=good, government=bad" then this book may be for you. However, if you want honest economic analysis then look elsewhere.

 
 
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