Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy

The only problem I have with the book is its name. It's very clearly a book explaining and defending pure Laissez Faire Economics.

The author begins by explaining that this book is not political in nature because the essential rules of economics apply to any economic system. He's lying. It's very political. The book is skewed completely towards Laissez Faire economics while bashing on every other economic system. If you understand this up front, there shouldn't be a problem. My fear is that many politically right-leaning readers will start their economics education here and come away with the impression that the economic system advocated in the book is some kind of undisputed universal truth... fueling unnecessary anti-govenment sentiment by people who don't receive the whole picture.

Calling the book "Basic Economics" is misleading and politically-motivated.

I still gave the book 4 stars because I believe the book was well done and made some incredibly strong arguments for Laissez Faire economic systems. In fact, I'm more of a believer in it that I was before. But readers should be cautioned that this is only one part of a much larger picture. Laissez Faire economics is a 250 year old system that has stood the test of time... but is not the end of the story.

Even as a fiscal conservative I often read books like this and try to punch holes into the arguments. In this book I couldn't.

In my opinion this is probably one of the most important books on economics ever written. If you are a sympathizer of socialism in any way your beliefs will be destroyed.

In the course of this book, Sowell clearly shows the importance of free market pricing for the efficient use of limited resources. He also shows, without doubt, how a free market economy leads to a better quality of life for people. He also shows how an economic Darwinism is important for a healthy economy.

I wish this book was required reading in most colleges. I would dare say that if that were the case, liberalism would have fewer adherents today.

Do yourself a favor and make this book a high priority on your own reading list. It is not caught up in technical language or long boring statistics. Instead, Sowell presents his premises in a crystal clear format that are well backed with real-world examples. If I have any quibble with this book, and this is very minor, he sometimes belabors a point with the number of proof that he offers.

I sincerely hope all people will read this book.

I have owned a copy of Dr. Sowell's book for several years, and consider him one of the great teachers of all time. His columns and radio commentary have inspired me to great extents. I bought this book from Amazon as a gift to my grandson, who is an honor student and pursuing a career in finance and economics. He has been working as a life guard this summer at a gym pool, and spends his spare time reading the book, and is fascinated by it, particularly the easy style of writing which characterizes its author, an outstanding professor of economics and a champion of American capitalism. I have not found a better text for anyone beginning the study of economics, or wanting clarity to otherwise confusing or boring texts. I recommend it to anyone interested in studying economics or learning about it late in life.

Wow. Eye-opening. Dr. Sowell's magnum opus Basic Economics equips the reader with the tools to understand universal, everyday economic issues and concepts, and the U.S. and international economy at large. Anyone who cares about dealing with reality, and not being fooled by politicians (left, right, and in between), media and special interests, should read this book. Not only will it help one to understand more clearly what is going on in the world around them, but it will help in making better decisions in one's everyday life. A marvelous book and one of the best intellectual values out there in light of all the practical information and insight packed into 650 pages (excluding index).

(Also complementary to this book are Dr. Sowell's Economic Facts and Fallacies and The Housing Boom and Bust.)

This book is a welcome antidote to anybody who has been burned by overly esoteric, math and graph laden econ courses through their life. Mr. Sowell does a wonderful job of explaining the basic principles (obviously) of economics without delving too deeply into scholastic jargon that might make your head-spin. I recently graduated college with a minor in Economics and I find that this text is preferable to about 90% of the books I had to read for classes. The book is not perfect, of course, as Sowell loves to repeat words and certain turns of phrases very frequently which is a hindrance if you are trying to really retain things (as in memorization) and there are a few points here and there that should have been better explained. As a whole, however, Basic Economics will comfortably and very capable introduce the reader to a much friendlier brand of economics and might just make one wish that their old professors and teachers had been more like the author. Easily worth a five star rating in every way.

This is an excellent book because it makes its case (for free markets) without any jargon or technical formulae; Sowell just points out the matter-of-fact commonsense of the concepts. I defy anyone with a left-leaning bent or from the "Occupy someplace" gang (or anyone at all, really) to point out some logical inconsistency or flaw in the points Professor Sowell makes here. Mind you, while Sowell is known as a conservative thinker, this book is not written with any language bias (as might be said of his "Vision of the Anointed") - he just points out what anybody who can think critically will understand easily.

In fact, if one doesn't want to read the entire book (this ain't no pamphlet) then reading the final chapter will give a sense of what Sowell is stating here - and the intrigued reader can then go back into the earlier chapters to get a better understanding of his points. But to those who are honest with themselves and don't blindly hold to an ideology, nothing in this book will come across as difficult to understand.

As I state in my review title, I believe if this book were mandatory reading for every elected official or at least taught in junior high school our citizenry would be far less swayed by the bogus declarations made by the former and our country would be better off.

I have read about 2/3 of the book so far. The first section, about 100 pages on the nature of prices as information-nodes in a marketplace, is really great. Just understanding what prices are, and are not, turns on the lights in a section of my mental house that was ill-lit. I had vaguely understood pricing, but now I clearly understand it. Worth the time and effort for me! Sowell has a calm, relaxed and conversational style that works. His anecdotes and historical comparisons are convincing. A pleasure to be in the company of this guy's mind.

OK, I've just started Chapter 19 (p479)and am not done yet. Suffice it to say, I've read enough to develop an opinion (purchased a second copy donated to my local library, and a 3rd that is "passing around"). I first saw Thomas Sowell interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox Business News recently and ordered the book after reading an exceptionally good reader comment at the Wall Street Journal site suggesting one should read the book.

Thomas Sowell's book explains the science that is Economics as the science of Newtonian Physics can be demonstrated without
Calculus. It's brilliant. It also clearly, with supporting data (one can download from the website) harps on the idea that actions created to support a planned goal may backfire.

If I won the lottery big-time, I'd buy a copy of this book for every person who is "Occupying Wall Street". If 10% actually read the book, it would be a victory. Meanwhile, as I type, back in Congress-fantasyland, yet another subsidy is being considered for Soybeans and some other crop. History repeats itself even while we are superficially pontificating NOT to repeat it in Political-Land.

READ THE DARN BOOK.

Taking Economics classes can be rough, so I decided to supplement with this book. I couldn't have chosen a better book. This professor is genuine and his understanding (common sense) of economics is the best I've read so far. This book should be at every night stand. This is a good read and makes people grasp an understanding of economics without a bunch of graphs or charts. Layman's terms! It's amazing how economics is so poorly misunderstood. People tend to forget their history regarding economics and Sowell lays this down easily in this book. All of his sources are online for this book, so it's saving everyone a few extra bucks. I am currently reading Core Economics from Gerald Stone and I'm even reading Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities which explains how (essentially) the free markey, a representative democracy and banking helped "spark" the Renaissance...
A must read!!

Thomas Sowell is the man. Anyone who has even a basic interest in economics will find it an enjoyable and informative read. It lays things out in clear and easily understood examples. I thoroughly enjoyed it.