Willa at In A Spacious Place posted a review of Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. She even found an online copy of the book.
The book starts with:
"Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would be great enough in any case, but they are multiplied a thousandfold by a factor that is insignificant in, say, physics, mathematics or medicine-the special pleading of selfish interests. While every group has certain economic interests identical with those of all groups, every group has also, as we shall see, interests antagonistic to those of all other groups. While certain public policies would in the long run benefit everybody, other policies would benefit one group only at the expense of all other groups. The group that would benefit by such policies, having such a direct interest in them, will argue for them plausibly and persistently. It will hire the best buyable minds to devote their whole time to presenting its case. And it will finally either convince the general public that its case is sound, or so befuddle it that clear thinking on the subject becomes next to impossible."
The first chapter concludes with:
"From this aspect, therefore, 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."
I think the book does a great job of helping to remind us to focus on more than just the obvious effects of a proposed project. I plan to have my daughters read this book when they are around fifteen.
Update I - 15 Jan 08
In a comment Willa pointed out that this is part of a discussion going on at the Dominion Family blog. Here is Week 1 and Week 2.
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Technorati tags: Henry Hazlitt, Economics
4 comments:
Just to clarify that my post was a part of an ongoing discussion hosted by Cindy at Dominion Family. The discussion is at week 2 right now. It might be interesting context when you have your children read it. My two sons read it a couple of years ago when they were in their middle to late teens so I think your age-placing is just about right.
Thanks. I've updated the post to point people to Cindy's blog.
And I've added Henry Hazlitt's book to the list for my next Amazon order.
The book is an absolutr classic, HIGHLY recommended. for kids I also recommend 'Whatever Happened to Penny Candy' and 'The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible'.
We have a copy of Penny Candy. My oldest has read it. It is probably about time to have my second daughter also read it.
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