With the U. S. Government teetering on default, Basic Economics is a book that could bring sanity to this bogus crisis.
I’m a firm believer that we would have a much better government and economy if we made one little change: require that any candidate for U.S. Congressman, Senator, or President prove they passed a basic economics course. So much of the political rhetoric today displays flagrant violations of basic economic principles. Cutting government spending (thus causing more unemployment) during a recession is current example. Or spending a billion dollars firing cruise missiles into Libya and enforcing a “no-fly” zone while closing schools and laying off teachers. Economics is not about solutions, it’s about trade-offs. If you’re going to spend money fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, you might not have enough money for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security (and we don’t). Thomas Sowell’s latest edition of Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy doesn’t have any charts or graphs or equations. Reading Basic Economics is like reading a collection of enlightening essays. If you want to learn about unions and the effects of collective bargaining on the economy, it’s here. If you want to know about the impact of investing in the stock and bond markets, it’s detailed here, too. You can read Basic Economics cover to cover (like I did) or you can dip in and discover how globalization works. This book is the clearest introduction to economics I’ve read. GRADE: A