Economics: Facts and Fallacies, Second Edition - Uncover the Truth Behind Common Misconceptions

Wicketywick: Thomas makes some very good points in the book and while I don't agree with all his views, it offers lots of food for thought. Just by looking and discussing at this level one can get better solutions.

People apparently know more nowadays and science keeps on giving, but life isn't exactly getting better for the average person. Somewhere there are misconceptions that lead us astray. This type of thinking by Thomas Sowell breaks the pattern of the norm.

Germany on Jan 22, 2024

Gary Davidson: Dense with information. Should be read by all students. I hope that I can cite these facts in future discussions. I only wish could copy more notes than the publisher allows.

United States on Dec 23, 2023

Amazon Customer: What can be said of a Thomas Sowell book that educates and is an easy read. Fantastic. Should be required reading for pre req college courses

United States on Dec 07, 2023

British A. Tharpe: It’s a book, it works. Style and choice of author is subjective to the reviewer.

United States on Oct 21, 2023

Joseph Myren: AWESOME

Canada on Oct 02, 2023

Matthew Jackson: This book will change your thinking and provide you evidence on all the false information and fallacies presented around Third World Forigen Aid, Race, Income Dispairty, and Housing Cost.

This book is must read for anyone that needs to hear the real facts about the world 🌎.

United States on Sep 10, 2023

mirko brutti: ottimo, illuminante, scritto con linguaggio semplice e chiaro, usando dati e ragionamento, dimostra che molte delle teorie economiche imperanti sono fallaci e frutto di ideologie politiche e come tali ostacoli alla crescita economica.

Italy on Jan 10, 2021

Norman12: This book consistently surprises and delights the reader with hard facts neglected by popular commentators, talking heads in the media, and those whose political self-interest lies in painting a picture of growing economic inequality. It's a real pleasure to be shown the other side of the argument in so many cases, and to witness how selective presentation of evidence has distorted the debate on identity politics for so long.

For example,
- there is a popular myth that household income has fallen in the last 50 years in some communities. But Sowell shows us that this is because household sizes have shrunk, not because wages have fallen.
- The gap in income between the bottom 20% and the top 20% has risen. But this is partially because government benefits are not factored into "income". Neither are assets or the benefits accruing from them; a 70 year old homeowner may have a lower income than a 20 year old apartment renter, but it is fallacious to say the former is "worse off" than the latter.
- Very few of the same people in the top 20% 30 years ago are still in the top 20% - most have fallen out of it. And many who were in the bottom 20% 30 years ago have risen...

United Kingdom on Oct 30, 2019

Juan: Buen libro. Quizá pare ser más completo no debería centrarse unicamente en la economía estadounidense

Spain on Oct 14, 2019

O. Halabieh: Below are key excerpts from this book that I found particularly insightful:

1- "Fallacies abound in economic policies affecting everything from housing to international trade. Where the unintended consequences of these policies take years to unfold, the effects may not be traced back to their causes by many people. Even when the bad consequences follow closely after a given policy, many people may not connect the dots, and advocates of policies that backfire often attribute these bad consequences to something else. Sometimes they claim that the bad situation would have been even worse if it had not been for the wonderful policies they advocated. There are many reasons why fallacies have staving power, even in the face of hard evidence against them. Elected officials, for example, cannot readily admit that some policy or program that they advocated, perhaps with great fanfare, has turned out badly, without risking their whole careers. Similarly for leaders of various causes and movements. Even intellectuals or academics with tenure stand to lose prestige and suffer embarrassment when their notions turn out to be counterproductive. Others who think of themselves as supporters...

United States on Jan 04, 2014