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Comment by te_platt | Hacker News Reader

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell

Here's another vote for Basic Economics. It's a great (and fairly thorough) overview, written in a down-to-earth manner. Lots of real-life examples are used to explain basic economic principles, making this subject understandable and even enjoyable (for me, at least).

Here is a direct link to it on Amazon (reviewers here gave it high ratings as well): http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Economics-3rd-Ed-Economy/dp/0465...

I've seen a few recommendations for that in this discussion. Never read any books by him, but in my experience reading newspapers over the years, reading oped articles by him, it seemed clear to me where his political affiliation lies, at least with respect to the main two US political parties. Did you see any of his political slant in this book? Or did he seem to stay neutral/impartial?

The "slant" in this book is that he is pro-free market and anti-central planning. He states that the free market is the most efficient way to allocate scarce resources. The book explains why this is so with many varied examples.

does he address Tragedy of the Commons? monopoly? uneven distribution of information and power? aristocracy (feudal or modern)? just curious, because those are also economic forces in the real world, but they tend to push back against the notion that a totally free unregulated market w/o govt intervention is best.

Regardless, I'll definitely check it out. Looking at the 1st few pages on Amazon and he seems to have good writing skills. Do not like the Hoover Institution connection though.

This should be required reading everywhere.

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