Economic Facts and Fallacies
by: Thomas Sowell
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Product Description:
From one of America's most distinguished economists, a short, brilliant and revelatory book: the fundamental ideas people most commonly get wrong about economics, and how to think about the subject better.
Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.
One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.
Written in the easy to follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.
From one of America's most distinguished economists, a short, brilliant and revelatory book: the fundamental ideas people most commonly get wrong about economics, and how to think about the subject better.
Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.
One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.
Written in the easy to follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Great Book - Easy Reading - Important Analysis
This is a good read for those seeking to understand basic applied economic thought. Sowell is a good author who doesnt concern himself with impressing the reader with comlexity - rather - he crystallizes the problem and solution in an easy to read form for the reader.
Rating: 
- Dishonest
This book is dishonest. I know that is a strong accusation, but let's judge from its contents. The book is replete with misleading comparisons and statistics. A representative example is his chapter on "Income Facts and Fallacies". He sets out to refute the "fallacy" that average US wages have not risen in decades. In particular he cites Washington Post comments on the slight decline of average wages from 1980 to 2004. Sowell first responds by citing a 74% increase in average real consumption over ... Read More
Rating: 
- Thomas Sowell does it again
This book is a must have.It puts in place the current econominc fallacies which are widely held as truisms.
Rating: 
- Not as data driven as I would like
I found this book biased: in many places he validly finds flaws in prevailing socio-political arguments, but when he provides his own views, I found them just as flawed.Perhaps it would be better if I shared his political views.
I should say that I bought this book because I love data / statistics and I hate it when people manipulate them.Between the title and the author (an economics professor), I was really excited.I expected a book that dissects common perceptions and then backs ... Read More
Rating: - Cultural Economics made easy to understand
As usual, Dr. Sowell, comments on several current cultural issues and their facts and fallacies with a straitforward style that is well researched and referenced.An economics degree is not needed to understand the topics discussed.He does a nice job of picking apart the biases that underlie the beliefs of the media and politicians.
- Great Book - Easy Reading - Important AnalysisThis is a good read for those seeking to understand basic applied economic thought. Sowell is a good author who doesnt concern himself with impressing the reader with comlexity - rather - he crystallizes the problem and solution in an easy to read form for the reader.
- DishonestThis book is dishonest. I know that is a strong accusation, but let's judge from its contents. The book is replete with misleading comparisons and statistics. A representative example is his chapter on "Income Facts and Fallacies". He sets out to refute the "fallacy" that average US wages have not risen in decades. In particular he cites Washington Post comments on the slight decline of average wages from 1980 to 2004. Sowell first responds by citing a 74% increase in average real consumption over ... Read More
- Thomas Sowell does it againThis book is a must have.It puts in place the current econominc fallacies which are widely held as truisms.
- Not as data driven as I would likeI found this book biased: in many places he validly finds flaws in prevailing socio-political arguments, but when he provides his own views, I found them just as flawed.Perhaps it would be better if I shared his political views.
I should say that I bought this book because I love data / statistics and I hate it when people manipulate them.Between the title and the author (an economics professor), I was really excited.I expected a book that dissects common perceptions and then backs ... Read More
- Cultural Economics made easy to understandAs usual, Dr. Sowell, comments on several current cultural issues and their facts and fallacies with a straitforward style that is well researched and referenced.An economics degree is not needed to understand the topics discussed.He does a nice job of picking apart the biases that underlie the beliefs of the media and politicians.
