or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Sell Back Your Copy
For a $0.78 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics [Paperback]

Henry Hazlitt (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (255 customer reviews)

List Price: $14.00
Price: $10.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.01 (22%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Wednesday, May 23? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Paperback $10.99  
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook, Unabridged $39.95  

Book Description

December 14, 1988
A million copy seller, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others.

Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the “Austrian School,” which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich (F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an influential libertarian publication.  Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy which occurred more than 50 years after the initial publication of Economics in One Lesson. Hazlitt’s focus on non-governmental solutions, strong — and strongly reasoned — anti-deficit position, and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make Economics in One Lesson, every bit as relevant and valuable today as it has been since publication.

Frequently Bought Together

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics + The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume 2) + The Law
Price For All Three: $29.09

Show availability and shipping details

Buy the selected items together
  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume 2) $11.44

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Law $6.66

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details



Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magnificent job of theoretical exposition."

—Ayn Rand

“I strongly recommend that every American acquire some basic knowledge of economics, monetary policy, and the intersection of politics with the economy. No formal classroom is required; a desire to read and learn will suffice. There are countless important books to consider, but the following are an excellent starting point: The Law by Frédéric Bastiat; Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; What has Government Done to our Money? by Murray Rothbard; The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek; and Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan.
If you simply read and comprehend these relatively short texts, you will know far more than most educated people about economics and government. You certainly will develop a far greater understanding of how supposedly benevolent government policies destroy prosperity. If you care about the future of this country, arm yourself with knowledge and fight back against economic ignorance. We disregard economics and history at our own peril.”

—Ron Paul, Representative from Texas

From the Inside Flap

A simple, straightforward analysis of economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 218 pages
  • Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Later Reprint edition (December 14, 1988)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0517548232
  • ISBN-13: 978-0517548233
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (255 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
688 of 712 people found the following review helpful
Students Love Hazlitt! May 17, 2001
Format:Paperback
I teach Principles of Microeconomics, and I always use this book for extra credit. Students who hate reading long, boring, stuffy text books always like Hazlitt, and give him high reviews every single semester. The very readable chapters are short (about 3-6 pages in most cases), and told in story form to make Hazlitt's point. This makes it possible for even freshmen with notoriously short attention spans to read the day's chapter.

Hazlitt's "one lesson" is simple, and told in Chapter 1. The rest of the chapters are all stories in which the lesson plays a prominent role. In short, Hazlitt doesn't merely tell us the lesson, he actually shows us the lesson -- over and over and over, until we've got it.

With stories on tariffs, minimum wage, rent controls, taxes. unions, wages, profits, savings, credit, unemployment, and so much more, Hazlitt takes some of the most difficult economic concepts and makes these easily accessible to the lay person who has no economic training, background, or even inclination.

It's one thing for me to recommend this book. It's quite another for my students to recommend it semester after semester. I can imagine no higher praise.

Was this review helpful to you?
233 of 246 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I should have studied economics. Hazlitt's book is remarkably readable, coherent, and logical. It just confirms that truth is usually understandable, whereas complicated obfuscation is usually the major alarm bell that tips you off when people are trying to shaft you. This guy really knows his stuff.

The one lesson is so simple that it takes about five minutes to read the chapter about it. The rest of the book lists various scenarios in which that lesson applies. The general principle of the lesson applies so naturally to various specific cases that it simplifies economics immensely. Hazlitt must have studied logic as well as economics.

The one lesson is simply this: economic planning should take into account the effects of economic policies on all groups, not just some groups, and what those effects will be in the long run, not just the short run. That's it. That's the lesson. Fallacious economic policies almost invariably seek to benefit one group at the expense of all others, or to bring about short-term benefits at the expense of long-term benefits. With this as his thesis, Hazlitt examines the numerous manifestations of such fallacies in different situations.

His chapters are short, his prose is easy to follow, and his logic is compelling. I've never taken an economics class in my life, yet I had no trouble following the reasoning in this book. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand basic economics and the keys to widespread prosperity in the long run.

Was this review helpful to you?
148 of 161 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The average American knows very little about economics or monetary theory. That's why they tend to believe whatever they see and hear on their televisions. By reading this short book, you'll gain a basic understanding of economics, and an explanation of the many myths that are taken as truths.

In the final chapter of this book, Hazlitt revists his work 30 years later (he was writing in 1978, and the book came out originally in 1946). He surmises that during that period, nothing was learned. If anything, he says, subjects related in the book (wage rates, price controls, government "make work") have become more political. I wonder what Hazlitt would say now.

You need to read this book in order to appreciate the real consequences of actions your government wants to take. The theme emphasized over and over in the book is that actions must be thought through to see what the long term effects will be, not just the highly visible short term ones.

Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Straight to the trash can!
Threw this book right in the trash not even a chapter into it, because I realized it is nothing but the same old recycled and obsolete right-wing drivel that we've been peppered... Read more
Published 5 days ago by armyvet101st
Economics book that is readable.
You are basically only going to read this book if you are required to in school or have some interest in learning the basics of Austrian economics. I fall into the later one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by A. Wilson
Arguably the most common sense book on economics ever written
Henry Hazlitt was not only a gifted economist. He wrote in a no-nonsense style, demolishing seemingly persuasive, highly complex or even tortured arguments in favour of suboptimal... Read more
Published 2 months ago by John Butler
Why should you read it?
Well, I read it and got a lot out of it, but, if you take a look at the negative reviews you'll see that it's "misleading", or "right-wing propaganda", or a "libertarian... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jeff E. Dumas
THE Economics Primer!
The subtitle of the book says it all. This is definitely "the shortest and surest way to understand basic economics". Read more
Published 2 months ago by Omar Halabieh
over-simplified diatribe
Wow, this one is really out there. Only Any Rand and Ron Paul, who know nothing about economics, could recommend this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by mike ferrell
ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON
Economics in One Lesson is another great "must read" book. Like Bastiat's "The Law," it is short and sweet. Read more
Published 2 months ago by John
The Lesson of Liberty Is Difficult for Many to Learn
I purchased the 1979 edition of Hazlitt's book as a MBA candidate at Pepperdine University. My professor, the erudite and sharp minded Dr. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Floyd
Must read
I've had several economics courses when I was in college, but none of them were able to communicate economic lessons in such a way. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Bigcountry
Great book
Get to know some basic but essential knowledge about economics. It expresses the economic idea clear and it's easy to understand even for a person who does not know much about... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nicolelovesrock
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
ECONOMICS IS HAUNTED by more fallacies than any other study known to man. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sweater industry, government spenders, parity prices
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Social Security, Joe Smith, World War, Adam Smith, Forgotten Man, New York, New Rochelle, Arlington House
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
Amazon Wrong Cover 1 Feb 16, 2012
"his prescient text dissembles economic fallacies"? 0 Jan 5, 2011
See all 2 discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!




Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject