Customer Reviews

The Power of Economic Thinking

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I really enjoyed "The Power of Economic Thinking." I don't normally go for economics books, although I love to read on a wide variety of topics. This book really opened my eyes to the dramatic impact economic theory and beliefs have on almost every aspect of our lives and society.

This book provides many good examples, backed up with solid economic theory. It was interesting and informative at the same time. I highly recommend "The Power of Economic Thinking" to anyone in the economics world AND to anyone who DOESN'T think economics is very interesting or important. This book proved to me IT IS!

If you haven't read any Mark Skousen, this is a good place to start. You'll get to know his thinking well. He's the author of over twenty books on economics (most of them privately published), and a leading light of the libertarian "Foundation for Economic Education."

First off, this book is not exactly what I thought it would be, and what you might think it is. The title seems to suggest this is something of an analysis and exploration of how economics -- especially, for example, by means of the kind of Freakonomic-type thinking so now in vogue -- has invaded numerous other disciplines and yielded unexpected insights. I'm not aware of a book like that: Skousen's book is useful but completely different. It is a tour of especially potent and promising economic ideas -- not necessarily recent ones.

To put labels on him: Skousen is a libertarian, supply-sider, and a free-market economist. In short, he believes governments should keep their hands off the economy, keeping taxes super low, providing minimal services, breaking down trade barriers, and spending their efforts fostering a climate conducive to free enterprise.

If you've ever been apprised of the libertarian stance on economic questions, then many of his ideas should be familiar: the gold standard was a really good idea, global trade is inevitable, investment leads to economic growth, etc.

I like him, though. He's scrappy, and not afraid to disagree with the luminaries of economics, such as Milton Friedman.

But I won't be reading another one of his books. He's a little too taken with himself, constantly quoting from his own books or continually reminding us how he correctly predicted one economic disaster after another.

Additionally, his books -- this one is no exception -- seem to be just a disorganized amalgam and rehashing of his ideas over and over again. If you've read one Skousen book, you've read them all.

Mark Skousen is a clear-thinking and simple communicator
who takes a complicated subject of economics and simplifies it for
all readers. Unlike Charles Wheelan (who lacks an economic education and wrote the disappointing Naked Economics) Skousen holds a Ph.D. in economics and yet writes for the layperson.If you buy no other book for an understanding of economics , buy this book!