Thomas Sowell, "Economic Facts and Fallacies"
Thomas Sowell, "Economic Facts and Fallacies"
Basic Books | 2008 | ISBN: 0465003494 | 272 pages | siPDF | 3.6 MB
Basic Books | 2008 | ISBN: 0465003494 | 272 pages | siPDF | 3.6 MB
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.
Contents
PrefaceTags: Economics, History, Feminism, Academia, WorldPolitics, Politics, CriticalThinking
1 The Power of Fallacies
The Zero-Sum Fallacy
The Fallacy of Composition
The Chess-Pieces Fallacy
The Open-Ended Fallacy
Summary and Implications
2 Urban Facts and Fallacies
Transportation
Population Concentration and Dispersion
Traffic Congestion
Social Pathology
Housing
History
Economics
Politics
Urban Economic Activities
Slums and Crime
"Urban Sprawl"
Summary and Implications
3 Male-Female Facts and Fallacies
History
Declines in Higher Education and Professional Occupations
Rises in Higher Education and Professional Occupations
Economics
Occupational Differences
Continuity of Employment
Regular and Irregular Work
Domestic Responsibilities
Employer Discrimination
Comparability
The Minority Analogy
Summary and Implications
4 Academic Facts and Fallacies
The Faculty
Teaching
Educational Quality
Academic Careers
The Students
Choices Among Colleges
"Value Added" by College
The Cost of College
Academic Finances
Costs
Revenues
Summary and Conclusions
5 Income Facts and Fallacies
Income Stagnation
Household Income
Workers' Incomes
Income Inequality
"The Rich" and "The Poor"
The "Vanishing" Middle Class
Executives' Pay
Social Mobility
Summary and Conclusions
6 Racial Facts and Fallacies
Group Differences
History
The Role of Time
Slavery
The Black Family
Culture
Crime and Violence
Economics
Employment Discrimination
Consumer Discrimination
Lending Discrimination
Summary and Implications
7 Third World Facts and Fallacies
Geography
History
Economics
Law and Order
Population
Culture
Exploitation
Foreign Aid
Summary and Implications
8 Parting Thoughts
Notes
Index
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