Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One (Thomas Sowell)

Once again, Sowell clearly explains everyday economic concepts with a series of interesting real-life examples from around the world and throughout history. The focus of the book is not only to explain sound economic concepts but also to explain why it is often in the personal interest of the political class to act contrary to these principles. The negative effects of their actions are often not felt until they are long out of office and few are likely to trace these effects back to their original cause. In the short term, doing the wrong thing gets them elected or re-elected.

Every voter should read this to inoculate themselves from the lies of our politicians. The book is non-partisan, exposing the political thinking of both US parties, as well as many others in other countries.

If you don't think you are interested in economics, you should be, because it affects the life of every man, woman and child on the planet. This book makes what can be a dry subject interesting. It's hard to put down!

Mr. Sowell's book explains things in very clear language... it's easy to see the cause and effect, and then subsequent effects, etc. that have affected many areas of our life. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of economics to understand this book.

To be honest, I bought the book because I saw Mr. Sowell on TV where he was discussing health care in our economy. In that interview he said something that was so simple, yet so profound, I had to find out more about his ideas. I'm paraphrasing, but he said that people think that medical care is too expensive; and he couldn't understand why they might think that adding a government bureacracy's costs to medical care would help reduce that cost! I found out later, by reading this book, that the notion of price controls that the government could institute to attempt to keep medical care costs down, won't work. The underlying actual costs don't go away... the price controls would simply have people pay less for the medical care. And the economic result would be fewer people wanting to provide medical care (since profits are reduced or even wiped out) while more people would be demanding it (since it's cheaper). The net result would be shortages of medical care... long waiting times and/or poorer care.

Mr. Sowell explains the concepts far more eloquently that I can. He covers topics in free vs. unfree labor; medical care; housing; businesses and their risks; immigration; discrimination; and the economic differences between nations. I highly recommend the book.

Every citizen of the United States would benefit from reading this book. If only our politicians would read it as well. Clear, concise, well argued, Sowells book is an excellent, informative and thoughtfull read.

Thomas Sowell latest book Basic Economics is a must read especially for the uninformed. The book belongs in schools through the country. Mr. Sowell is a national treasure who few people are aware of and will be sadly missed one day.

This book explains the world of economics better than any other I have ever read. Dr. Sowell demonstrates why he has been so successful in the academic world by reducing a boring, complex subject to that which is easy to read and understand.

I highly recommend this book to the reader who wants fact, not fiction. It will be a hard read for many liberals but a necessary one if they ever hope to understand the world as it really is!