Economic Facts and Fallacies

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I have just finished Thomas Sowell's Economic Facts and Fallacies. Like everything he writes it is well worth reading. In it he dispels the most common assumptions of the Left about how an economy works. He excels at showing how government policies affect economic activity by creating incentives or disincentives for particular behaviors, frequently making the point that policies must be evaluated in terms of their actual results, not their intentions. He provides many examples of laws passed with the intention of helping minorities, the poor, and women, that in their actual results do far more harm than good.

The chapters include:
(1) The Power of Fallacies
(2) Urban Facts and Fallacies
(3) Male-Female Facts and Fallacies
(4) Academic Facts and Fallacies
(5) Income Facts and Fallacies
(6) Racial Facts and Fallacies
(7) Third World Facts and Fallacies
(8) Parting Thoughts
Someone has said that Sowell is a national treasure. I agree. I only wish more people in Washington would read him. In fact, no one should open his mouth to speak on the subjects of race, politics, or economics without first reading him.

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