Economics in One Lesson

by Henry Hazlitt 

The first book on economics I ever read was Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, when I was in high school. I didn’t read it cover to cover. I was using it rather than reading it, using it to confirm the naïve ideas I had about economics back then.

I read Hazlitt 30 years later, after I’d had enough life experience to understand the fundamental flaws of Communism. Economics in One Lesson will be an eye opener for anyone that gets their economic theories from newspapers and magazines. It explains why so many of the most popular views about economic dysfunction are unsound and why social agendas will almost always fail. And it does so in the clearest and most reasonable way.

Economics in One Lesson is the classic of Austrian economics. But it’s more than that. It’s an example of the kind of thinking that is necessary to understand any complex aspect of humanity. When Hazlitt wrote it in 1946, he probably had no idea that it would become so important. As Gary North said recently in a review of it:

“Hazlitt was a great teacher. He became a mentor for me when I was getting started. I was not unique. He helped a lot of young economists.

“His book is great for high school students. I assign it in my course on economics for the Ron Paul Curriculum.

“This book is worth its weight in gold for anyone serious about understanding economics. But now, thanks to the Mises Institute, you can get a free copy here.”

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