A million copy seller, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others.

Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the “Austrian School,” which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich (F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an influential libertarian publication.  Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy which occurred more than 50 years after the initial publication of Economics in One Lesson. Hazlitt’s focus on non-governmental solutions, strong — and strongly reasoned — anti-deficit position, and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make Economics in One Lesson, every bit as relevant and valuable today as it has been since publication.

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Hazlitt's "one lesson" is simple, and told in Chapter 1. The rest of the chapters are all stories in which the lesson plays a prominent role. In short, Hazlitt doesn't merely tell us the lesson, he actually shows us the lesson -- over and over and over, until we've got it.

With stories on tariffs, minimum wage, rent controls, taxes. unions, wages, profits, savings, credit, unemployment, and so much more, Hazlitt takes some of the most difficult economic concepts and makes these easily accessible to the lay person who has no economic training, background, or even inclination.

It's one thing for me to recommend this book. It's quite another for my students to recommend it semester after semester. I can imagine no higher praise.

223 of 236 found the following review helpful:

I've missed my life's calling.Jul 12, 2001
By Aaron Jordan
I should have studied economics. Hazlitt's book is remarkably readable, coherent, and logical. It just confirms that truth is usually understandable, whereas complicated obfuscation is usually the major alarm bell that tips you off when people are trying to shaft you. This guy really knows his stuff.

The one lesson is so simple that it takes about five minutes to read the chapter about it. The rest of the book lists various scenarios in which that lesson applies. The general principle of the lesson applies so naturally to various specific cases that it simplifies economics immensely. Hazlitt must have studied logic as well as economics.

The one lesson is simply this: economic planning should take into account the effects of economic policies on all groups, not just some groups, and what those effects will be in the long run, not just the short run. That's it. That's the lesson. Fallacious economic policies almost invariably seek to benefit one group at the expense of all others, or to bring about short-term benefits at the expense of long-term benefits. With this as his thesis, Hazlitt examines the numerous manifestations of such fallacies in different situations.

His chapters are short, his prose is easy to follow, and his logic is compelling. I've never taken an economics class in my life, yet I had no trouble following the reasoning in this book. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand basic economics and the keys to widespread prosperity in the long run.

143 of 156 found the following review helpful:

An excellent primer in basic economicsNov 26, 2001
By James P. Brett "Publius"
The average American knows very little about economics or monetary theory. That's why they tend to believe whatever they see and hear on their televisions. By reading this short book, you'll gain a basic understanding of economics, and an explanation of the many myths that are taken as truths.

In the final chapter of this book, Hazlitt revists his work 30 years later (he was writing in 1978, and the book came out originally in 1946). He surmises that during that period, nothing was learned. If anything, he says, subjects related in the book (wage rates, price controls, government "make work") have become more political. I wonder what Hazlitt would say now.

You need to read this book in order to appreciate the real consequences of actions your government wants to take. The theme emphasized over and over in the book is that actions must be thought through to see what the long term effects will be, not just the highly visible short term ones.

42 of 47 found the following review helpful:

Put This Book In Your Children's HandsJul 17, 2000
By Lloyd A. Conway
And make them read it. Less a primer in economics than a concise debunking of crank positions on economic issues, this book can clear the air (and the mind) quickly after some interested sophist plumps for a discredited idea. Hazlitt's parable of the broken window, meant to show how what dosen't happen as a result of human action is at least as important as what does, is the best introduction to economic theory for the average reader since Adam Smith. The visible results that people see as a result of government intervention in the market must be weighed against what did not come to pass because of the reallocation of resources (i.e., your hard-earned money) that such action necesitates. This book is timeless, in that it is not tied to concrete examples drawn from the headlines of 1946, and is also remarkably free of venom , passion, or spite, which too often mar polemical works on economics - and serve to camouflage bad reasoning. This book can be a basic education in itself, or the beginning of deeper study, in the works of Von Mises, Von Hayek, Schumpeter, or of Hazlett himself. Unlike his opposition (Keynes, et al), Hazlitt is actually readable. -Lloyd A. Conway

43 of 52 found the following review helpful:

Become an economist, the easy way.Nov 26, 2002
By Jacob H. Huebert
Want to know more about economics -- and economic policy -- but don't want deal with math and complicated graphs? Then this is the book for you.

Almost all of the most important things you need to know about economics can be explained in plain language, in just a few pages, and that's exactly what Hazlitt does here.

The fact that the book is over 50 years old shouldn't scare anyone away. The issues addressed by Hazlitt are the same ones in the news today. Were the September 11 attacks actually good for the economy because they created new jobs for cleanup crews and builders? Will President Bush's decision to protect American steelmakers from cheap foreign steel be good for the economy? Should Congress raise the minimum wage to help poor people? Should Alan Greenspan lower interest rates to get us out of the recession? _Economics In One Lesson_ will give you the tools to analyze all of these questions and much more.

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