Thomas Sowell is feisty. He has to be as his economic theories are in direct opposition to much of what has become mainstream belief: a high minimum wage helps the poor, so does rent control, strict controls by government are needed to protect people from capitalist predators, black slavery in the US is the worst the world has ever known. Sowell quotes reliable sources to debunk all of these and more; this is a richly footnoted book.

Economic Facts and Fallacies takes an approach to economics in which the author lists fallacies we all learned in college (post hoc fallacy, the zero sum fallacy, the open ended fallacy) and applies them to economic issues. Some of his arguments and the academic research that backs them up are impressive. In other cases it can be difficult for the reader to decipher fact from opinion.

The book’s great value is in encouraging the reader to re-think conventional ideas, assumed political and economic positions, received wisdom. Does discrimination inevitably go along with racism? Do high taxes always bring in more revenue? When is third-party decision-making destructive, no matter how skilled and experienced the third party.

Sowell’s talent is bringing economics to the general reader, in such a way that one is encouraged to think with one’s mind and not one’s heart, and to recognize the enormous stakes involved in distribution of finite resources in a world of infinite demand.

2011 No 87 Coming soon: Innocent Spouse