Reviewed 8-29-23 title and author: Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell.
Why I picked this book up: I was turned onto Sowell after listening to Ben Shapiro and I have really liked what I read from him in this first book. There are many more of his books I will buy.

Thoughts: This book exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues that I often hear. These include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, and the general community. Some are mistaken ideas about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, ethnicities, culture, single parent homes, and Third World ethnic countries. One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous. Written in the easy-to-follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues. This book should be read and reread as they thoroughly refute the positions of those who irrationally regard America as being a racist, sexist and corrupt state.

He addresses the myth of female oppression by highlighting the way that statistics are used or misused in the hopes of morphing the USA into a patriarchy. Indeed, in my opinion, our nation is closer to being a matriarchy than it is anything else. The old 74 cent to the dollar feminist canard is refuted after he teases out the example of unmarried, childless women. They oftentimes are anything but oppressed. Indeed, in many cases they make even more money than their male age-mate peers. Much of the difference between the sexes, in terms of wage, is a result of personal choice, othering. Women work fewer hours and are more likely to choose stability over cash when deciding on a career.

I found the most insightful chapters of "Economic Facts and Fallacies" to be "Male-Female Facts and Fallacies", "Academic Facts and Fallacies", and "Third World Facts and Fallacies." One specific takeaway that will stay with me was the brief discussion on the college accreditation process (in the "Academic" chapter); something that I had never contemplated or understood as a distortion of the price mechanism in college costs.
Why I finished this read: as I read, I saw the depth, how the facts get taken the wrong direction, ran with and I walked away with a hope others would read this and we slow down the belief of these errors.

Stars rating: 5 of 5 stars. ( )

Not quite what I expected, though I'm not sure exactly what I did expect. It's very US-centric (unsurprizingly) and it relies on the reader's common sense rather than any deep knowledge of economics, but it does tackle a wide-range of issues with the tools and perspective of an economist. If only all social sciences did so. Indeed if only all economists did so! I think I was expecting something more like a formal economics textbook and was initially a bit taken aback that it wasn't, but once I'd grasped that Thomas Sowell has a rare ability to convey potentially complex issues and analysis clearly and succinctly and in a way that anyone should be comfortable with I was better able to appreciate this book. ( )

Sowell is probably my favorite economic writer -- not for his novel ideas, but for his excellent presentation of the entire body of generally reasonable economic thought. He would be my dream pick for a political leader with real power.

This book is a great take-down of widely believed but wrong ideas about rent control, gender pay imbalances, racial economic differences, affirmative action, etc. ( )

USA-centric for obvious reasons but well argued despite (because of?) heartless politics. Slow and methodical concentrating on a couple of issues to maximise impact but I'd be interested to see author's analysis of more varied and nuanced problems - that's not really a complaint about the book. ( )

Interesting read. You will question many of your beliefs about economics and how it impacts the poor, foreign aid, education, etc. ( )