Basic Economics:  A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
A well-known conservative columnist, author and economist, Sowell (A Personal Odyssey, etc.) presents an introductory course in economics with an emphasis on public policy. Forgoing jargon, equations, graphs and complicated exposition, he's produced a book that's easy to read and understand, though it tends to be superficial and is written in an angry tone, often accusing others of economic ignorance, as if that is the only possible explanation for disagreement with the author's views. Sowell is at his best discussing microeconomics in the first two-thirds of the book. Unlike most accounts, which cover the subject from the point of view of business or investment, Sowell concentrates on government action, in an effort to prepare the reader for civic participation. He addresses price controls and subsidies in detail, both as important political issues in their own right and to demonstrate how prices work by showing what happens when they are constrained. In the final third of the book, he wades into more complex and controversial territory--macroeconomics, international economics and popular fallacies--and his effort to cover them at the elementary level results in a muddled treatment. Overall, his defense of certain conservative tenets is wielded with a sledgehammer rather than a rapier. Agent, Carol Mann. (Feb. 15)Forecast: Sowell's many fans will appreciate this book (which is supported by a radio satellite tour), though it is probably most appropriate as a gift to junior high school relatives, accompanied by a bribe to read it. General readers can--and some of them will--find better written, more sophisticated introductions to economics, including such middle-of-the-road overviews as From Here to Economy: A Short Cut to Economic Literacy by Todd G. Buchholz or New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought by Todd G. Buchholz and Martin Feldstein. For a conservative viewpoint, Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman has yet to be topped.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.