Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity - Hardcover

Gwartney, James D.; Stroup, Richard L.; Lee, Dwight R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031233818X ISBN 13: 9780312338183

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2005

Synopsis

* Do taxes help more than they hurt?
* What effect does redistributing wealth have on our economy---and those who participate in its redistribution?
* What is the role of government?
* How does an economy work?

James Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, and Dwight R. Lee are three of the most prominent economists today, and in Common Sense Economics they show us why economic understanding is an essential ingredient for life in today's society, a key element that empowers those who possess it to better take charge of their own lives and their own responsibilities to their society. In clear, powerful language free of any hint of jargon or obscurity, they illuminate the basic principles of supply and demand, private ownership, trade, and more. In a world where free trade, taxes, and government spending are issues everyone needs to understand, Common Sense Economics is a lucid, simple explanation of how and why our economy and our world work the way they do, and how and why individuals and nations prosper.

About this title

About the Author:

James Gwartney served as chief economist for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. A professor of economics at Florida State University, he holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair and directs the Stavros Center for Economic Education.

Richard L. Stroup is the author of Eco-Nomics, professor of economics at Montana State University, and senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center. He has also served as chief economist at the Interior Department.

Dwight R. Lee is coauthor of Getting Rich in America. He holds the Ramsey Chair of Private Enterprise at the University of Georgia and is a past president of the Southern Economic Association.

Review:

"This book forms a bridge between common sense and the basic principles of economics. It is a guide to sound economic reasoning for everyone. Its language is relatively simple, clear, and straightforward without being oversimplified and without sacrificing the really important insights and conclusions. It is a book with a strong message---economic progress is the result of competitive markets, of individual initiatives, and of the limited role of government."
- Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic

"Splendid and informed exposition of the basic principles of economics. The economics is sophisticated, the exposition simple, concise, lucid, and free from jargon."
- Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Prize winner

"This book provides the ABCs of how the world creates wealth without anyone having to be in charge because of market incentives---people are free to specialize, and by focusing on what they can do best for themselves, do unintended good for the rest of us. There is no other route to human betterment and poverty reduction."
- Vernon L. Smith, 2001 Nobel Prize winner

"Economic journalism is often based on slip-shod analysis; scientific treatises are analytically coherent but unintelligible. This book is an effort to bridge the awesome gap between these levels of discourse. Solid economic analysis, simply presented."
- James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize winner

"This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how the world really works and why economic freedom is the central ingredient of prosperity. If every citizen would read this book, our politics would be more enlightened and our nation more prosperous."
- Senator Connie Mack

"Gwartney, Stroup, and Lee tell us what everyone should know about economics in language we can all understand. It's refreshing, when three of the best in the profession avoid the all-too-common practice of writing in a code that only other economists can comprehend."
- Robert McTeer, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 031233818X
• ISBN 13: 9780312338183
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208