Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly

A masterly introduction to the key ideas behind the successes―and failures―of free-market economics

Since 1946, Henry Hazlitt’s bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can’t explain why they often fail so badly―or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, “When someone preaches ‘Economics in one lesson,’ I advise: Go back for the second lesson.” In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterly introduction to the key ideas behind the successes―and failures―of free markets. Brilliantly accessible, this book unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.