Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics

Henry Hazlitt

Jan 2010 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach

About this audiobook

A million-copy seller, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is a classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type espoused by Ron Paul and others. Called by H. L. Mencken “one of the few economists in history who could really write,” Henry Hazlitt achieved lasting fame for this brilliant but concise work. In it, he explains basic truths about economics and the economic fallacies responsible for unemployment, inflation, high taxes, and recession, as well as illustrating the destructive effects of taxes, rent and price controls, inflation, trade restrictions, and minimum-wage laws.

Economics in One Lesson is deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy. Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy, which occurred more than fifty years after the initial publication of this seminal work. Hazlitt’s focus on non-governmental solutions, strong—and strongly reasoned—antideficit position, and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make Economics in One Lesson every bit as relevant and valuable today as it has been since publication.

Ratings and reviews

Among many other things, this book describes how certain economic policies cause economic collapse; who knew decades later, America is doing all those things today.

This book goes in depth making a great case for Libertarian Economics.

About the author

Henry Hazlitt (1894–1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Newsweek, among other publications. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine. He wrote several books and is most well known for his book Economics in One Lesson.

Jeff Riggenbach (1947-2021) narrated numerous titles for Blackstone Audio and won an AudioFile Earphones Award. An author, contributing editor, and producer, he worked in radio in San Francisco for more than thirty years, earning a Golden Mike Award for journalistic excellence.