Economic Facts and Fallacies - Thomas Sowell

"By 2001 most people defined as poor had possession once considered part of a middle class lifestyle. Three quarters of them had air-conditioning, which only a third of all Americans had in 1971. Ninety-seven percent had color televisions, which less than half of all Americans had in 1971. Seventy-three percent owned a microwave, which less than one percent of Americans owned in 1971, and 98 percent of "the poor" had either a videocassette recorder or a DVD player, which no one had in 1971. In addition, 72 percent of "the poor" owned a car or truck" FN 18, pg 129. "Poverty and Property Rights," The Economist, March 31, 2001, 20-22; Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital (NY: Basic, 2000), 20, 33-34.

"A study in Britain followed thousands of individuals for six years and found that, at the end of that peropd, nearly two-thrids of those individuals whose incomes were initially in the bottom 10 percent had risen out of that bracket. Other studies showed that one-half of the people in Greece and two-thirds of the people in Holland who were below the povery line in a given year had risen above that line within two years. Studies in Canada and New Zealand showed similar results" FN 31, pg 136. Peter Saunders, "Getting the Facts Right about Poverty in Australia" (St. Leonards, 2002).

Sowell elegantly rips apart myths about the economics of labor, finance, gender, and race. He also explains how erroneous assumptions become so well established that no one even stops to think about them. Not only is this a solid analysis of the situations he analyzes, it's also a good introduction to the methodology needed for such assessment. ( )

Really interesting book that will make you take a hard look at widely held beliefs and assumptions. It provided good educational facts but did so in a dry read. ( )

This book is clearly coming at issues from a conservative basis taking aim a number assumptions and beliefs held by "liberals". While many of these issues bear closer inspection, and several of Sowell's conclusions might be correct, the book fails to make a sufficient case, sometimes using the fallacious he attempts to expose. ( )