From one of America's most distinguished economists, a short, brilliant and revelatory book: the fundamental ideas people most commonly get wrong about economics, and how to think about the subject better.

Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues—and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.

One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power—and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.

Written in the easy to follow style of the author's Basic Economics, this latest book is able to go into greater depth, with real world examples, on specific issues.

Contents

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Preface 1 The Power of Fallacies  The Zero-Sum Fallacy  The Fallacy of Composition  The Chess-Pieces Fallacy  The Open-Ended Fallacy  Summary and Implications 2 Urban Facts and Fallacies  Transportation   Population Concentration and Dispersion   Traffic Congestion   Social Pathology  Housing   History   Economics   Politics  Urban Economic Activities   Slums and Crime   "Urban Sprawl"  Summary and Implications 3 Male-Female Facts and Fallacies  History   Declines in Higher Education and Professional Occupations   Rises in Higher Education and Professional Occupations  Economics   Occupational Differences   Continuity of Employment   Regular and Irregular Work   Domestic Responsibilities  Employer Discrimination   Comparability   The Minority Analogy  Summary and Implications 4 Academic Facts and Fallacies  The Faculty   Teaching   Educational Quality   Academic Careers  The Students   Choices Among Colleges   "Value Added" by College   The Cost of College  Academic Finances   Costs   Revenues  Summary and Conclusions 5 Income Facts and Fallacies  Income Stagnation   Household Income   Workers' Incomes  Income Inequality   "The Rich" and "The Poor"   The "Vanishing" Middle Class   Executives' Pay   Social Mobility  Summary and Conclusions 6 Racial Facts and Fallacies  Group Differences  History   The Role of Time   Slavery   The Black Family   Culture   Crime and Violence  Economics   Employment Discrimination   Consumer Discrimination   Lending Discrimination  Summary and Implications 7 Third World Facts and Fallacies  Geography  History  Economics   Law and Order   Population   Culture   Exploitation   Foreign Aid  Summary and Implications 8 Parting Thoughts Notes Index

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Tags: Economics, History, Feminism, Academia, WorldPolitics, Politics, CriticalThinking

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