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

By John Quiggin

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691217424
• ISBN13: 9780691217420
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 404 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.6" x 8.4"