๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ž๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—”๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€

๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐™Š๐™ฃ๐™š ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!

Tomorrow is the birthday of Henry Hazlitt, a great writer on Austrian economics, so today I will review one of his best-known works, โ€œ๐˜Œ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€.

This book has no mention of #Bitcoin in it, as it was first published in 1946, but it does give an excellent overview of Austrian economic theory, including the ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ of centralized economic policies.

Read on for my list of insights๐Ÿ‘‡

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ #๐Ÿญ: ๐—จ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€

Most economic policies aim to aid ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ, without weighing the unseen burdens upon other groups, but when one traces a policyโ€™s indirect effects, it reveals their true tradeoffs. Objective analysis counters misleading arguments that only cite isolated gains. Prior to enacting decisions on a narrow subset of the economy, ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐˜†-๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ #๐Ÿฎ: ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ป๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€

New technologies may displace jobs initially, but ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ-๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต-๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. Cost savings and productivity growth free up resources, which are then better allocated through price signals. ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด; though itโ€™s temporarily uncomfortable for impacted groups, discomfort leads to greater innovations and strength.

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ #๐Ÿฏ: ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜€

Using top-down policies to override market pricing inevitably introduces harmful distortions over time. Lagging effects include shortages, unemployment, inflation, reduced productivity, and output declines. ๐—”๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. Even crises call for ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, not reactionary overcorrections that ignore systemic consequences.

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ #๐Ÿฐ: ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜† ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜†

Promises of cheap, abundant credit eventually bring severe contractions that far outweigh any temporary relief. Politicians and citizens alike prefer pleasant fiction over responsible restraint, but ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. Whether through willful ignorance or innocent over-optimism, ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ.

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ #๐Ÿฑ: ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—˜๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป

Widespread economic literacy offers the strongest safeguard against plausible fallacies and manipulation by special interests. ๐—ข๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ can citizens be armed against seductive rhetoric that touts advantages for transient groups. Leaders should stop exploiting the publicโ€™s ignorance, and instead ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ of economic consequences.

This book is ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต for elevating the oneโ€™s understanding of economics.

In honor of Henry Hazlittโ€™s birthday tomorrow, be sure to ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐Ÿค™ and a ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐Ÿ”„ this post!

Also ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐Ÿ”– this, so you can easily refer back to these insights.

What book do you want me to review next week?

Tell me in the ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€โฌ‡๏ธ

See you next week at the next list of book insights! ๐Ÿ‘‹

One of my favorite things that Hazlitt brought clearly into my understanding of ecomincs, was the broken window fallacy. Great writer who simplified a seemingly cumbersome subject.

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