Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Economics in One Lesson - Week One

I stole the title for my post from Cindy. I discovered Cindy's blog a while ago and enjoyed reading as her and her friends read and discussed books together. When they mentioned that they were reading Economics in One Lesson in January and that the book was available to be read on-line for anyone that might not have the book, I had to check it out.

I have to say that the topic - Economics - almost kept me from giving it a second thought. Economics was the one course in High School that I failed tests in. Aside from that course I was mostly an A or B student, but I just could not get economics at all, and that one course in High school turned me off from all things economic related for the rest of my life. I'm glad, however, that I decided to push that aside for now and check it out, because so far I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying it.

Cindy has posted a schedule for the readings and discussions over the next 4 weeks. Today we are to discuss the first 6 chapters. I have been recording notes and quotes as I'm reading and will share some of that here.

From the Preface to the First Edition:

"I have tried to write this book as simply and with as much freedom from
technicalities as is consistent with reasonable accuracy, so that it can be
fully understood by a reader with no previous acquaintance with economics."

I was so pleased to read this and I am doubly pleased to have discovered that he accomplished what he set out to do.

This sentence sums up the most important point of the whole book:
"The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the
longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."

Unfortunately my blogging time has been interrupted by my little one awaking from her nap. I'm not sure if I'll get back to sharing more about this portion of the book or not. We shall see. Suffice it to say that I am learning much, and actually finding it enjoyable.