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Economic Fallacies
This book, written by the celebrated nineteenth century French economist propagating free trade, reads as it was written yesterday.
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1845
89 people are currently reading
1840 people want to read
About the author
Frédéric Bastiat
589 books543 followersClaude Frédéric Bastiat (29 June 1801 – 24 December 1850) was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 21, 2015
Absolutely brilliant, proving economic theory need not be dry or boring, and also showing how very relevant to daily living it remains. Perhaps if more people had been more conversant with Bastiat, Lord Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes never would have gotten off the ground. Bastiat explodes so many myths prevalent in his day, and sadly, still prevalent today. Chiefly he contrasts abundance with scarcity and shows how protectionism, luddite opposition to technology and automation, and efforts to increase labor all lead to scarcity, while their opposites lead to abundance. So while the former methods may lead to higher cash incomes, they lead to less wealth to be had for all, while the latter method, though it may include dislocation from time to time, leads to abundance and greater wealth for all, even the cash-poor.
Bastiat reveals the open secret to his method: "Protection concentrates on one point the good which it produces, while the evils which it inflicts are spread over the masses. The one is visible to the naked eye; the other only to the eye of the mind. In the case of liberty, it is just the reverse." (location 77-79) The conundrum becomes clearer with a bit of analysis, "Man produces in order to consume. He is at once producer and consumer." (location 137) Bastiat shows how if a man produced only for himself without exchanging, there would be no confusion over the better course, it is only the introduction of exchange, and especially exchange involving cash money, that allows sophists to make the waters murky.
"The consumer is richer in proportion as he purchases all things cheaper; and he purchases things cheaper in proportion to their abundance; therefore it is abundance which enriches him. This reasoning, extended to all consumers, leads to the theory of plenty." (location 139-141) Protection (etc.) does not make richer, as even those who benefit from it in the short term are still themselves consumers and end up hurt more than helped if their theory is extended to any but themselves.
Bastiat turns old ideas about trade on their heads--so many people favor a balance of exports over imports, yet that is the same as wishing to spend more money for the same articles in a store than less. "A nation is rich when it is in want of everything." (location 217) and "Men are not fed on money." (location 230) Therefore importing is good, the more a country imports, the more valuable that means its goods, services, and the labor that produces them really are, hence the value of one's wages are higher, regardless of the nominal amount. (After all, a nation cannot import unless another nation will accept its goods and services in exchange, either directly or through cash exchanges.)
He spends a lot of time focusing on sophisms about labor, as if labor were a means to itself, rather than a means to an outcome, namely, removing obstacles in the way of human wants. "Human labour is not the end, but the means. It never remains unemployed. If one obstacle is removed, it does battle with another; and society is freed from two obstacles by the same amount of labour which was formerly, required for the removal of one." This point is also important, as it shows that even the temporary unemployment that does result from the general improvement of man's lot and human progress are not permanent, but allow those newly unemployed to re-employ their efforts more profitably, and therefore raise their own access to goods and services (their own wealth!).
His writing is brief, clear, and often amusing. His dialogue between the wine-maker and the tax collector is classic Bastiat and entertaining to boot, worth reading in its entirety. It certainly underscores David Friedman's caution about limited governments generally not remaining so, but Bastiat has his own answer: educate and persuade the masses as to the importance and the benefits of liberty over every other system. To this end, he wrote this work and you really ought to read it!
Bastiat reveals the open secret to his method: "Protection concentrates on one point the good which it produces, while the evils which it inflicts are spread over the masses. The one is visible to the naked eye; the other only to the eye of the mind. In the case of liberty, it is just the reverse." (location 77-79) The conundrum becomes clearer with a bit of analysis, "Man produces in order to consume. He is at once producer and consumer." (location 137) Bastiat shows how if a man produced only for himself without exchanging, there would be no confusion over the better course, it is only the introduction of exchange, and especially exchange involving cash money, that allows sophists to make the waters murky.
"The consumer is richer in proportion as he purchases all things cheaper; and he purchases things cheaper in proportion to their abundance; therefore it is abundance which enriches him. This reasoning, extended to all consumers, leads to the theory of plenty." (location 139-141) Protection (etc.) does not make richer, as even those who benefit from it in the short term are still themselves consumers and end up hurt more than helped if their theory is extended to any but themselves.
Bastiat turns old ideas about trade on their heads--so many people favor a balance of exports over imports, yet that is the same as wishing to spend more money for the same articles in a store than less. "A nation is rich when it is in want of everything." (location 217) and "Men are not fed on money." (location 230) Therefore importing is good, the more a country imports, the more valuable that means its goods, services, and the labor that produces them really are, hence the value of one's wages are higher, regardless of the nominal amount. (After all, a nation cannot import unless another nation will accept its goods and services in exchange, either directly or through cash exchanges.)
He spends a lot of time focusing on sophisms about labor, as if labor were a means to itself, rather than a means to an outcome, namely, removing obstacles in the way of human wants. "Human labour is not the end, but the means. It never remains unemployed. If one obstacle is removed, it does battle with another; and society is freed from two obstacles by the same amount of labour which was formerly, required for the removal of one." This point is also important, as it shows that even the temporary unemployment that does result from the general improvement of man's lot and human progress are not permanent, but allow those newly unemployed to re-employ their efforts more profitably, and therefore raise their own access to goods and services (their own wealth!).
His writing is brief, clear, and often amusing. His dialogue between the wine-maker and the tax collector is classic Bastiat and entertaining to boot, worth reading in its entirety. It certainly underscores David Friedman's caution about limited governments generally not remaining so, but Bastiat has his own answer: educate and persuade the masses as to the importance and the benefits of liberty over every other system. To this end, he wrote this work and you really ought to read it!
April 20, 2018
There is a sense of sadness that a reader has about a book like this one. Let us make no mistake, this is a great book, but it is a great book that exists under a bit of a shadow. For one, the author died in the prime of life from tuberculosis during a period of time when he could have had a great influence on the practical politics of France and instead of being able to serve his country loyally and faithfully for more decades he instead left a group of texts (of which this is one) in which he bemoans himself as a visionary and utopian thinker [1]. It is doubtful given the course of 19th century history that Bastiat's eloquence and sound thinking alone could have prevented France from ruinous arms races and destructive wars and inflicting the horrors of imperialism on other areas, all of which are evils that Bastiat presciently condemns here, but at least a longer life would have meant more texts from this great thinker to read. As it is, this book is one of those writings that was conducted more or less under a death sentence, and it is melancholy to think of Bastiat on his deathbed still trying to refute the selfishness of politicians and special interests even as he was nearing his end.
As a book this volume of about 200 pages is divided into two sections and numerous smaller essays. In these smaller essays Bastiat shows a relentless and consistent worldview of defending the interests of the consumer and the larger population at large from the protectionist arguments of industrialists and their crony capitalist politician allies. Sometimes Bastiat does this using statistics, sometimes using humorous polemical language, sometimes using imaginary dialogues that show the French taxpayer of the mid-19th century what his taxes were going towards, and sometimes through responding politely to letters written to him by his readers. Throughout the writings Bastiat maintains a sense of humility and a moral imagination for showing the distortions of labor that are required to deal with the artificial obstructions governments so often place in the way of people who simply want to live their lives and get things done. Some may find Bastiat's consistency of tone, despite his varied approach to tackling the problem of protectionist logic, a bit shrill, but those who agree with Bastiat will think that contemporary writings like this would still be enjoyable for someone to write, albeit focused on our own concerns.
Whether or not you like these books as a reader depends on a few matters. For one, this book is probably not best tackled in one swoop, but rather as sardonically amusing reading taken one or two essays at a time. This book is really the 19th century equivalent of a blog that has been made into a book, and the topics of the smaller essays in the book, some of them as short as a single page, and none of them extending particularly long, tend to repeat themselves over and over again as Bastiat bangs his head into the wall of argumentation and wholly thinking regarding protectionism. I, for one, found this book to be powerful if a bit repetitive, and all the more eloquent because of the melancholy conditions in which the book was written. That said, this book is only part of Bastiat's achievement as a writer, and it is the negative part of tearing down fallacious arguments that have served to threaten the well-being of many of Europe's socialist havens, and so this book is unquestionably relevant to today's political economy even though it was written more than 150 years ago.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
As a book this volume of about 200 pages is divided into two sections and numerous smaller essays. In these smaller essays Bastiat shows a relentless and consistent worldview of defending the interests of the consumer and the larger population at large from the protectionist arguments of industrialists and their crony capitalist politician allies. Sometimes Bastiat does this using statistics, sometimes using humorous polemical language, sometimes using imaginary dialogues that show the French taxpayer of the mid-19th century what his taxes were going towards, and sometimes through responding politely to letters written to him by his readers. Throughout the writings Bastiat maintains a sense of humility and a moral imagination for showing the distortions of labor that are required to deal with the artificial obstructions governments so often place in the way of people who simply want to live their lives and get things done. Some may find Bastiat's consistency of tone, despite his varied approach to tackling the problem of protectionist logic, a bit shrill, but those who agree with Bastiat will think that contemporary writings like this would still be enjoyable for someone to write, albeit focused on our own concerns.
Whether or not you like these books as a reader depends on a few matters. For one, this book is probably not best tackled in one swoop, but rather as sardonically amusing reading taken one or two essays at a time. This book is really the 19th century equivalent of a blog that has been made into a book, and the topics of the smaller essays in the book, some of them as short as a single page, and none of them extending particularly long, tend to repeat themselves over and over again as Bastiat bangs his head into the wall of argumentation and wholly thinking regarding protectionism. I, for one, found this book to be powerful if a bit repetitive, and all the more eloquent because of the melancholy conditions in which the book was written. That said, this book is only part of Bastiat's achievement as a writer, and it is the negative part of tearing down fallacious arguments that have served to threaten the well-being of many of Europe's socialist havens, and so this book is unquestionably relevant to today's political economy even though it was written more than 150 years ago.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
October 25, 2020
Këtu Bastiati me pasionin, logjikën dhe argumentat e veta elegante pëgënjeshtron mite dhe rrejshmëri të tjera logjike që rrethojnë fushën e ekonomisë.
June 21, 2008
A must read for every fledgling libertarian (or full grown libertarian who hasn't read it yet). A brilliant series of essays on the perils of tariffs, subsidies, protectionism, and otherwise government restrictions on free markets. The arguments I believe also apply to as a critique of the anti-globalization movement, although Bastiat was writing before such a movement existed, so its not explicitly addressed. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to pulling out some choice zingers next time I debate such things.
Bastiat is very persuasive, and I wish I could get some of those anti-NAFTA politicians to read it...
Bastiat is very persuasive, and I wish I could get some of those anti-NAFTA politicians to read it...
May 22, 2015
Ya en 1859 se hablaba de las consecuencias que se originaban a raíz de las políticas intervencionistas del Estado en materia económica, Bastiat recoge algunas de las falacias (que aún se siguen manifestando a raíz del marxismo y el keynesianismo principalmente) y de manera satírica (sin dejar lo elegante) las refutaba, todo usando un lenguaje comprensible hasta para los no muy familiarizados con la economía, me hubiese gustado que hicieran enfásis en la teoría del valor subjetivo pero supongo que eso salió cuando Bohm-Bawerk, de todos modos recomiendo su lectura, sobretodo para entender los valores del liberalismo.
May 24, 2019
A preface of mice and men
Take feces from a fat man and a thin, insert the "fat-shit" and "thin-shit" into the guts of mice. Feed all the mice the exact same diet, and those with "fat-man-shit" become fat, the rest thin.
This empiric result devastates the obviously true caloric theory of weight gain. Conclusion? Nature is under no obligation to make sense, at least not in complex domains. What is complexity? Abundance of moving parts. Think about the body, let us say it contains a billion species of bacteria, a thousand known nutrients, a thousand undiscovered nutrients and feedback mechanisms running in all directions. A certain bacterium might go berserk, consuming energy which otherwise would become fat, if it gets enough salt, another species of bacteria might speed down your metabolism if it gets enough vitamin D. Shit is rich in bacteria, so a shit-transplantation can cause drastic change to your metabolism.
The caloric-theory obviously is true: Calories in - calories out = Caloric increase = Weight increase. The problem with the theory is that both "calories in" and "calories out" are so complex that the simplicity of the theory becomes misleading enough to in practice be false. A grand, general theory is reduced to an imperfect heuristic.
Why start a review of Bastiat with a discussion of shit transplants? Because just as biology economics is complex. Hence obviously true ideas can be false. If we are lucky they can be used as imperfect heuristics.
Bastiat
Bastiat was a libertarian, at a time and in a country where big-business and the public were protectionists.
The main stream reasoned thus: England has an unfair advantage in the manufacture of textiles. They got into the game of industry early, and out-compete our good french tailors, the English take our jobs. We are reduced to importing clothes, which means that our wealth, our money, flows out of France leaving us poor. To solve all these problems we should protect French industry, by high tariffs on English goods."
Bastiat's counterpoint: Oh, you underestimate the gravity of our situation. There is a more dangerous foe. One that wreaks havoc on the candle industry, by an unfair fluke of nature this enemy can produce both light and heat more cheaply than us. Whom do I speak of? The sun!
This is Bastiat's typical style. He is humorous, and likes to show the flaws in the logic of his opponents by generalizing it in absurdum.
His economic ideas were not new. It is all a rehash of Adam Smith: Belief in free trade and the advantages of specialization. The value of Bastiat rather lies in that he was a great author, his examples help you to absorb ideas you already that you just were familiar with.
So: reading him helps you internalize a bunch of obviously true ideas. But in economics as in biology the obviously true, sometimes is false in practice.
The half-learned, or those with incentives to misunderstand, tend to leach on to the clear logic of authors like Bastiat, and to then out of hand dismiss opposing beliefs. Scroll through the reviews of this book, and you will find dozens of five-star-reviews claiming that everyone who is not Libertarian is an idiot, or that if everyone just followed the ideas from this book everything would be great.
Even if theories cannot fully explain the complex, useful heuristics are possible. Knowledge of the kind "people who eat herring tend to be healthy" or "those with power tend to get corrupt" or "industrialists tend to want protectionism for their business" - is possible.
Empirically Bastiat's heuristics are quite good, even if he personally might have believed that they were laws.
Some interesting passages and ideas in Bastiat
* A reflection that the benefits of protectionism are obvious, while those of free markets are hidden. We might illustrate (and expand on) the idea by a modern example.
Isn't it a tragedy that San Fransisco is so far behind Los Angeles in the movie business? If SF just used the same kind of barriers France has (mandating that x% of movies shown in theaters be French, subsidies, et cetera) then they would get a movie industry in no time at all. Protectionism would reliably cause a movie industry in SF. But there would be hidden downsides. For every person employed in the movie-business rents for offices and apartments would raise in SF. The increased costs would make the difference between survival and bankruptcy for a random sample of tech-entrepreneurs and businesses. But nobody would be able to prove that X-company failed because of the movie industry. Meanwhile LA would get slightly worse at making movies for each competent person who moved to SF. What would the effect be for a neutral party, like say Iceland? Worse movies and worse technology. The benefits are gathered and obvious, while the downsides are random and spread.
Take feces from a fat man and a thin, insert the "fat-shit" and "thin-shit" into the guts of mice. Feed all the mice the exact same diet, and those with "fat-man-shit" become fat, the rest thin.
This empiric result devastates the obviously true caloric theory of weight gain. Conclusion? Nature is under no obligation to make sense, at least not in complex domains. What is complexity? Abundance of moving parts. Think about the body, let us say it contains a billion species of bacteria, a thousand known nutrients, a thousand undiscovered nutrients and feedback mechanisms running in all directions. A certain bacterium might go berserk, consuming energy which otherwise would become fat, if it gets enough salt, another species of bacteria might speed down your metabolism if it gets enough vitamin D. Shit is rich in bacteria, so a shit-transplantation can cause drastic change to your metabolism.
The caloric-theory obviously is true: Calories in - calories out = Caloric increase = Weight increase. The problem with the theory is that both "calories in" and "calories out" are so complex that the simplicity of the theory becomes misleading enough to in practice be false. A grand, general theory is reduced to an imperfect heuristic.
Why start a review of Bastiat with a discussion of shit transplants? Because just as biology economics is complex. Hence obviously true ideas can be false. If we are lucky they can be used as imperfect heuristics.
Bastiat
Bastiat was a libertarian, at a time and in a country where big-business and the public were protectionists.
The main stream reasoned thus: England has an unfair advantage in the manufacture of textiles. They got into the game of industry early, and out-compete our good french tailors, the English take our jobs. We are reduced to importing clothes, which means that our wealth, our money, flows out of France leaving us poor. To solve all these problems we should protect French industry, by high tariffs on English goods."
Bastiat's counterpoint: Oh, you underestimate the gravity of our situation. There is a more dangerous foe. One that wreaks havoc on the candle industry, by an unfair fluke of nature this enemy can produce both light and heat more cheaply than us. Whom do I speak of? The sun!
This is Bastiat's typical style. He is humorous, and likes to show the flaws in the logic of his opponents by generalizing it in absurdum.
His economic ideas were not new. It is all a rehash of Adam Smith: Belief in free trade and the advantages of specialization. The value of Bastiat rather lies in that he was a great author, his examples help you to absorb ideas you already that you just were familiar with.
So: reading him helps you internalize a bunch of obviously true ideas. But in economics as in biology the obviously true, sometimes is false in practice.
The half-learned, or those with incentives to misunderstand, tend to leach on to the clear logic of authors like Bastiat, and to then out of hand dismiss opposing beliefs. Scroll through the reviews of this book, and you will find dozens of five-star-reviews claiming that everyone who is not Libertarian is an idiot, or that if everyone just followed the ideas from this book everything would be great.
Even if theories cannot fully explain the complex, useful heuristics are possible. Knowledge of the kind "people who eat herring tend to be healthy" or "those with power tend to get corrupt" or "industrialists tend to want protectionism for their business" - is possible.
Empirically Bastiat's heuristics are quite good, even if he personally might have believed that they were laws.
Some interesting passages and ideas in Bastiat
* A reflection that the benefits of protectionism are obvious, while those of free markets are hidden. We might illustrate (and expand on) the idea by a modern example.
Isn't it a tragedy that San Fransisco is so far behind Los Angeles in the movie business? If SF just used the same kind of barriers France has (mandating that x% of movies shown in theaters be French, subsidies, et cetera) then they would get a movie industry in no time at all. Protectionism would reliably cause a movie industry in SF. But there would be hidden downsides. For every person employed in the movie-business rents for offices and apartments would raise in SF. The increased costs would make the difference between survival and bankruptcy for a random sample of tech-entrepreneurs and businesses. But nobody would be able to prove that X-company failed because of the movie industry. Meanwhile LA would get slightly worse at making movies for each competent person who moved to SF. What would the effect be for a neutral party, like say Iceland? Worse movies and worse technology. The benefits are gathered and obvious, while the downsides are random and spread.
May 12, 2021
4 stars. Social Fallacies or Economic Sophisms by Bastiat was an interesting read. Although I don’t agree 100% with his conclusions, Bastiat makes a compelling argument for economic policy. Even though this was written in the mid 1800’s in France it points out very clearly the fallacy of government economic planning. My reading was the 5th edition, translated by Patrick James Stirling, published by Register Publishing Co., and printed in 1909.
June 4, 2017
Bastiat (1801-1850) destroys protectionist ideologies in minute detail with thorough, compelling arguments. Unlike protectionism, which approaches economic theory from the standpoint of the producer, Bastiat instructs from the standpoint of the consumer. The book is entertaining - not dry - and deals with the very issues we argue today. My only concern is that Bastiat gives too much credit to the human sense of morality, or at least to a commitment to live morally, and ends up espousing globalism as a ground for peace, goodwill and wealth for all.
August 2, 2017
How have I not read this book until now? I loved Bastiat's witty writing style and timeless pro-liberty and free trade arguments. Even his arguments about the competition of labor between people and machines are relevant today!
It really is a shame that mainstream economics omit the works of Bastiat when teaching economics. I wish I read Bastiat as an undergrad or even as senior in high school.
I read this on my tablet and used the public domain version available in Google Books.
(I can now *better* see why people claim Don Boudreaux is today's Bastiat.)
It really is a shame that mainstream economics omit the works of Bastiat when teaching economics. I wish I read Bastiat as an undergrad or even as senior in high school.
I read this on my tablet and used the public domain version available in Google Books.
(I can now *better* see why people claim Don Boudreaux is today's Bastiat.)
July 22, 2017
Fredereric Bastiat is one of my favorite political economists in all of history, he at once systematically destroys the arguments of protectionist and does so in a way that is extremely enjoyable: Sarcastic letters, play scripts, and other very humorous ways. This book can be easily understood by the layman and I recommend this book to anyone curious about protectionism (and it's faults)
November 21, 2018
Clever and engaging piece on free trade and importance of trade to lift the status of wealth and prosperity. Rebuttals on protectionism were plenty, but at times, I felt it was short on delivering the killer rejoinder that would pin down the debate to his case. Anyways, as a supporter of free market economics, I liked what he had to say.
November 22, 2018
A Current Affairs Must Read
With the rise of protectionism and trade wars, Bastiat is a must read for anyone looking to make economic sense of current affairs. The book and the sophistries in it could have been written yesterday. Read it, evaluate, and advocate. A classic must read.
With the rise of protectionism and trade wars, Bastiat is a must read for anyone looking to make economic sense of current affairs. The book and the sophistries in it could have been written yesterday. Read it, evaluate, and advocate. A classic must read.
May 19, 2020
Κυκλοφορεί στα ελληνικά από τις Πανεπιστημιακές εκδόσεις Κρήτης με τον τίτλο "Η σπασμένη τζαμαρία". Πραγματικό διαμάντι πολιτικής οικονομίας - κοινή λογική και απλή οικονομική θεωρία και πράξη, που αν τα κατείχαν οι κυβερνώντες διαχρονικά, θα ζούσαμε όλοι και όλες πολύ πολύ καλύτερα. Κείμενο που γράφτηκε το 1850. Στην Ελλάδα ακόμα δεν έχει"γραφτεί" το αντίστοιχο...
July 24, 2024
Simple analysis of some economic 'affirmations' that we take for granted.
SUPER recommendable for people who want to be critical.
Some examples are magnificiently illustrations.
A must for people interested in libertarianism and who go a little bit against the mainstream economical thoughts.
SUPER recommendable for people who want to be critical.
Some examples are magnificiently illustrations.
A must for people interested in libertarianism and who go a little bit against the mainstream economical thoughts.
February 22, 2019
Even the most distinguished economists of our time cannot explain so lucidly the concept of ECONOMICS The way bastiat does . Inspirational and exceptional book.
March 7, 2022
i never read a book as bad as this..:(( waste of time
May 29, 2022
Trots sin ålder så oerhört intressant och välformulerad! Det är inte en djuplodande ideologisk skrift, utan ett prov på den enkla rationalen som ligger bakom den frihandelns förträfflighet.
January 19, 2024
This is a fairly old book which caused issues on my end to fully grasp and understand.
November 7, 2017
Bastiat does a great job of breaking down protectionist economIcs. He takes their sophisms to their final conclusions to show how illogical they are. It gets a bit repetitive at times, but I think you have to be to get into the reductio ad absurdum reasoning. A great book to learn about how free trade trumps protectionism every time!
June 4, 2015
In this work Bastiat tackles the protectionist measures which serve only end up serving the interest of some at the expense of the consumer at large. Indirectly this book tackles the broken window fallacy, and follows what is now the mainstream Austrian school argument-that the "broken window" may create a demand for a window, and may even create work for the window repairman, but ultimately it has only redirected funds which would have been used for other means. This argument, as I perceived it, was adapted to the protectionist measures which may seem to create "wealth" but do nothing more than harm the consumer. Bastiat is clear to state that price doesn't equal wealth.
As an undertone, the great thing was that even though Bastiat discusses at length the false protectionist arguments at length, the one thing he doesn't do is that he doesn't treat the consumer as an uninvolved or guiltless part of the schemes which lead to the formulation of an economic environment which is detrimental to all, but instead says that the a consumer at an economic level-at a political level often ends up asking for these measures without knowing what the long term implications are. Sophists are not only political participants who employ these measures, but anyone who seeks the implementation of protectionist measures in any territory based on sophistry and false or ill-conceived logic.
It isn't often that I will read a book on economic matters which takes complex matters and presents them is such a manner that it is easy to both, understand the material and further extrapolate its implications. Though Bastiat died at the young age of 49, the works he has left behind, at least for me, are a great contribution to the field of economics. I really look forward to reading his other works.
As an undertone, the great thing was that even though Bastiat discusses at length the false protectionist arguments at length, the one thing he doesn't do is that he doesn't treat the consumer as an uninvolved or guiltless part of the schemes which lead to the formulation of an economic environment which is detrimental to all, but instead says that the a consumer at an economic level-at a political level often ends up asking for these measures without knowing what the long term implications are. Sophists are not only political participants who employ these measures, but anyone who seeks the implementation of protectionist measures in any territory based on sophistry and false or ill-conceived logic.
It isn't often that I will read a book on economic matters which takes complex matters and presents them is such a manner that it is easy to both, understand the material and further extrapolate its implications. Though Bastiat died at the young age of 49, the works he has left behind, at least for me, are a great contribution to the field of economics. I really look forward to reading his other works.
December 12, 2015
Makes good points and is eloquently written, but is also super repetitive. In additon I feel like if he focused more on nominal vs real pricing more directly it would have helped his case. Also I can't help but wonder about the math behind protectionism: is it possible that there is a point where the multipliers would actually indicate protectionism is an advantage? Also what about countries which export only raw materials that are necessarily finite, is it possible that protectionism could actually help them? As for comparative advantage of course it will be beneficial in a case with only 2 countries but what about a case with 250? Is it possible that some countries don't have an advantage in anything significant, and aren't served as much by the (nearly divine) providence of free trade Bastiat writes about?
A lot of these questions are very relevant to the current economic situation in Africa, where manufacturing has actually declined.
A lot of these questions are very relevant to the current economic situation in Africa, where manufacturing has actually declined.
July 25, 2013
Interesting Quotes:
"At all events, let no one claim that because an abuse cannot be done away with, without inconvenience to those who profit by it, what has been suffered to exist for a time should be allowed to exist forever."
-Frederic Bastiat, Economic Sophisms
"Those who say: Repress all injustice, whether on a greater or a smaller scale, suffer no dishonesty, to however small an extent, are marked down for ideologues, idle dreamers, who keep repeating over and over again the same thing. The people, moreover, find their arguments too clear, and why should they be expected to believe what is so easily understood?"
-Frederic Bastiat, Economic Sophisms
"At all events, let no one claim that because an abuse cannot be done away with, without inconvenience to those who profit by it, what has been suffered to exist for a time should be allowed to exist forever."
-Frederic Bastiat, Economic Sophisms
"Those who say: Repress all injustice, whether on a greater or a smaller scale, suffer no dishonesty, to however small an extent, are marked down for ideologues, idle dreamers, who keep repeating over and over again the same thing. The people, moreover, find their arguments too clear, and why should they be expected to believe what is so easily understood?"
-Frederic Bastiat, Economic Sophisms
December 5, 2012
It's Bastiat. And you can never go wrong with Bastiat.
In all seriousness, this book is not quite as good as "The Law," but that doesn't say much since "The Law" is such a masterpiece. Nevertheless, I always find myself encouraged by how simply and clearly Bastiat strikes down the most absurd economic fallacies that not only permeated his time, but that continue to permeate our time today. This book is especially helpful in realizing the utter absurdities of many academics, politicians, and intellectuals when it comes to economics.
In all seriousness, this book is not quite as good as "The Law," but that doesn't say much since "The Law" is such a masterpiece. Nevertheless, I always find myself encouraged by how simply and clearly Bastiat strikes down the most absurd economic fallacies that not only permeated his time, but that continue to permeate our time today. This book is especially helpful in realizing the utter absurdities of many academics, politicians, and intellectuals when it comes to economics.
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August 3, 2012Read this short book and you will understand why protectionism and trade barriers are bad for almost everyone. You'll also learn that before water lines were installed that some people made their living selling bucketsful of water to Parisian residents!!! Bastiat was President Reagan's favorite economist-and no wonder! Bastiat makes the complicated easy and the obscure clear with his examples. Free for Kindle.
December 16, 2015
After reading it I think the best thing to do is mention just a few important people from history and present who should have read this book + The Law !!: If they would have read it the world would have been a better place !!!
Karl marx and all his predecesors and followers ; All dictators ; all socialists , all comunists ,all politicians
Kaynes especiali , he in his book admits that his new theor is protectionism and mercantelism , a fact that his followers don't usualy like to mention !!
Karl marx and all his predecesors and followers ; All dictators ; all socialists , all comunists ,all politicians
Kaynes especiali , he in his book admits that his new theor is protectionism and mercantelism , a fact that his followers don't usualy like to mention !!
July 25, 2011
This is the first book that I have read by Frederic Bastiat. Why? Because it was free at iBooks and I could download it to my iPod and read it as I worked out. This has really whet my appetite for more of his books. The practical explanations given as to the workings of free trade and why it benefits a society were very convincing. This should be required reading for members of congress.
April 19, 2015
Disappointing. Bastiat has a rare reputation as an economist who could write in clear language. While the First Series of his Sophisms contains some fantastic writing, the Second Series is surprisingly dull with some horribly laboured and long winded stuff. The work is also let down by its uncompromising embrace of the discredited at the time Labour Theory of Value.
March 2, 2011
I might not be in lock step with all of his viewpoints but he paints a clear picture and rightly calls out fallacious arguments against his own philosphy.
It's a clear polemic against economic protectionism.
It's a clear polemic against economic protectionism.
July 28, 2014
The clearest debunking of trade barriers I have ever seen. Bastiat makes the incomprehensible easy. President Reagan named him as his favorite economist. Before you discuss an economic issue again, check out Bastiat and become better informed.
February 10, 2016
Une idée si simple que peu de gens saisissent réellement. Ce livre devrait être lecture obligatoire dès la tendre enfance! Il faut voir au dela des apparence pour saisir le coût réel de l'interférence gouvernementale.
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