Economic Facts and Fallacies

Thomas Sowell:

...if you have a favorite candidate, you should be warned that there is nothing like studying economics to make you disillusioned -- if not disgusted -- with your political hero.

If all the economic fallacies promoted by politicians were taken out of their speeches, many of those speeches would be cut in half, at least.

Fallacies can sound very plausible if you don't stop to analyze what is being said and don't bother to check out the facts.

1. Government programs are needed to create "affordable housing." (Actually, government intervention is what has made housing so unaffordable in places where even hovels are expensive.)
2. Employer discrimination is the main reason for differences in income between women and men. (Tons of evidence point in other directions.)
3. College tuition is going up so fast because of rising costs. (Only if you call voluntary increases in spending "rising costs.")
4. Foreign aid helps poor countries become more prosperous. (Only if you don't look at the evidence.)
5. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. (It all depends on whether you are talking about flesh and blood human beings or statistical brackets.)

See Sowell's latest book Economic Facts and Fallacies for more on this.