Did somebody say "recession?" If you’re like me, your head started spinning out of control about a year ago when reports started coming in regarding a slightly downward economic turn. Now that we’re knee-deep in sporadic economic analysis, how to sort through it all without giving yourself an ulcer? I love learning about the world around me. Just the other day, I was fascinated by how I was able to find a moment of peace and quiet while the whole gamut of industry was clanking away on all sides.
Anyway, all this talk about the economy gave me a spark of interest in a subject that I’ve never seriously studied before. A quick search through the Library’s catalog pointed me towards Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (3rd Edition), by Thomas Sowell. What a find! I was tickled that a book titled "Basic Economics" would be more than 600 pages, so I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did.
I found Sowell’s treatment of basic economic principles fascinating and revealing. He teaches with great clarity and patience, never using rhetoric to rush through a point, and sprinkles his text with real-world examples instead of equations and charts. As I turned each page, I felt my synapses firing away, forming connections, conclusions, and even some very strong convictions. Published in 2007, many of Sowell’s points seemed downright prophetic of what is happening right now in America and elsewhere across the globe. I can’t say I’m any more or less concerned about our economy than before I read this book, but I do feel considerably less confused about it…and my mind has been opened to a truly interesting subject.