Economics in Two Lessons - Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly

A masterly introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free-market economics

Since 1946, Henry Hazlitt-s bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can-t explain why they often fail so badly-or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, -When someone preaches -Economics in one lesson,- I advise: Go back for the second lesson.- In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterly introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free markets. Brilliantly accessible, this book unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.