Evaluating Politicians on Economics

With the current financial downturn it is impossible to escape the subject of the economy. Every time I pick up a newspaper, turn on the television, or join my colleges for a discussion by the water cooler I hear differing opinions on what the current administration should (or should not) be doing to fix the problem. Unfortunately the vast majority of the population is ignorant of even the most basic economic principles leaving us unable to evaluate what the elites in Washington are doing. This problem is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of literature in economics is laden with graphs, statistics and jargon that we neither have the time nor the desire to sift through in order to rectify our current lack of knowledge.

Fortunately there are economists like Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution who boil away the broth so that the rest of us can grade the economic policies of current and prospective political leaders. In this recent interview Sowell briefly touches on some of the themes discussed in his works.

Three of his books I highly recommend are Basic Economics, Economic Facts and Fallacies, and The Housing Boom and Bust. The first is an overview of the field of economics stripped of all jargon and graphs. The second details some of the largest economic fallacies perpetuated by those in power and the effect that these fallacies have on us when they are not checked, and the final book is a niche work on the current financial situation that we are in.