The fourth edition of Basic Economics is both expanded and updated. A new chapter on the history of economics itself has been added, and the implications of that history examined. A new section on the special role of corporations in the economy has been added to the chapter on government and big business, among other additions throughout the book. Basic Economics , which has now been translated into six foreign languages, has grown so much that a large of amount of material in the back of the book in previous editions has now been put on-line instead, so that the book itself and its price will not have to expand. The central idea of Basic Economics , however remains the same: that the fundamental facts and principles of economics do not require jargon, graphs or equations, and can be learned in a relaxed and even enjoyable way.

托馬斯·索維爾（Thomas Sowell），美國當代傑齣的自由主義經濟學大師，芝加哥經濟學派代錶人物之一。現為斯坦福大學鬍佛研究所高級研究員，曾在康奈爾大學、加州大學等講授經濟學，還在政府部門擔任經濟學顧問，獲得過包括總統人文成就奬、全國人文學科奬、布萊德雷基金奬在內的眾多榮譽。

他的著作有《美國種族簡史》《知識分子與社會》《實用經濟學》《被掩蓋的經濟真相》《房地産的繁榮與蕭條》《知識和決策》等30多部作品，其中一些甚至多次再版。他的《經濟學的思維方式》（Basic Economics）一書已被譯成六種語言。其文章和隨筆多次發錶於《財富》《時代周刊》《紐約時報》《華盛頓郵報》等知名媒體。