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We are beyond mere excitement about Lessons for the Young Economist. It is easily the best introduction to economics for the young reader—because it covers both pure economic theory and also how markets work (the domain of most introductory books).

Robert Murphy has the right frame of mind and mastery of the subject matter to provide the best possible pedagogy. The logic is super clear. The organization is impeccable. It achieves a great balance between “plain old” economics and that aspect of economic thought that is considered particularly Austrian. Therefore, it prepares the student for both conventional economic studies in the future and provides the logical rigor and policy clarity that only the Austrian School perspective can offer.

Most of the attempts at such texts falter because they are either too dry and technical for the young reader or they are littered with attempts to keep the student entertained with references to pop culture or cheesy passages that attempt to “speak the child’s language” but only end up sounding patronizing.

Dr. Murphy’s text has none of this. The prose has relentless fire without needless fireworks. What drives it forward is intellectual passion born of his love of the topic. What’s also nice is that he is nowhere self-consciously trying to sound like someone he is not. It is his real voice, explaining everything point by point. For this reason, the text is warm and engaging.

Here is the product of vast experience and daily writing. This permits the voicing of the book to achieve a remarkable integration page to page, chapter to chapter. Though he is drawing from the whole history of the development of economics, the text ends up being strikingly original. His approach is not based on anything but his own sense of how to teach this subject.

This book will not be boring or useless even for people who think they already know the subject. Every page or two, there are fresh insights. For example, on the problems with barter, he shows that in the real world, most goods and services would not have come into existence at all (so that there would be no trading of tractors for cobbler services because there would be no tractors or repairable shoes). In another place, he points out that one of the advantages of the division of labor is that it makes the advantages of automation more readily apparent.

Maybe these points appear in other introductory texts but the way he works them into a logical and seamless system is very impressive. It has a much larger market than just high-school students. Anyone can enjoy this book and learn from it. The appropriate age here is probably 13 and up but any adult will love this book.

Murphy wrote the first study guides to Human Action and Man, Economy, and State. He can now add another medal to his chest. It is a big one. There is every reason to believe that this book will still have powerful legs decades from now.

As for the price, it is close to being a miracle for a textbook of this size and expanse. The conventional publishers of bad books at high prices don't stand a chance against this landmark.

罗伯特·墨菲是美国著名经济学家、顾问、专栏作家和多部畅销书作者。他的热门文章经常出现在《洛杉矶时报》《华盛顿时报》《市场观察》《福布斯》和《投资者商业日报》等杂志上，作品包括《第一本经济学》《<人的行为>导读》《<人，经济与国家>导读》《选择》等。

PART I: FOUNDATIONS
1. Thinking Like an Economist . 3
Thinking Like an Economist 3
Is Economics a Science? . 5
The Scope and Boundaries of Economic Science . 5
Why Study Economics? . 8
2. How We Develop Economic Principles . 13
Purposeful Action versus Mindless Behavior 13
The Social versus the Natural Sciences 15
The Success of the Natural Sciences versus the Social Sciences 17
How We Develop Basic Economics 22
3. Economic Concepts Implied By Action . 31
Introduction 31
Only Individuals Act 32
Individuals Have Preferences 36
Preferences Are Subjective 37
Preferences Are a Ranking, Not a Measurement Using Numbers 39
Different Individuals’ Preferences Can’t Be Combined . 42
4. “Robinson Crusoe” Economics . 49
Introduction 49
Crusoe Creates Goods With His Mind Powers 50
Consumer Goods versus Producer Goods 52
Land, Labor, and Capital Goods . 53
Income, Saving, and Investment . 55
Goods Are Valued Unit by Unit 59
Pulling It All Together: What Should Crusoe Do With Himself? . 61

PART II: CAPITALISM: THE MARKET ECONOMY
5. The Institution of Private Property 71
Society Requires Rules . 71
Capitalism: This Is Private Property 73
The Market Economy and Free Enterprise . 74
6. Direct Exchange and Barter Prices 81
Why Do People Trade With Each Other? 81
Direct Exchange / Barter . 82
Prices 83
How Prices Are Formed in Barter . 84
7. Indirect Exchange and the Appearance of Money . 99
The Limitations of Direct Exchange . 99
The Advantages of Indirect Exchange . 101
The Advantages of Money 104
Who Invented Money? 106
8. The Division of Labor and Specialization 113
The Division of Labor and Specialization . 113
Why Specialization Makes Labor More Productive . 115
Enriching Everyone By Focusing on Comparative Advantage . 117
9. Entrepreneurship and Competition . 125
Entrepreneurship 125
Competition Protects Customers 127
Competition Protects Workers . 128
10. Income, Saving, and Investment 135
Income, Saving, and Investment . 135
Investment Increases Future Income 136
How Saving and Investment Increase An Economy’s Future Output . 141
11. Supply and Demand . 147
Supply and Demand: The Purpose . 147
Demand: Its Definition and Its Law . 148
Supply: Its Definition and Its Law 153
Using Supply and Demand to Explain the Market Price 155
Using Supply and Demand to Understand Price Changes .159
12. Interest, Credit, and Debt . 175
Interest: It’s About Time 175
Savings, Investment, and Economic Growth . 177
Common Credit Transactions 180
The Pros and Cons of Debt . 183
13. Profit and Loss Accounting 191
Profit and Loss Guide Entrepreneurs . 191
Interest Versus Profit 193
The Social Function of Profit and Loss Accounting 195
The Limits of Profit and Loss Accounting . 199
14. The Stock Market . 205
The Stock Market 205
Why Issue Stock? (Debt versus Equity) . 206
The Social Function of Stock Speculation 209

PART III: SOCIALISM: THE COMMAND ECONOMY
15. The Failures of Socialism—Theory . 221
The Vision of Pure Socialism 221
Socialism’s Incentive Problem . 223
Socialism’s Calculation Problem . 229
16. The Failures of Socialism—History . 239
Economic Theory and History . 239
Communism vs. Fascism 241
Socialism’s Body Count . 242

PART IV: INTERVENTIONISM: THE MIXED ECONOMY
17. Price Controls 255
The Vision of Interventionism . 255
Price Ceilings . 256
Price Floors . 261
18. Sales and Income Taxes 271
Government Spending 271
How Government Finances Its Spending . 275
Sales Taxes 277
Income Taxes 279
19. Tariffs and Quotas . 287
Mercantilism 287
The General Case for Free Trade . 289
Tariffs . 293
Import Quotas . 299
20. The Economics of Drug Prohibition 305
Drug Prohibition . 305
Drug Prohibition Corrupts Government Officials 307
Drug Prohibition Fosters Violence 314
Drug Prohibition Reduces Product Safety 320
Money Inflation vs. Price Inflation . 325
21. Inflation . 325
How Governments Make Prices Rise . 329
The Danger of Government Price Inflation 336
22. Government Debt 345
Government Deficits and Debt 345
Government Debt and Inflation 350
Government Debt and Future Generations 353
23. The Business Cycle 361
The Business Cycle . 361
How Governments Cause the Business Cycle . 363
The Inevitable Bust Following an Artificial Boom 368
The Causes of Mass Unemployment 369
Glossary 377
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