Critical Essay on The Economic Way of Thinking by Paul Heyne
The Economic Way of Thinking is the most well-known work of a popular American lecturer in economics, Paul Heyne. It earned considerably high review from critics and was translated into Russian, Bulgarian, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian and a number of other languages, becoming one of the first textbooks of modern economic theory in a number of post-Soviet states.
This book is generally an introduction to the course of economic theory, explaining in easily understandable, clear way both the basic concepts of economics (supply and demand, comparative advantage, inflation, free rider’s problem, etc.) and more elaborate ideas, placing the topic in exactly correct way to ensure that they go from the simplest to the toughest ones.
The Economic Way of Thinking is imbued with the author’s belief in the principles of free market, which is clearly seen in his explanations of various processes going on in the society, where he repeatedly proves the advantages of the free market and “the invisible head” over any kind of control that can be imposed by the government. Nevertheless, he never expresses his opinion directly – the correct conclusion is always up to the reader to make. It can also be characterized by the examples in which Heyne shows that economic way of thinking is universal and can be applied to any other sphere of human activity, from private life to interstate politics.
In general, this book can be recommended to anyone who wants to start studying economics, because it is hard to imagine a better way to quickly and easily obtain good knowledge and understanding of basic and some advanced concepts of economic theory.
