Quote 3) Frederic Bastiat: Cause and effects
In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them
ht Kimble.
I have not read any Bastiat – so I have very little to say.
An economist who hasn’t read Bastiat is like …
an architect who’s never studied Frank Lloyd Wright;
an educationalist who’s never heard of Maria Montessori;
a literature professor who’s never read Victor Hugo;
a political studies lecturer who’s never studied John Locke…
I grant you it happens. But it shouldn’t. 🙂
Especially when his ‘Economic Sophisms’ and much else besides is online in PDF form.
I’ll have to keep that in mind. I’m in the middle of an economic methodology book at the moment – I’ll have a look at the pdf after that 🙂
Start with the sophisms. They’re like little short stories you can read before bed. 🙂
“They’re like little short stories you can read before bed”
Sounds just like my sort of reading 🙂
If you can sell ideas in short stories, then I believe the ideas have greater merit