Economic Apocalypse? (Updated)

Robert J. Samuelson’s column in the current issue of Newsweek -”Hold the Hysteria (for now)”- is a helpful counterpoint to the near-incessant drumbeat of doom and gloom from the majority of media coverage on the economy.  A recommended read.

On the topic of economic myths and manipulations, Thomas Sowell’s “Economic Facts and Fallacies” is an excellent inoculation against economic nonsense you can give yourself, and especially to any high school or college-aged adult children.  Highly recommended (along with most anything else by Prof. Sowell).  How many of these myths have you heard, repeated so frequently and fervently that you figure they must be true?  Since politics entered the age of the perpetual campaign, it seems there is seldom a day when we don’t hear or read one or more of these fundamental myths being boldly asserted as a shameful fact that must be immediately addressed (usually with a new government program).  WARNING: Potential side effects include severe cognitive disorientation and collapsed belief in the good faith of liberal teachers, professors, and media.

Addendum:  Walter Williams addresses a specific example of related nonsense- Big Ag and the ethanol fraud- here.