Economics in One Lesson

Hazlitt asserts that there are two central economic beliefs that separate the good economists from the bad: pursuing selfish interests (that is, pursuing the interests of a single group while overlooking the consequences those interests might have on other groups) and pursuing short-term goals while overlooking secondary or long-term consequences. This is the “one lesson” of Economics in One Lesson.

Hazlitt believes that many of the economic claims of his time can be traced back to this one fundamental lesson. Hazlitt says it is true that Classical economists like himself can, at times, fall into the trap of considering only long-term goals, which is also detrimental to the community as a whole by trivializing their immediate concerns. However, he believes that this issue is much less prominent nowadays due to the decline of this school of thought. It remains present only within professional circles and has not been reprised by politicians or journalists.

New economists, whose purpose is to revise classical economic theories and whose ideas are the most welcome among influential circles in America in Hazlitt’s time, tend to ignore long-term effects and, he argues, push for the selfish interest of a particular group at the expense of considering the larger community.