An Introduction to Economic Reasoning

by David Gordon

This high-school text, published May 2000, is aimed at teaching the intelligent young reader how to think about economic problems in a manner consistent with the Austrian School tradition. Its chapters on action, preference, demand and supply, value theory, money, and price controls emphasize deductive logic, the market process, and the failures of government intervention. As the only text of its kind, it is engaging, funny, filled with examples, and never talks down to the student. It is perfect for homeschoolers, but every student, young or old, will benefit from it. Indeed, a student familiar with its contents will be fully prepared to see through the fallacies of the Economics 101 texts used at the college level. Includes a glossary and recommended readings.

Genres: Economics, Philosophy

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

David Gordon is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He holds a PhD in intellectual history from UCLA.

Dr. Gordon is editor of The Mises Review, and has contributed to many journals including analysis, The International Philosophic Quarterly, The Journal of Libertarian Studies, and The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

Reviews

[Suryanarayanan R · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a decent introductory text. That I was able to finish it within 2 days is testament to how much interest it garnered within me. This book strives to put out in clear terms the basic logical foundations of the Austrian School of Economics. And I must say David Gordan has done a pretty good job of that. Unlike Sowell's work on Basic Economics which insidiously tries to indoctrinate one into supporting free-markets, the author here is rather explicit about his ideological leanings (involving snarky comments regarding Marxists), but does not try to force his opinions on you using half-baked examples.

Argumentation (3.5/4) : The clarity of argumentation is a major plus point. The book follows a deductive approach which first lays out the rationale for certain basic axioms and assumptions, and then derives various conclusions based on them. These conclusions form the crux of the major economic principles (Supply-Demand, Declining Marginal Utility) that you are taught in any introductory Economics course.

The arguments also helped me see through a basic fallacy that is often peddled in these introductory courses regarding Marginal Utility. A common example is when you consume more and more cups of tea, the value for you with each cup goes down. But this is fallacious -- i.e. since it assumes that declining utility is based out of declining pleasure gained out of each extra item. This book explains that Declining Marginal Utility means that with more amounts of a good, you put that good to less and less preferred uses. The idea of preference is also well explained.

In the end, despite his ideological preference for free-markets, he explicitly warns us against coming to the conclusion that "government intervention is bad" from the arguments presented in this book regarding price control.

I'd love to revisit parts of this book to work out the nitty-gritties of logic and to gain more clarity on these principles.


Value (3/4) This book reminded me of when I used to pore over my Class 10 Mathematics Textbook, which too dealt with axioms and derivations based on those axioms. On the basis of the argumentation presented in this book, you can get the sort of clarity on basic economic principles you may not get in even a basic economics course in university.


Structure/Writing Style (1/2) : The structure flows well from basic axioms & assumptions to the major economic principles. The snide comments against marxists, and the bad jokes felt a tad bit unnecessary. Some parts are repetitive but the author was aware of that. Some parts involving examples of exchanging apples and oranges are not as clear as the author probably intended them to be.

Total: 7.5/10

[Daniel Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all. This is an introduction, not a comprehensive treatise. And as such it's a very good starter book. Also, more than most introductory economics books, this one really drives home the use of logic, which is nice. Additionally, the questions Gordon scatters strategically throughout the book are very effective at driving home larger points and getting the reader to think through the implications of the concepts.

Although nowhere near a one-stop economics book, I highly recommend this read, along with a few others, to anyone trying to get a grasp of economics.

[محمد هِج‌هاگ · Rating 4 out of 5]

با این کتاب بالاخره پراگزیولوژی‌گری اتریشی رو به صورت عینی دیدم. تا رسیدن به عرضه و تقاضا، کتاب نکته‌های جدیدی برام داشت ولی مطالب فصل‌های بعدی رو قبلا خونده بودم.
گوردون روی بعضی از نکات پیش پا افتاده خیلی خیلی ریز میشه - که البته پراگزولوژی اونو مجبور به این کار میکنه - ولی روی بعضی نکات مهم کم وقت میذاره.
اونجاهایی که گوردون خیلی موشکافی میکنه، به شناخت قبلی منطق نیازه داره. پس اینجور جاها رو بدون آشنایی با منطق به راحتی متوجه نمیشید.
اونجایی که کم‌توجهی میکنه به آشنایی قبلی با اقتصاد نیاز داره. پس این کتاب شروع خوبی برای آشنایی با اقتصاد نیست.
به نظرم در مجموع کتاب خوبی بود اما ای کاش روی نگارش و ویرایش متن کتاب وقت بیشتری صرف شده بود. جمله بندی های گوردون درک متن رو گاهی سخت می‌کنه.
همینطور داخل کتاب شوخی‌های اقتصادی و فلسفی میکنه که گاهی واقعا خنده‌داره. یه جایی یه تیکه ریز به طرفدارهای هرمنوتیک انداخت که تا دو سه دقیقه داشتم می‌خندیدم. اما بیشتر شوخی‌هاش بی‌نمکه. گاهی هم فقط داره مطالب زائد و بی‌ربط میگه. لحن شوخی‌هاش با مارکس، کینز و هیلاری کلینتون رو اصن دوس نداشتم. هدفش این بوده که خوندن کتابش کسل‌کننده نباشه ولی به نظرم اگه آکادمیک تر می‌نوشت، محتوای کتاب حداقل برای من ارزشمندتر میشد.
گوردون در سراسر کتاب بعد از هر بخش سوالاتی می‌پرسه که تو حالت عادی هم واقعا به ذهن مخاطب حواس‌جمع می‌رسه. و البته در ادامه به اون سوال پاسخ میده. این نشون میده که گوردون این مطالب رو بارها تدریس کرده و این سوالات همون سوالاتی هستند که موقع تدریس ازش پرسیده شده.
این کتاب بعضی از سوالات قبلی منو پاسخ داد و البته سوالات جدیدی رو تو ذهنم ایجاد کرد. به خصوص تو مسئله پول که اتریشی ها همیشه باهاش گلاویزند.
خوندن این کتاب رو توصیه می‌کنم. برای شروع جدی مکتب اتریش کتاب خوبیه.

[Susmit Islam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been meaning to get into the Austrian school of economics for a while now to see what the fuss is all about, and this one turned out to be very well-suited for me in that regard given the author is a philosopher. I don't at all agree that this is how econ should be done, for economics must be an empirical science, but nonetheless deriving economic principles using deductive logic only is a refreshing take on the subject. Plus, the book is littered with exercises that really churn your brain. Though the description says it's for high-schoolers, I'd say it'd serve as a decent intro to Austrian econ for just about anybody.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly amazing and unusual textbook, An Introduction to Economic Reasoning by David Gordon finally takes all those economic lessons you studied in high school and university, and makes sense of them.

With a very effective and engaging tinge of comedy in every few pages, Gordon keeps economics interesting and fresh no matter the audience or economic education level of the reader.