Economics in One Lesson

Economics in One Lesson is an introduction to free market economics written by Henry Hazlitt and published in 1946, based on Frédéric Bastiat's essay Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas (English: "What is Seen and What is Not Seen").

The "One Lesson" is stated in Part One of the book:

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

Part Two consists of twenty-four chapters, each demonstrating the lesson by tracing the effects of one common economic belief, and showing that common economic belief to be a fallacy.

Among its policy recommendations are the advocacy of free trade, an opposition to any and all price controls, an opposition to monetary inflation, and an opposition to "stimulative" governmental expenditures:

There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly, as might the prodigal son of a warning father: 'In the long run we are all dead.' And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the ripest wisdom.

In a paperback edition in 1961, a new chapter was added on rent control, which had not been specifically considered in the first edition apart from government price-fixing in general. A few statistics and illustrative references were brought up to date.

In 1978, a new edition was released. In addition to bringing all illustrations and statistics up to date, an entirely new chapter on rent control replaced the previous one of 1961, and a final new chapter, "The Lesson After Thirty Years," was added.

The 50th Anniversary edition came out in 1996 from Fox & Wilkes in paperback (ISBN 0930073193) and hardback (ISBN 0930073207)

The Madrid-based Spanish publishing house Unión Editorial, which traditionally publishes books in Spanish language in defense of market economy and liberalism, released La Economía en una lección in 1981, 1996 and 2005.

A German edition, titled Economics. Über Wirtschaft und Misswirtschaft, was first release in 1983 by Poller in Stuttgart. In May 2009, it was reprinted by Olzog.

Called Hazlitt's "most enduring contribution," the book has sold nearly one million copies and is available in at least ten languages.