A thought provoking book that gets just a bit tedious at times. Still a good book that I am glad I read. After the introduction and first chapter or two you could just choose the topics in which you have the most interest. I especially enjoyed the gun control and housing sections. The book explores the unintended or "stage two" or "stage three" consequences of political responses to problems and how those consequences aren't realized for years. By then the consequences are frequently blamed on something else.

The economic topics have been presented well and with simplicity,but in some instances very simple analysis have complicated by the author.

I know people think economics is a boring topic, and it can be. So can anything if it's not well presented. But one of the reasons I'm an economics junkie is that, when it's presented well, it's also a history lesson. But it's not just what happened but *why* it happened. Because fundamentally economics is the study of incentives. It's "people did this because this situation made it appealing." And then economists look at history and, yup, over and over, from one time and place to the next, when the government did A, B followed because, regardless of their intent, they had incentivized the people to do B. That's what I love about economics.

In this book, Sowell talks about something else that frustrates me: people's inability to think beyond stage one. Thinking beyond stage one is what I was taught as critical thinking. There's not a lot of critical thinking done in politics which is why it's so important for people to learn how to do it. We need to know when we're being sold B.S. We need to reason out that it is B.S. for ourselves. So if you want to learn how to think critically, or you just like history, this is a great book for that.

The title would have you believe this would be a more thorough-going followup to Sowell's fantastic "Basic Economics", with a greater emphasis on practical, real-world problems and proffered solutions evaluated by empirical analyses. That is not the case. "Applied Economics" treads a lot of familiar ground for those acquainted with Sowell and makes many of the same arguments found in Basic Economics, only from a more obviously biased perspective. The level of research in the material covered is as usual serviceable, but the general tone is more indoctrinating than illuminating. Anyone who has read the classic "Basic Economics" and is looking for more challenging material will not find it here. This is the fourth Sowell book I've read and is bar none the most disappointing.

Thomas Sowell is a great explainer of his ideas and theories in simple terms and therefore this book is a good example of that. I was hoping for more specific real world examples or scenarios and explaining the stage 2 view, the book felt more like explaining some economic theory instead. Despite that I still enjoyed and it did get my brain thinking which is the sign of a good book.

Easy to follow and understand arguments for a number of 'conservative' policies. Found this book refreshing in the sense that there was intellectual rigor behind (most) arguments, although facts and data points appeared to be cherry-picked (counterpoints to his arguments were rarely provided, if at all).

I wish to move away from 'talking past' one another (in Sowell's words) as so often happens from both sides of the aisle and back to discussing the data-driven efficacy of specific policy.

Had to re-read this for a class, and it’s still excellent.

This is a terrific little book. It takes a look at important economic issues not just from first order results but 2nd and third order results as well. These are often much different, larger and much longer lasting. Sowell's reasoning is always deep and well grounded in factual information. This isn't a fun to read book, but there is much satisfaction to be had as you begin to understand at a much more comprehensive level how the world around you works.

The conclusions drawn here are almost all contrary to popular thought because they are not based on what will get me elected in the next year but what is good for the people and the country. A first class book by a first order economic thinker. Highly recommended.

Fascinating book, very interesting but very depressing when considering the inability of politicians and most people to look beyond their immediate benefit.

Sowell is always a great read, I'm impressed with his ability to think and to write. Stage one thinking is the immediate ramifications of a policy, the reason it is so important to think beyond that is because everything beyond stage one is the reality we will live with when a policy is implemented.

I will use information from this book in everyday life, it has shown me factual evidence for scenarios I see day to day. The theme of this book is in its title, and it is interesting how thinking beyond stage one is an efficient tool when making decisions. Yet, from the state of things, we all must be forgetting such a truth.

Our posterity will look back and wonder how did we get such superior people as a Thomas Sowell and manage to fritter away their wisdom so completely.