FREEDOM
Free-market textbook economics should have been thrown out years ago and replaced with something better, not only because it is based totally on lies, but because it has been used by media people, intellectuals, and politicians to screw individuals, businesses, and nations for 250 years.
Four Facts Change Everything: How Non-Stupid Economics Can Increase Incomes, Profits, and The Wealth of Nations exposes the lies and shows how fact-based economics can create more wealth not only for nations, but for people.
It is based on facts even a child can see are true.
And it can change the lives of everyone.
Of course, just as the economy affects everyone and everything, so does economics in the hands of politicians.
Some politicians tell economic stories that appeal to voters who believe freedom comes from having a smaller government.
Others tell stories aimed at voters who believe freedom comes from having a big pile of money.
And just to be clear, this is a bigger pile of money book.
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Dennis Paulaha
When someone asked Dr. Paulaha why they should read Four Facts Change Everything, he said, "It goes back to when we were kids.
"We all grew up with The Little Engine That Could story. It's one of the most famous children’s books of all time.
"But I don't think it's the smartest.
"A smarter one is The Little Blue Engine by Shel Silverstein.
"A little blue engine, after thinking it can chug up a big hill, falls back and is 'mashed into engine hash on the rocks below'.
"The last sentence is: 'If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain’t enough.'
"So Four Facts Change Everything is a Little Blue Engine book.
"Whether it's children making children’s choices, or adults making personal, investment, business, or policy decisions, the truth is, sometimes it helps to know things.
"Especially when the personal or financial stakes are high.
"When it comes to the economy and economics, investors and businesspeople with millions or billions of dollars on the table have a choice. They can make decisions based on the political dogma they choose to accept. Or they can focus on facts and leave the political dogma in the woods with their like-minded friends who spent the weekend banging on drums and repeating what they have been told about taxes, inflation, money, interest rates, and the Federal Reserve by the politicians they like and the media outlets they prefer.
"In the end, it doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent, the Federal Reserve does what it does, money is created the way money is created, interest rates are controlled in explainable and predictable ways, no one is printing money and giving it to people to spend, smart tariffs saved Harley Davidson years ago, bad tariffs can hurt economic growth, trickle down economics shifts wealth from the middle class to the very rich, there is no evidence to support the idea that supply side tax cuts create jobs, hyperinflation in the United States is a fairy tale, price gouging is real, and all that is just the beginning of what you should know to not be taken in by media experts, companies, and politicians who use scary stories to get your attention, your money, or your vote."
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As a college and university professor, Dr. Paulaha taught macroeconomic and microeconomic theory at the principles, intermediate, advanced, and graduate level, monetary theory and policy, environmental economics, and special issues courses.
In the real world, he wrote economic-investment newsletters and was vice president of research for a national brokerage company.
He has BS and MA degrees in economics from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in economics from the University of Washington.