On Mar 17, 2009 6:56am, Markus Mottl &lt;markus.mottl@gmail.com&gt; wrote:<br />&gt; As someone else here has already suggested, I encourage everyone that<br />&gt; wishes to learn more about different models of economy to pick up any<br />&gt; reputable, introductory textbook on microeconomics.  It will teach you<br />&gt; that markets, by and large, work well, that they can sometimes fail,<br />&gt; can also fail systematically in certain areas, and that it is<br />&gt; extremely hard to find good solutions for the latter that do not cause<br />&gt; more problems than they solve.  Ideological quick fixes do not exist,<br />&gt; just as the optimal type sytem doesn&#39;t so no more flames please...<br /><br />well said.<br /><br />For those of you ignorant of the basics, i recommend:<br /><br />Basic Economics: A Citizen&#39;s Guide to the Economy<br />by Thomas Sowell.<br />http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0465002609/<br /><br />I read the first edition in the dot come age circa 2000, alone with other books that helped me understand stocks and related financial things. I&#39;ve read Thomas&#39;s book 2 more times in the early 2000s.<br /><br />  Xah<br />∑ http://xahlee.org/<br /><br />☄