John Stossel has some gift ideas for the holiday season. First, there's The Road to Serfdom. In it, Friedrich Hayek explains why government intervention in the economy leads to serfdom. He explains why no central planner can allocate resources as well as individuals can. Stossel says this is a great book for your socialist friends—if they are willing to read it. They might not be, Stossel says, because the language is old. Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics is more current. Sowell explains that trade is not a zero-sum game—it's not as if one country wins and another loses. Both sides benefit. Stossel suggests that someone should give Sowell's book to our President. Another myth-busting book is The Myth of the Robber Barons. Historian Burton Folsom explains that Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller didn't get rich by robbing people. They got rich by creating better things. Another good book that covers basic economics is Free to Choose, by Milton and Rose Friedman. Stossel also briefly mentions a bonus book by a former clueless, lefty, big-government loving reporter who finally woke up to the benefits of markets. That book is Give Me a Break. Prefer fiction? Stossel recommends two classics, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and Animal Farm, by George Orwell. Any of these books, Stossel says, would make a great Christmas gift.
