Economic Myths and Fallacies

First off, I have three books to recommend:

1. Geoffrey E Wood (2002). "Fifty Economic Fallacies Exposed," Institute of Economic Affairs (UK).
• $32 on Amazon
• £12 from IEA
• free download (.pdf)
2. Hazlitt (1946). "Economics In One Lesson," [various publishers].
   
• $8 on Amazon
• I recommend the updated 1976(?) edition
  
3. Bastiat (1850). "The Law," [various publishers].
   
• $7 on Amazon
• $4 on Amazon
• $6 on Amazon
• $1 on Amazon (Kindle edition)
• free view (HTML)
• free download (.pdf)

Reading List

Trade:

• Russ Roberts (2006:Sep.06). "Half-Empty or Half-Full, Part I," Cafe Hayek.
• Don Boudreaux (2011:Sep.11). "Questions About Imports," Cafe Hayek.
• Don Boudreaux (2011:Nov.14). "Wherein Lies Trade’s Benefits," Cafe Hayek.
• http://cafehayek.com/2012/07/mercantilist-myths-persist.html (Krugman on free trade)

Corporate Income Tax:

• Veronique de Rugy (2011:May 06). "The Facts About the Corporate Income Tax: Separating economic myths from economic truths," Reason.

Manufacturing:

• So many myths and fallacies... it warrants its own page

Percent increase in national debt:

• http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2012/07/partisan-statistic-alert.html

Income Inequality, or "We're worse off than we were before":

• http://reason.com/archives/2011/11/07/the-facts-about-income-inequality
• http://www.coordinationproblem.org/2012/07/what-great-stagnation.html
• http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/11/84-percent-of-americans-are-richer-than

Wages are mostly stagnant:

• http://www.learnliberty.org/videos/real-truth-about-economy-have-wages-stagnated

The Laffer Curve, tax cuts, "paying for tax cuts," tax hikes, and federal revenue:

• http://reason.com/blog/2010/09/17/why-is-everyone-picking-on-the
• http://reason.com/blog/2010/11/29/the-remarkably-stable-amount-o
• http://reason.com/blog/2010/12/14/evil-bush-tax-rates-made-rich
• 50p tax rate 'failing to boost revenues’
  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/9097219/50p-tax-rate-failing-to-boost-revenues.html
• x

Whether tax "cuts" even truly exist:

• http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/23/q-how-can-spending-30-percent

Stimulus:

• Philip Aldrick (2011:Jul.6). "Fiscal stimulus doesn't work, claims Harvard economics professor Robert Barro," The Telegraph (U.K.).

Monopoly & inflation-adjusted prices of goods:

• Don Boudreaux (2011:Jul.12). "Damn Those Innovative and Cost-Cutting Monopolists!" Cafe Hayek.
  
  Related: "Progress: People who once paid $5 to rent one movie they could only watch in a VCR are throwing fits about paying $6 more per month to stream unlimited movies from anywhere." -- Radley Balko (via Facebook, 13 JUL 2011)
  http://www.facebook.com/radley.balko/posts/10150232612297027
  
  Related: Louis C.K. "Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy," Interview with Conan O'Brien.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk
• x
• x
• x

Labor is fungible:

• http://www.thefreemanonline.org/anything-peaceful/labor-is-not-fungible/

Capitalism, in general:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGPa5Ob-5Ps

Robber Barons:

• Sheldon Richman (2012:May 6). "The Myth of America's Laissez-Faire Past: Tariffs, trusts, corporate-state collusion and 'communism of pelf' did not equal free markets," Reason.com
• Chris Edwards (2012:Jun.01). "Corporate Welfare vs. Entrepreneurship," Cato @ Liberty. [first paragraph]
• Anthony Gregory (2012:Jul.24). "Then, Who DID Build It, Mr. President?" Huffington Post.

Railway Barons:

• http://cafehayek.com/2011/09/crony-capitalism-101.html
• Anthony Gregory (2012:Jul.24). "Then, Who DID Build It, Mr. President?" Huffington Post.

Crony Capitalism:

• http://libertylawsite.org/2012/07/26/the-deadwood-of-crony-capitalism/

Economic History, other:

• http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/paul-krugmans-nostalgianomics-economic-policies-social-norms-income-inequality
• http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/eugenics-progressivism%E2%80%99s-ultimate-social-engineering/ 

World War II (WWII) helped get (spend) us out of the Great Depression:

• http://fee.org/articles/great-myths-of-the-great-depression/
• http://www.mackinac.org/4013
• http://www.mackinac.org/1665
• http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/tgif/depression-war-and-recovery/

Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?

• http://cafehayek.com/2011/09/is-social-security-a-ponzi-scheme.html
• http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/09/is-social-security-a-ponzi-scheme.html
• http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13625
• http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6512
• "There is no 20 year period in American history when stocks lost money."
• http://cafehayek.com/2011/09/further-thoughts-on-whether-or-not-social-security-is-ponzi-scheme.html
• http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/2011_09.php#007796
• http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2011/09/paul-samuelson-on-social-security.html
• http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/tgif/ponzi-unmasked/
• http://economics.about.com/b/2011/09/01/on-rick-perry-social-security-and-ponzi-schemes.htm
• http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com/2011/09/fixing-social-security-opposite-day.html
• http://reason.com/blog/2011/09/07/mr-perry-social-security-is-no
• 
  

Other/Misc:

• http://reason.com/archives/2011/08/30/bachmanns-unholy-crusade
• http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13627
• http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/one-simple-reason-and-two-easy-steps-to-show-why-obama’s-soak-the-rich-tax-hikes-won’t-work/
• Actually, the wealthy are taxed more, but...
  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46313519/ns/business-personal_finance/
• http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/11/84-percent-of-americans-are-richer-than
• http://reason.com/archives/2012/07/11/the-real-class-warfare-baby-boomers-vs-y
•