Econ in One Lesson, Good and Bad Economists

A few posts ago I mentioned that I would post more from Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson. Well that is what I am doing now. These quotes come from the first chapter, which is called The Lesson. And here is that lesson:

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

Very concise and an idea that would seem simple, and yet so often it is overlooked or forgotten. A page earlier is another great paragraph, in which Hazlitt describes good and bad economists:

The bad economist sees only what immediately strikes the eye; the good economist also looks beyond. The bad economist sees only the direct consequences of a proposed course; the good economist looks also at the longer and indirect consequences. The bad economist sees only what the effect of a given policy has been or will be on one particular group; the good economist inquires also what the effect of the policy will be on all groups.