November 28 marks the 1894 birth of one of American history’s most prolific public intellectuals—Henry Hazlitt. According to Llewellyn Rockwell, Hazlitt “was familiar with the work of every important thinker in nearly every field” and “wrote in every important public forum of his day.” His published work as a journalist, literary critic, philosopher, and economist ran to roughly ten million words before his death in 1993, including perhaps the most popular economics book ever written—Economics in One Lesson (though looking back on that book later, Hazlitt concluded that “so far as the politicians are concerned . . . the lesson . . . does not seem to have been learned anywhere”).
According to Tom Malone, “What set Hazlitt apart from other writers on economics was the incredible clarity of his writing and his ability to make the subject interesting to laymen. He did this by focusing on principles, using practical examples, and writing in a direct and conversational style.” Further, Malone wrote that
When H.L. Mencken selected Hazlitt to succeed him as literary editor at the American Mercury, he called Hazlitt the “only competent critic of the arts that…
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