DESC: This accessible but learned primer is for those who want to know more about the major economic systems--such as feudalism, socialism, fascism, and capitalism--which we have all heard of but which often remain cloudy in our minds. By making the distinctions more clear, and by focusing on the concept of incentives, Thomas Sowell underscores how government, society, and the individual citizen interrelate in a participatory democracy. He draws his examples from real world issues such as rent control, and explains difficult topics such as how corporations and world economies work. Sowell is a noted conservative thinker and public intellectual whose many books cover a range of topics on social issues.