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Thomas Sowell (; born June 30, 1930) is an American author, economist, political commentator and academic who is a
senior fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
at the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement and is considered one of the most influential black conservatives. He was a recipient of the
National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the huma ...
from
President George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
in 2002. Sowell was born in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina, to a poor family, and grew up in Harlem, New York City. Due to poverty and difficulties at home, he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School and worked various odd jobs, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Afterward he took night classes at Howard University and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' in 1958. He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968 under his mentor Milton Friedman. In his academic career, he has served on the faculties of
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
,
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pr ...
, the University of California, Los Angeles, and, currently, Stanford University. He has also worked at think tanks including the Urban Institute. Since 1977, he has worked at the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
at Stanford University, where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy. Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist
Walter E. Williams Walter Edward Williams (March 31, 1936December 1, 2020) was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist a ...
and U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1991 ...
. He was offered a position as
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
er in the
Ford administration Gerald Ford's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon from office, and ended on January 20, 1977, a period of days. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had served as ...
, and was considered for posts including
U.S. Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities rel ...
in the Reagan administration, but declined both times. Sowell is the author of more than 45 books (including revised and new editions) on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he has been a
syndicated columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...
in more than 150 newspapers. His views are described as conservative, especially on social issues; libertarian, especially on economics; or libertarian-conservative. He has said he may be best labelled as a libertarian, though he disagrees with libertarians on some issues, such as national defense.


Early life

Sowell was born in 1930 into a poor family in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina. His father died shortly before he was born, leaving behind Sowell's mother, a housemaid who already had four children. A
great-aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refe ...
and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell and raised him. His mother died a few years later of complications while giving birth to another child. In his
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
, ''A Personal Odyssey,'' Sowell wrote that his childhood encounters with white people were so limited that he did not know
blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
was a hair color. He recalls that his first memories were living in a small wooden house in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, which he says was typical of most Black neighborhoods. It was located on an unpaved street and had no electricity or running water. When Sowell was nine years old, he and his extended family moved from
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, to Harlem, New York City, for greater opportunities, joining in the large-scale trend of African-American migration from the
American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
to the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
. Family quarrels forced him and his aunt to room in other people's apartments. He qualified for Stuyvesant High School, a prestigious academic high school in New York City; he was the first in his family to study beyond the sixth grade. However, he was forced to drop out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and family quarreling. He worked a number of odd jobs, including long hours at a machine shop, and as a
delivery man Delivery is the process of transporting goods from a source location to a predefined destination. Cargo (physical goods) is primarily delivered via roads and railroads on land, shipping lanes on the sea, and airline networks in the air. Cer ...
for Western Union. He also tried out for the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califor ...
in 1948. Sowell was drafted into the armed services in 1951 during the Korean War and was assigned to the
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...
. Although Sowell opposed the war and experienced racial discrimination, he was able to find fulfillment as a photographer, which eventually became his favorite hobby. He was
honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...
in 1952.


Higher education and early career

After leaving military service, Sowell completed high school, took a
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
job in Washington, DC, and attended night classes at Howard University, a
historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
. His high scores on the
College Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs ...
exams and recommendations by two professors helped him gain admission to Harvard University, where he graduated ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He earned a master's degree from Columbia University the following year. Sowell had initially chosen Columbia University to study under
George Stigler George Joseph Stigler (; January 17, 1911 – December 1, 1991) was an American economist. He was the 1982 laureate in Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is considered a key leader of the Chicago school of economics. Early life and e ...
, who would later receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, but when he learned that Stigler had moved to the University of Chicago, he followed him there and, when he arrived in the fall of 1959, studied for his Doctor of Philosophy degree under both Stigler and Milton Friedman. Sowell has said that he was a Marxist "during the decade of my 20s"; accordingly, one of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. Marxist–Leninist practice. What began to change his mind toward supporting
free market economics Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procur ...
, he said, was studying the possible impact of
minimum wages A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
on unemployment of sugar industry workers in Puerto Rico, as a U.S. Department of Labor intern. Workers at the department were surprised by his questioning, he said, and he concluded that "they certainly weren't going to engage in any scrutiny of the law". Sowell ultimately received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. His dissertation was titled " Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy".


Academic career

From 1965 to 1969, Sowell was an
assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...
of economics at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
. Writing 30 years later about the 1969 seizure of
Willard Straight Hall Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and Cornell Health. Background The construction of Willard Straight Hal ...
by black students at Cornell, Sowell characterized the students as "
hoodlum A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft. Early use The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...
s" with "serious academic problems
ho were Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri Mo ...
admitted under lower academic standards", and noted "it so happens that the pervasive racism that black students supposedly encountered at every turn on campus and in town was not apparent to me during the four years that I taught at Cornell and lived in
Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...
." Sowell has taught economics at Howard University,
Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
, Cornell,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pr ...
,
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
, and the University of California, Los Angeles. At Howard, Sowell wrote, he was offered the position as head of the economic department, but he declined. Since 1980, he has been a
Senior Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman, his mentor. The Hoover appointment, because it did not involve teaching, gave him more time for his numerous writings. In addition, Sowell appeared several times on
William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
's show '' Firing Line'', during which he discussed the economics of race and privatization. Sowell has written that he gradually lost faith in the academic system, citing low academic standards and counterproductive university bureaucracy, and he resolved to leave teaching after his time at the University of California, Los Angeles. In ''A Personal Odyssey'', he recounts, "I had come to Amherst, basically, to find reasons to continue teaching. What I found instead were more reasons to abandon an academic career.” Sowell was offered a position in the Nixon administration and a position as
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
er by the
Ford administration Gerald Ford's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon from office, and ended on January 20, 1977, a period of days. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had served as ...
in 1976. He declined the offers. Similarly, he was offered the post of United States Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan, but declined. In 1980, after Reagan's election, Sowell and Henry Lucas organized the Black Alternatives Conference to bring together black and white conservatives; one attendee was a young
Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1991 ...
, then a congressional aide. Sowell was appointed as a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Committee of the Reagan administration, but resigned after the first meeting, disliking travel from the West Coast and lengthy discussions in Washington; of his decision to resign, Sowell cited "the opinion (and the example) of Milton Friedman, that some individuals can contribute more by staying out of government". In 1987, Sowell testified in favor of federal appeals court judge Robert Bork during the hearings for Bork's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In his testimony, Sowell said that Bork was "the most highly qualified nominee of this generation" and that what he viewed as judicial activism, a concept that Bork opposed as a self-described originalist and
textualist Textualism is a formalist theory in which the interpretation of the law is primarily based on the ordinary meaning of the legal text, where no consideration is given to non-textual sources, such as intention of the law when passed, the ...
, "has not been beneficial to minorities." In a review of Sowell's 1987 book, '' A Conflict of Visions'', Larry D. Nachman in ''
Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...
'' magazine described Sowell as a leading representative of the
Chicago school of economics The Chicago school of economics is a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago, some of whom have constructed and popularized its principles. Milton Friedman and George Stigl ...
.


Writings and thought

Themes of Sowell's writing range from social policy on
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, ethnic groups, education, and decision-making, to classical and
Marxian economics Marxian economics, or the Marxian school of economics, is a heterodox school of political economic thought. Its foundations can be traced back to Karl Marx's critique of political economy. However, unlike critics of political economy, Marxian ...
, to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities. Sowell had a nationally syndicated column distributed by
Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few su ...
that was published in '' Forbes'' magazine, '' National Review'', '' The Wall Street Journal'', ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'', '' The New York Post'', and other major newspapers, as well as online on websites such as '' RealClearPolitics'', '' Townhall'', ''
WorldNetDaily ''WND'' (formerly ''WorldNetDaily'') is an American far-right fake news website. It is known for promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories, including the false claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. T ...
'', and the '' Jewish World Review''. Sowell commented on current issues, which include
liberal media bias Media bias is the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of many events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of ...
; judicial activism and originalism;
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
; minimum wage;
universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
; the tension between government policies, programs, and protections and familial
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
; affirmative action; government
bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
; gun control;
militancy The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
in
U.S. foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...
; the war on drugs; multiculturalism;
mob rule Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majo ...
and the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade''. According to ''
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education ''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'' is a former academic journal, now an online magazine, for African Americans working in academia in the United States. The journal was established as a quarterly in 1993 by Theodore Cross, a "champi ...
'', Sowell was the most cited black economist between 1991 and 1995, and second most cited between 1971 and 1990. He was a frequent guest on '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', in conversations with Walter E. Williams, who was a substitute host for Limbaugh. On December 27, 2016, Sowell announced the end of his syndicated column, writing that, at age 86, "the question is not why I am quitting, but why I kept at it so long," and cited a desire to focus on his photography hobby. A documentary detailing his career entitled "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World" was released on January 25, 2021, by the Free to Choose Network.


Economic and political ideology

Until the Spring of 1972, Sowell was a registered Democrat, after which he then left the Democratic Party and resolved not to associate with any political party again, stating "I was so disgusted with both candidates that I didn't vote at all." Though he is often described as a black conservative, Sowell said, "I prefer not to have labels, but I suspect that ' libertarian' would suit me better than many others, although I disagree with the libertarian movement on a number of things." He has been described as one of the most prominent advocates of contemporary classical liberalism along with
Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...
and
Larry Arnhart Larry Arnhart (born January 13, 1949) is a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Arnhart has been described as one of the most promin ...
. Sowell primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...
approach to
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private pr ...
. Sowell opposes the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after ...
, arguing that it has been unsuccessful in preventing economic depressions and limiting inflation. Sowell described his study of Karl Marx in his autobiography; as a former Marxist who early in his career became disillusioned with it, he emphatically opposes Marxism, providing a
critique Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgment, Rodolphe Gasché (2007''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy' ...
in his book ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics'' (1985). Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on ideologies and political positions, including '' A Conflict of Visions'', in which he speaks on the origins of political strife; ''
The Vision of the Anointed ''The Vision of the Anointed'' (1995) is a book by economist and political columnist Thomas Sowell which brands ''the anointed'' as promoters of a worldview concocted out of fantasy impervious to any real-world considerations. Sowell asserts that ...
'', in which he compares the
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
/ libertarian and
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...
/
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...
worldviews; and ''The Quest for Cosmic Justice'', in which, as in many of his other writings, he outlines his thesis of the need felt by intellectuals, politicians, and leaders to fix and perfect the world in utopian and ultimately, he posits, disastrous fashions. Separate from the trilogy, but also in discussion of the subject, he wrote ''
Intellectuals and Society ''Intellectuals and Society'' is a non-fiction book by Thomas Sowell. The book was initially published on January 5, 2010 by Basic Books. Intellectuals are defined as "idea workers" that exercise profound influence on policy makers and public op ...
'', building on his earlier work, in which he discusses what he argues to be the blind
hubris Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...
and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas. His book ''
Knowledge and Decisions ''Knowledge and Decisions'' is a non-fiction book by American economist Thomas Sowell. The book was initially published in 1980 by Basic Books and reissued in 1996. Sowell analyzes social and economic knowledge and how it is transmitted through ...
'', a winner of the 1980 Law and Economics Center Prize, was heralded as a "landmark work," selected for this prize "because of its cogent contribution to our understanding of the differences between the market process and the process of government." In announcing the award, the centre acclaimed Sowell, whose "contribution to our understanding of the process of regulation alone would make the book important, but in reemphasizing the diversity and efficiency that the market makes possible, iswork goes deeper and becomes even more significant."
Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...
wrote: "In a wholly original manner owellsucceeds in translating abstract and theoretical argument into highly concrete and realistic discussion of the central problems of contemporary economic policy." Sowell opposes the imposition of minimum wages by governments, arguing in his book ''Basic Economics'' that "Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they either lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force." He goes further to argue that minimum wages disproportionately affect "members of racial or ethnic minority groups" that have been discriminated against. He asserts that "Before federal minimum wage laws were instituted in the 1930s, the black unemployment rate was slightly lower than the white unemployment rate in 1930. But then followed the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 – all of which imposed government-mandated minimum wages, either on a particular sector or more broadly... By 1954, black unemployment rates were double those of whites and have continued to be at that level or higher. Those particularly hard hit by the resulting unemployment have been black teenage males." Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs. He opposes gun control laws, arguing, "On net balance, they do not save lives, but cost lives."


Race and ethnicity

Sowell has supported
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
political positions on race, and is known for caustic, sarcastic criticism of
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...
black civil rights figures. Sowell has argued that
systemic racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healt ...
is an untested, questionable hypothesis, writing, "I don't think even the people who use it have any clear idea what they're saying", and compared it to propaganda tactics used by
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 194 ...
because if it is "repeated long enough and loud enough", people "cave in" to it. In several of his works—including ''The Economics and Politics of Race'' (1983), ''Ethnic America'' (1981), '' Affirmative Action Around the World'' (2004), and other books—Sowell challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies. He claims that many problems identified with blacks in modern society are not unique, neither in terms of American ethnic groups, nor in terms of a rural
proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
struggling with disruption as it became urbanized, as discussed in his ''
Black Rednecks and White Liberals ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'' is a collection of six essays by Thomas Sowell. The collection, published in 2005, explores various aspects of race and culture, both in the United States and abroad. The first essay, the book's namesake, tra ...
'' (2005). He is critical of affirmative action and race-based quotas. He takes strong issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite. In ''Affirmative Action Around the World'', Sowell holds that affirmative action affects more groups than is commonly understood, though its impacts occur through different mechanisms, and has long since ceased to favor blacks. In ''Intellectuals and Race'' (2013), Sowell argues that
intelligence quotient An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenz ...
(IQ) gaps are hardly startling or unusual between, or within, ethnic groups. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black–white IQ scores is similar to that between the national average and the scores of certain ethnic white groups in years past, in periods when the nation was absorbing new immigrants.


Late-talking and the Einstein syndrome

Sowell wrote ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late'', a follow-up to his ''Late-Talking Children'', discussing a condition he termed the '' Einstein syndrome''. This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently
misdiagnose A medical error is a preventable adverse effect of care ("iatrogenesis"), whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, i ...
d with
autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
or pervasive developmental disorder. He includes the research of Stephen Camarata and
Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...
, among others, in this overview of a poorly understood developmental trait. It is a trait which he says affected many historical figures who developed prominent careers, such as
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
s
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
,
Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care fo ...
, and
Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfl ...
; mathematician Julia Robinson; and musicians
Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.
and
Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...
. He makes the case for the theory that some children develop unevenly ( asynchronous development) for a period in childhood due to rapid and extraordinary development in the analytical functions of the brain. This may temporarily "rob resources" from neighboring functions such as language development. Sowell disagrees with
Simon Baron-Cohen Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of ...
's speculation that Einstein may have had
Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavi ...
.


Politics

In a 2009 column titled "The Bush Legacy", Sowell assessed President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
as "a mixed bag" but "an honorable man." Sowell was strongly critical of Republican
presidential nominee In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention (a ...
Donald Trump and begrudgingly endorsed
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas fro ...
in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, criticizing him as well, and stating that "we can only make our choices among those actually available". Sowell indicated that he would vote in the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, due to fears about the appointments Clinton would possibly make to the Supreme Court. In 2018, he named
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
,
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge as presidents he liked. In 2020, Sowell wrote that if the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: ** ...
, it could signal a point of no return for the United States, a tipping point akin to the
fall of the Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its v ...
. In an interview in July 2020, he stated that "the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
overcame many problems in its long history but eventually it reached a point where it could no longer continue, and much of that was from within, not just the barbarians attacking from outside." Sowell wrote that if Biden became president, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...
would have an enormous amount of control over the nation, and if this happened, they could twin with the "radical left" and ideas such as defunding the police could come to fruition.


Donald Trump

During the Republican primary of the 2016 presidential election, Sowell criticized Donald Trump, questioning whether Trump had "any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump?" Two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Sowell recommended voters to vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton. In 2018, when asked on his thoughts of Trump's presidency, Sowell replied, "I think he's better than the previous president."Malagisi, Christopher, host. 23 April 2018.
Interview with the Legendary Thomas Sowell: His New Book, His Legacy, and What He Thinks of Trump and the Future of America
(podcast). Ep. 5 in ''The Conservative Book Club Podcast''. US: The Conservative Book Club.
During interviews in 2019, Sowell defended Trump against charges of racism.


Education

Sowell has written about education throughout his career. He has argued for the need for reform of the school system in the United States. In his latest book, '' Charter Schools and Their Enemies'' (2020), Sowell compares the educational outcomes of school children educated at
charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...
with those at conventional public schools. In his research, Sowell first explains the need and his methodology for choosing comparable students—both ethnically and socioeconomically—before listing his findings. He presents the case that charter schools on the whole do significantly better in terms of educational outcomes than conventional schools. Sowell argues that many U.S. schools are failing children; contends that "indoctrination" has taken the place of proper education; and argues that teachers' unions have promoted harmful education policies. Sowell contends that many schools have become monopolies for educational bureaucracies. In his book ''Education: Assumptions Versus History'' (1986), Sowell analyzes the state of education in U.S. schools and universities. In particular, he examines the experiences of blacks and other ethnic groups in the American education system and identifies the factors and patterns behind both success and failure.


Reception

Classical liberals, libertarians, and
conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
of different disciplines have received Sowell's work positively. Among these, he has been noted for originality, depth and breadth, clarity of expression, and thoroughness of research. Sowell's publications have been received positively by economists
Steven Plaut Steven Plaut (1951 – January 17, 2017) was an Israeli economist, academic and writer. He was an associate professor of Business Administration at the University of Haifa as well as a member of the editorial board of the ''Middle East Quarterly'' ...
, Steve H. Hanke James M. Buchanan; and
John B. Taylor John Brian Taylor (born December 8, 1946) is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He taught at Columbia Univer ...
; philosophers Carl Cohen and
Tibor Machan Tibor Richard Machan (; 18 March 1939 – 24 March 2016) was a Hungarian-American philosopher. A professor emeritus in the department of philosophy at Auburn University, Machan held the R. C. Hoiles Chair of Business Ethics and Free Enterpris ...
; science historian Michael Shermer; essayist Gerald Early;
political scientists This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study political theory. See also political science. A * Robert Abelson - Yale University psychologist and political scientist with special int ...
Abigail Thernstrom Abigail Thernstrom (September 14, 1936 – April 10, 2020) was an American political scientist and a leading conservative scholar on race relations, voting rights and education. She was an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, ...
and
Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to: Politicians *Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer * Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat * Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scot ...
; psychologists
Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...
and
Jonathan Haidt Jonathan David Haidt (; born October 19, 1963) is an American social psychologist and author. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business. His main areas of study are the psychology of ...
; Josef Joffe, publisher and editor of '' Die Zeit''; and
Walter E. Williams Walter Edward Williams (March 31, 1936December 1, 2020) was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist a ...
, professor of economics at George Mason University.
Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
, in a 2015
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
, stated that "it’s a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books." Economist
James B. Stewart James Bennett Stewart (born c. 1952) is an American lawyer, journalist, and author. Early life and education Stewart was born in Quincy, Illinois. He graduated from DePauw University and Harvard Law School. Career He is a member of the Bar of ...
wrote a critical review of ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'', calling it "the latest salvo in Thomas Sowell's continuing crusade to represent allegedly dysfunctional value orientations and behavioral characteristics of African Americans as the principal reasons for persistent economic and social disparities." He also criticized it for downplaying the impact of slavery. Particularly in black communities in the 1980s Sowell became, in historian Michael Ondaatje's words, "persona non grata, someone known to talk ''about'', rather than with, African Americans". Economist Bernadette Chachere, law professor Richard Thompson Ford, and sociologists William Julius Wilson and Richard Coughlin have criticized some of his work. Criticisms include neglecting discrimination against women in the workforce in ''Rhetoric or Reality?'', the methodology of ''Race and Culture: A World View'', and portrayal of opposing theories in ''Intellectuals and Race''. Economist
Jennifer Doleac Jennifer Doleac is an American economist and associate professor at Texas A&M. She also directs the Justice Tech Lab, hosts the Probable Causation podcast, is a research affiliate of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, and serves on the board ...
criticized ''Discrimination and Disparities'', arguing that statistical discrimination is real and pervasive (Sowell argues that existing racial disparities are due to accurate sorting based on underlying characteristics, such as education) and that government intervention can achieve societal goals and make markets work more efficiently. Columnist
Steven Pearlstein Steven Pearlstein is an American columnist who wrote on business and the economy in a column published twice weekly in '' The Washington Post''. His tenure at the WaPo ended on March 3, 2021. Pearlstein received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Commen ...
criticized ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics''.


Personal life

Previously married to Alma Jean Parr from 1964 to 1975, Sowell married Mary Ash in 1981. He has two children.


Legacy and honors

* 1982: the Mencken Award for Best Book, from the Free Press Association, for his ''Ethnic America: A History''. * 1990: the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the
American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
. * 1998: the Sydney Hook Award, from the
National Association of Scholars The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is an American non-profit politically conservative advocacy organization, with a particular interest in education. It opposes a perceived political correctness on college campuses and supports a return ...
. *1998: elected membership to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. * 2002: the
National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the huma ...
, presented by President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science. * 2003: the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement. * 2004: the Lysander Spooner Award, presented by
Laissez Faire Books Laissez Faire Books (LFB) was an online bookseller originally based in New York City when it first opened in 1972. From 1982 until 2007, Laissez Faire Books operated as a division of two separate non-profit corporations, the Center for Independe ...
, for his '' Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One''. * 2008: the International Book Award, from getAbstract, for his book ''Economic Facts and Fallacies''.


Career chronology

* Labor economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961 – August 1962 * Instructor in economics, Douglass College,
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, September 1962 – June 1963 * Lecturer in economics, Howard University, September 1963 – June 1964 *
Economic analyst An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
, American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964 – August 1965 * Assistant professor of economics,
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
, September 1965 – August 1969 * Associate professor of economics,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pr ...
, September 1969 – June 1970 * Associate professor of economics, University of California, Los Angeles, September 1970 – June 1972 * Project director, Urban Institute, August 1972 – July 1974 * Fellow,
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social and ...
, July 1976 – March 1977 *
Visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
of economics,
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
, September–December 1977 * Fellow,
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
, Stanford University, April–August 1977 * Professor of economics,
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, July 1974 – June 1980 * Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, September 1980–present


Bibliography


Books

* 1971. ''Economics: Analysis and Issues''. Scott Foresman & Co. * 1972. ''Black Education: Myths and Tragedies''. David McKay Co. . . * 1972. ''Say's Law: An Historical Analysis''. Princeton University Press. . * 1974. ''Classical Economics Reconsidered''. Princeton University Press. . * 1975. '' Race and Economics''. David McKay Co. . * 1980. ''
Knowledge and Decisions ''Knowledge and Decisions'' is a non-fiction book by American economist Thomas Sowell. The book was initially published in 1980 by Basic Books and reissued in 1996. Sowell analyzes social and economic knowledge and how it is transmitted through ...
''.
Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. ...
. . * 1981. ''Ethnic America: A History'' . Basic Books. . ** Chapter 1,
The American Mosaic
." * 1981. ''Markets and Minorities''. Basic Books. . * 1981. ''Pink and Brown People: and Other Controversial Essays'' .
Hoover Press The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes Economic liberty, personal and economic liberty, Free ...
. . * 1983. ''The Economics and Politics of Race''. William Morrow. . * 1984. ''Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?'' William Morrow. . * 1985. ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics''. Quill. . * 1986. ''Education: Assumptions Versus History''. Hoover Press. . * 1987. '' A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles'' . William Morrow. . * 1987. ''Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays''. William Morrow. . * 1990. ''Preferential Policies: An International Perspective''. * 1993. '' Inside American Education''. New York: The Free Press. . * 1993. ''Is Reality Optional?: and Other Essays''. Hoover. . * 1995. ''Race and Culture: A World View''. . * 1995. '' The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy''. Basic Books. . * 1996. ''Migrations and Cultures: A World View''. . . * 1998. ''Conquests and Cultures: An International History''. . * 1998. ''Late-Talking Children''. . * 1999. ''The Quest for Cosmic Justice'' . . * 2000. ''A Personal Odyssey''. . * 2000. ''Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy'' (1st ed.) . Basic Books. . * 2002. ''Controversial Essays''. Hoover. . * 2002. ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late''. . * 2003. '' Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One''. . * 2004. '' Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study'' . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press . . * 2004. ''Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy'' (revised and expanded ed.). New York: Basic Books. * 2005. ''
Black Rednecks and White Liberals ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'' is a collection of six essays by Thomas Sowell. The collection, published in 2005, explores various aspects of race and culture, both in the United States and abroad. The first essay, the book's namesake, tra ...
''. San Francisco:
Encounter Books Encounter Books is a book publisher in the United States known for publishing conservative authors. It was named for ''Encounter'', the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and Stephen Spender.
. . * 2006. ''Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays'' . Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. . . . * 2006. ''On Classical Economics''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. .Berdell, John. 2007.
On Classical Economics
(review). ''EH.net''. Economic History Association.
* 2007. ''A Man of Letters''. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books. . * 2007. ''Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy'' (3rd ed.). Cambridge, MA:
Perseus Books Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...
. . . * 2008. ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One'' (2nd ed.). Basic Books. . . * 2008. ''Economic Facts and Fallacies'' . Basic Books. . . . * 2009. '' The Housing Boom and Bust''. Basic Books. . ** Chapter 5,
The Past and the Future
" * 2010. ''Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy'' (4th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. . * 2010. ''Dismantling America: and Other Controversial Essays''. Basic Books. . . * 2010. ''
Intellectuals and Society ''Intellectuals and Society'' is a non-fiction book by Thomas Sowell. The book was initially published on January 5, 2010 by Basic Books. Intellectuals are defined as "idea workers" that exercise profound influence on policy makers and public op ...
'' . Basic Books.
Lay summary
. * 2011. ''The Thomas Sowell Reader''. Basic Books. . * 2011. ''Economic Facts and Fallacies, 2nd edition''. Basic Books. * 2013. ''Intellectuals and Race''. Basic Books. . * 2014. '' Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy'' (5th ed.). New York: Basic Books. . * 2015. '' Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective''. * 2016. ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective'' (2nd ed.). . * 2018. ''Discrimination and Disparities''. . * 2019. ''Discrimination and Disparities'' (revised, enlarged ed.) . * 2020. '' Charter Schools and Their Enemies''. .


Selected essays

* * 1975.
Affirmative Action Reconsidered. Was It Necessary in Academia?
(''Evaluation Studies'' 27). Washington, DC:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
. . . * 1979.
Status versus Behavior
" ''
Washington University Law Review The ''Washington University Law Review'' is a bimonthly law review published by students at Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis ...
'' 1979(1):179–188. * 1982.
Weber and Bakke, and the Presuppositions of 'Affirmative Action'
" pp. 37–63 in ''Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Equal Opportunity: An Economic and Social Perspective'', edited by W. E. Block and M. A. Walker.
Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, ...
. . * 2002.
The Education of Minority Children
" pp. 79–92 in ''Education in the Twenty-First Century,'' edited by E. P. Lazear. Stanford, CA:
Hoover Institution Press The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

Available via eText
* 2002.
Discrimination, Economics, and Culture
" pp. 167–180 in ''Beyond the Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America'', edited by A. Thernstrom and S. Thernstrom. Hoover Institution Press. * 2012.
'Trickle Down' Theory and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich'
(''Hoover Institution Press Publication'' 635) Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. .
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

EY3prsH-5bwC


Footnotes


See also

* Greenhouse effect *
List of newspaper columnists This is a list of notable newspaper columnists. It does not include magazine or electronic columnists. English-language Australia * Phillip Adams (born 1939), ''The Australian'' * Piers Akerman (born 1950), ''The Daily Telegraph'' * Janet A ...
* Milton Friedman


References


Further reading

* Kwong, Jo (2008). "Sowell, Thomas (1930–)." pp. 482–483 in ''The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism'', edited by R. Hamowy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage /
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indus ...
. . . . . * Ebeling, Richard M.
"Thomas Sowell at 90: Understanding Race Relations Around the World,"
American Institute for Economic Research The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) is a libertarian think tank located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1933 by Edward C. Harwood, an economist and investment advisor. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. History ...
, June 16, 2020 * Riley, Jason L.
''Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell''
Basic Books, (e-book), *


External links


Thomas Sowell's home page

Thomas Sowell Features
at
Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few su ...

Archive of Articles
by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com * * *
Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World
2021 PBS intellectual biography of its subject with Jason Riley hosting. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sowell, Thomas 1930 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers African-American academics Former Marxists United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War African-American United States Navy personnel African-American social scientists American social scientists American adoptees American columnists American economics writers Economists from New York (state) American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American political commentators American political philosophers Autism researchers Brandeis University faculty Black conservatism in the United States Chicago School economists Columbia University alumni Cornell University faculty Critics of Marxism Harvard University alumni Hoover Institution people Howard University alumni Howard University faculty Human Events people Libertarian economists National Humanities Medal recipients National Review people People from Gastonia, North Carolina People from Harlem Rutgers University faculty Scholars of Marxism Stuyvesant High School alumni United States Marines University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Chicago alumni Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina Writers from Manhattan The Washington Times people African-American economists Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows Earhart Foundation Fellows Economists from North Carolina 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Members of the American Philosophical Society African Americans in the Korean War Reagan Era Member of the Mont Pelerin Society