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Thomas Sowell

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Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930), is an American economist, political writer, and commentator. While often described as a "black conservative", he prefers not to be labeled, and considers himself more libertarian than conservative. He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science.

Education

Sowell was born in North Carolina, where, he recounts, his encounters with white people were so limited that he didn't believe that "yellow" was a possible color for human hair (A Personal Odyssey). He later moved with his mother's sister (whom he thought to be his mother; his father died before he was born) and siblings to Harlem, New York City. He dropped out of high school when he moved out on his own at the age of 17 because of money problems and a deteriorating home environment. Soon after, he served in the US Marine Corps.

After his service, Sowell passed a GED and enrolled at Howard University. His top-notch grades enabled him to transfer and completed a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College, magna cum laude, an M.A. in Economics from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He chose University of Chicago, he has said, because he wanted to study under George Stigler. Stigler's achievements were recognized when in 1982 he won the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Sowell has taught at prominent American universities including Howard University, Cornell University, Brandeis University, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds the fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman.

Career highlights

Writings

Sowell is both a syndicated columnist and an academic economist.

Besides scholarly writing, Sowell has written books, articles and syndicated columns for a general audience, in such publications as Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and major newspapers. Sowell primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free market approach to capitalism. Sowell opposes Marxism, providing a critique in his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. He also argues that, contrary to popular perception, Marx never held to a labor theory of value.

Sowell also writes on racial topics and is a critic of affirmative action.

In another departure from economics, Sowell wrote The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late, a follow-up to his Late-Talking Children. This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently misdiagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. He includes the research of — among others — Professor Stephen Camarata, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University and Professor Steven Pinker, Ph.D., of Harvard University in this overview of a poorly understood developmental trait. It is a trait which he says affected many historical figures. He includes famous late-talkers such as physicists Albert Einstein, Edward Teller and Richard Feynman; mathematician Julia Robinson; and musicians Arthur Rubenstein and Clara Schumann. The book and its contributing researchers make a 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.

The book contradicts speculation by Simon Baron-Cohen that Einstein may have had Asperger's Syndrome.

Columns

Sowell regularly writes a nationally syndicated column that appears in various newspapers, as well as online on websites such as the conservative Townhall.com.

Sowell considers the following to be problematic issues in modern-day society:

Sowell is a supporter of free market and pro-growth economics. In a recent column he criticized as "socialism for the rich", certain policies which he claims benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

Sowell also favors decriminalization of drugs.

Summary of some of Sowell's thought and philosophy

This section briefly summarizes some of the major themes and philosophies of Sowell. They range from social policy on race, ethnic groups, education and decision-making, to classical and Marxist economics, to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities. Sowell has also extended his themes from the United States to the international sphere, finding supporting data from several cultures and nations. He has demonstrated that similar incentives and constraints often result in similar outcomes among very different peoples and cultures.

Three themes in his work cut across specific topics: (a) the competing basic visions of policy makers, (b) the importance of empirical evidence both in initiating decisions and actual end results produced, and (c) an "economic" approach stressing trade-offs, constraints and incentives. These three keys place Sowell's writings in the greater context of human decision-making, rather than being simply those of a conservative pundit or "race" writer on particular contemporary social issues. The summary below does not attempt to "endorse" or establish whether the claims or arguments advanced by Sowell are "true" or "false" but encapsulates a good deal of his thought, cutting across three decades.

1) Empirical evidence and objective analysis of relevant factors is sorely lacking in claims surrounding race, culture and society: In his writings Sowell has repeatedly emphasized the need for empirical evidence and objective assessments of data, as opposed to the sweeping generalizations, wishful thinking, and distorted or false evidence provided by numerous writers in the field of social policy and economics. Sowell contends that in no field are these distortions greater than when the topic of race is discussed. Sowell maintains that common assumptions and stirring rhetoric about poverty, slavery, discrimination, economic progress or education don't hold up when measured against hard data.

2) What counts in assessing a social or economic policy is not the stated intentions of promoters, but the incentives created and the actual end results produced: In his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics Sowell shows that this was the outlook of Marx. He applies this "bottom line" approach to other social policies, ranging from IQ Tests to affirmative action. In numerous cases, he demonstrates that the stated aims of promoters had little relation to the actual results produced. In regard to affirmative action, for example, the goals of proponents: that it was a temporary measure, that it helped those categories of minorities less fortunate, that it would promote social harmony, et cetera, have not been satisfied when the empirical evidence is analyzed. Sowell contends that too often, social policy is made on the basis of sweeping assumptions, arbitrarily selected statistical data, and ideological dogma, without sufficient evidence.

3) Numerous factors determine income and education levels among American ethnic groups, and between genders, not the overgeneralized, "all-purpose" explanations of racism, or sexism: In books, such as Markets and Minorities, Ethnic America, Race and Culture and others, Sowell demonstrates the importance of such factors as geography, degree of urbanization, cultural structures, field of work, and other factors more relevant than charges of “racism”. He believes that those who make such charges seldom present credible empirical evidence. As for the “pay gap” between men and women, for example, Sowell’s book Civil Rights argues that most of said gap is based on marital status, not a “glass ceiling” discrimination. Earnings for men and women of the same basic description (education, jobs, hours worked, marital status) were essentially equal. That result would not be predicted under explanatory theories of “sexism”.

4) Internationally, empirical evidence shows colonialism, imperialism, and/or claims of genetic superiority are all theories failing to explain technological or economic differences among nations. Sowell’s trilogy, Race and Culture, Migrations and Culture and Conquests and Cultures take his analysis to the international level. He compares nations and minority groups within nations, particularly migrants. On an international scale, cultural factors are very important. Some countries heavily subjected to imperialism and colonialism are themselves among the most prosperous. For example, he notes that Britain survived centuries of Roman colonialism and imperialism. Geographic factors also play an influential role. Lack of navigable rivers or fertile land, to settlement patterns, all influenced nations' or people's successes. Sowell shows that for centuries, non-white nations like China were more advanced that those of Europe until comparatively recent times. He also argues that the West borrowed freely from such nations. Within national settings, students of East Asian origin in the West frequently outperform their white counterparts and score higher on IQ tests. These results undercut white supremacist theories of inherent genetic superiority.

5) Many modern ideological struggles can be traced to two visions: the vision of the anointed and the vision of the constrained realist: Sowell lays out these concepts in his A Conflict of Visions, and The Vision of the Anointed. These two visions encompass a range of ideas and theories. The vision of the anointed relies heavily on sweepingly optimistic assumptions about human nature, distrust of decentralized processes like the free market, impatience with systematic processes that constrain human action, and absent or distorted empirical evidence. The constrained vision relies heavily on a reduced view of the goodness of human nature, and prefers the systematic processes of the free market, and the systematic processes of the rule of law and constitutional government. It distrusts sweeping theories and grand assumptions in favor of heavy reliance on solid empirical evidence and on time-tested structures and processes.

6) On race and intelligence (as measured by IQ), whole groups and nations have raised their IQ scores over time, undermining various theories of intelligence, related to minorities such as Jews and blacks.

#In "Intelligence and Ethnicity", Sowell demonstrates how IQ scores have risen among many groups, (see the Flynn effect). He notes that a number of white ethnic groups tallied poor scores as they began entry into the American urban economy. Jews for example scored dismally on Army intelligence tests during WWI, leading to assumptions that they were second rate citizens. Jewish IQ scores have risen steadily, and now they rank near the top. Similarly, IQ scores of East Asians were unimpressive in early measurements, but they rank high today.
#Black IQ progress has been concealed, Sowell shows, by statistical redefinitions, or "norming" of the beginning measurement baselines. Thus an IQ score that might have been considered "normal" or "average" in 1960, is today considered below par. By recalculating from the original baselines, he demonstrates that not only blacks but entire nations have shown significant rises in IQ over time. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black-white IQ scores is similar to the gap between the national average and the scores of particular ethnic white groups in years past. Indeed similar gaps have been reported within white populations, such as Northern Europeans versus Southern Europeans. Sowell references some of these points in his criticism of the book "The Bell Curve".
#In short Sowell argues, IQ "gaps" are hardly startling or unusual between, and within ethnic groups. What is distressing he claims, is the sometimes hysterical response to the very fact of IQ research, and movements to ban testing in the name of "self-esteem" or "fighting racism." He argues however, that few would have known of black IQ progress if scholars like James Flynn had not undertaken allegedly "racist" research.

7) What some portray as "authentic black culture" is actually a relic of a highly disfunctional white southern redneck culture. Such a dysfunctional white culture Sowell maintains, in turn derived from the ‘Cracker culture’ of certain regions in Britain, mainly the harsh English borderlands, origin of many 'cracker' migrants. Sowell gives a number of examples that he regards as supporting the lineage, e.g.

an aversion to work, proneness to violence, neglect of education, sexual promiscuity, improvidence, drunkenness, lack of entrepreneurship,… and a style of religious oratory marked by strident rhetoric, unbridled emotions, and flamboyant imagery.

Sowell also provides figures to support his argument that there was a far bigger divide between the cracker/redneck culture of the Southern and Applachian regions and the culture of more northerly Americans, than between whites and blacks. E.g. Northern blacks tried to stop redneck blacks coming up from the South, and the same happened between northern whites and redneck whites. This thesis is the title essay of Sowell's book Black Rednecks and White Liberals.

8) Ordinary citizens might benefit from analyzing issues and public policies in terms of costs, benefits and tradeoffs, where scarce resources have alternative uses, rather than rely on lofty rhetoric from political leaders, activists and special interests. In Basic Economics and Applied Economics, Sowell lays out the fundamentals of the discipline so that the layman can understand them, and his essential way or model for approaching problems. There are no free lunches Sowell emphasizes, only tradeoffs at various levels. This "transactional" approach to social and economic policy is one of the hallmarks of Sowell's writings. Quote:

"Lofty talk about “non-economic values” too often amounts to very selfish attempts to impose one’s own values, without having to weigh them against other people’s values. Taxing away what other people have earned, in order to finance one’s own fantasy ventures, is often depicted as a humanitarian endeavor, while allowing others the same freedom and dignity as oneself, so they can make their own choices with their own earnings, is considered to be pandering to “greed.” Greed for power is more dangerous than greed for money and has shed far more blood in the process. Political authorities have often had “revolutionary values” that were devastating to the general population.

9. Government action is too often perceived as beneficial, just and noble, when in fact it often hurts those it is purportedly trying to help. As far back as 1975's Race and Economics and continuing through his Affirmative Action Around The World and Basic and Applied Economics series, Sowell repeatedly shows that much government action in the social arena has not only failed to achieve desired or claimed results but in some cases has created worse conditions than those previously existing. Examples given to bolster Sowell's arguments range from rent control (which decreases the supply of housing), to busing for racial balance (schools in some areas under busing are just as segregated or worse than before), to crime control, to zoning laws, to education. Sowell also takes strong issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite- from the lower level Jim Crow laws created and enforced by state and local regimes, to welfare subsidies at the federal level that have promoted family dependency and breakdown.

Those influenced by Sowell

Quotes

  • "Most people who read "The Communist Manifesto" probably have no idea that it was written by a couple of young men who had never worked a day in their lives, and who nevertheless spoke boldly in the name of "the workers"."

  • "If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago, and a racist today."

  • "Blacks were not enslaved because they were black but because they were available. Slavery has existed in the world for thousands of years. Whites enslaved other whites in Europe for centuries before the first black was brought to the Western hemisphere. Asians enslaved Europeans. Asians enslaved other Asians. Africans enslaved other Africans, and indeed even today in North Africa, blacks continue to enslave blacks."

  • "Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated."

  • "The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics."

  • "Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late."

  • "One of the most fashionable notions of our times is that social problems like poverty and oppression breed wars. Most wars, however, are started by well-fed people with time on their hands to dream up half-baked ideologies or grandiose ambitions, and to nurse real or imagined grievances."

  • "The simplest and most psychologically satisfying explanation of any observed phenomenon is that it happened that way because someone wanted it to happen that way." (Animistic fallacy)

  • "Moderation is fine, as long as it's not taken to extremes."

  • "People who claim that sentencing a murderer to "life without the possibility of parole" protects society just as well as the death penalty ignore three things: (1) life without the possibility of parole does not mean life without the possibility of escape or (2) life without the possibility of killing while in prison or (3) life without the possibility of a liberal governor being elected and issuing a pardon."

  • "Liberalism is totalitarianism with a human face."

  • "The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers."

  • “Liberals seem to assume that, if you don't believe in their particular political solutions, then you don't really care about the people that they claim to want to help”

  • “One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain”

Books by Sowell

  • Sowell, Thomas (2007). Economic Facts and Fallacies. Basic Books.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2007). Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. 3rd edition, Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Books Group.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2007). A Man of Letters. San Francisco: Encounter Books.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2006). Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2006). On Classical Economics. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2005). Black Rednecks and White Liberals: And Other Cultural And Ethnic Issues. San Francisco: Encounter Books.
  • Sowell, Thomas (2004). Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.
  • 2004. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy, revised and expanded ed. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08145-2 (1st ed. 2000)
  • 2003. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One, ISBN 0-465-08143-6
  • 2003. Inside American Education, ISBN 0-7432-5408-2
  • 2002. The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late, ISBN 0-465-08141-X
  • 2002. Controversial Essays, ISBN 0-8179-2992-4
  • 2002. A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08142-8
  • 2002. A Personal Odyssey, ISBN 0-684-86465-7
  • 2002. The Quest For Cosmic Justice, ISBN 0-684-86463-0
  • 1998. Conquests and Cultures: An International History, ISBN 0-465-01400-3
  • 1996. Migrations and Cultures: A World View, ISBN 0-465-04589-8
  • 1996. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08995-X
  • 1994. Race and Culture: A World View, ISBN 0-465-06796-4
  • 1987. Compassion versus guilt, and other essays, ISBN 0688071147.
  • 1986. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. Quill, ISBN 0-688-06426-4
  • 1984. Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-03113-7.
  • 1983. Economics and Politics of Race. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-01891-2
  • 1981. Ethnic America: A History. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-02074-7
  • 1981. Markets and Minorities. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-04399-2
  • 1980. Knowledge and Decisions. Basic Books.
  • 1975. Race and Economics. David McKay Company Inc, ISBN 0-679-30262-X.

Articles and interviews

Notes

External links



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