| Revision as of 22:30, 14 June 2011 editCWenger (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers20,677 edits Undid revision 434311085 by CartoonDiablo (talk): it indeed was discussed on the talk page and the consensus was to leave it out← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:58, 14 June 2011 edit undoCartoonDiablo (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users3,375 edits Undid revision 434311982 by CWenger (talk) There was no such consensus and the reasons given don't justify its removal.Next edit → | ||
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| ==Criticism== | ==Criticism== | ||
| The liberal watchdog group, ] has criticized many of Sowell's remarks<ref></ref> such as a comparison Sowell made between President ] and ] in an editorial for '']''<ref> ''Investor Business Daily''.</ref> after the creation of a relief fund "as a result of negotiations between BP and the White House".<ref></ref> Sowell was also criticized for an editorial in which he stated that the Democratic Party played the ], instigating ethnic divisions and separatism, and argued that a similar situation occurred between the ] in Rwanda.<ref>, Townhall.com</ref><ref>[http://mediamatters.org/blog/201004070005 Media Matters</ref> | |||
| ===Economic criticism=== | |||
| The Nobel Prize winning economist ] reached conclusions inconsistent with Sowell's research of ].<ref>Amartya Sen ''Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation'' (Oxford) 1981</ref> In addition, some studies claim that ] systems can ],<ref>Kenworthy, L. (1999). . ''Social Forces, 77''(3), 1119-1139.</ref><ref>Bradley, D., Huber, E., Moller, S., Nielson, F. & Stephens, J. D. (2003). Determinants of relative poverty in advanced capitalist democracies. ''American Sociological Review, 68''(3), 22-51.</ref> contrary to Sowell's claims indicating that welfare exacerbates poverty. | The Nobel Prize winning economist ] reached conclusions inconsistent with Sowell's research of ].<ref>Amartya Sen ''Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation'' (Oxford) 1981</ref> In addition, some studies claim that ] systems can ],<ref>Kenworthy, L. (1999). . ''Social Forces, 77''(3), 1119-1139.</ref><ref>Bradley, D., Huber, E., Moller, S., Nielson, F. & Stephens, J. D. (2003). Determinants of relative poverty in advanced capitalist democracies. ''American Sociological Review, 68''(3), 22-51.</ref> contrary to Sowell's claims indicating that welfare exacerbates poverty. | ||
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| Thomas Sowell | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1930-06-30) June 30, 1930 (age 94) Gastonia, North Carolina |
| Nationality | United States |
| Academic career | |
| Field | Economics, Education, Politics, History, Race relations, Child development |
| Institution | Hoover Institution (1980–present) UCLA (1970–1972, 1974–1980) Urban Institute (1972–1974) Brandeis University (1969–1970) Cornell University (1965–1969) |
| School or tradition | New Social Economics |
| Alma mater | Stuyvesant High School Howard University Harvard University (A.B.) 1958 Columbia University (M.A.) 1959 University of Chicago (Ph.D.) 1969 |
| Influences | Edmund Burke, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, David Hume, Adam Smith, George Stigler |
| Awards | Military Service: United States Marine Corps, Corporal, Francis Boyer Award, National Humanities Medal, Bradley Prize, getAbstract International Book Award |
Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author. He often writes as an advocate of laissez-faire economics, and his political outlook can generally be classified as libertarian. 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, Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science. In 2003, he was awarded the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement.
Biography
Sowell, an African-American, was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. His father died before he was born, and Sowell's mother, a maid, already had four children. His great-aunt and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell. In his autobiography, A Personal Odyssey, he recalled that his encounters with whites were so limited he did not believe that yellow was a hair color. When Sowell was nine, his family moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Sowell attended the selective Stuyvesant High School even though no one in his family had an education beyond sixth grade. He dropped out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and a deteriorating home environment. To support himself he worked at various jobs, including in a machine shop and as a delivery man for Western Union, and tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. Sowell was drafted in 1951, during the Korean War, and was assigned to the US Marine Corps. Due to prior experience in photography, he worked in a photography unit but also trained Marines in handgun use.
After discharge, Sowell took a Civil Service job in Washington, D.C. and attended night classes at Howard University despite lacking a high school diploma. High grades on College Board exams and recommendations by two of his professors helped him be accepted to Harvard University, where in 1958 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics despite early poor grades. He received a Master of Arts in economics from Columbia University in 1959 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. Sowell initially chose Columbia University because he wanted to study under George Stigler (who years later went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics). After arriving at Columbia and learning that Stigler had moved to Chicago, he followed him there.
Sowell has taught economics at Howard University, Rutgers, Cornell, Brandeis University, Amherst College, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman, his mentor.
Sowell has stated that he was a Marxist “during the decade of my 20s;" one of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. Marxist-Leninist practice. His experience working as a federal government intern during the summer of 1960 caused him to reject Marxian economics in favor of free market economic theory. During his work, Sowell discovered a correlation between the rise of mandated minimum wages for workers in the sugar industry of Puerto Rico and the rise of unemployment in that industry. Studying the patterns led Sowell to theorize that the government employees who administered the minimum wage law cared more about their own jobs than the plight of the poor.
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. He is a regular contributor to GOPUSA, a conservative web and email newsletter run by Endeavor Media Group, LLC. He primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free market approach to capitalism. Sowell, whose autobiography describes his serious study of Karl Marx, 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 and race based quotas. While often described as a black conservative, he prefers not to be labeled, and considers himself more libertarian than conservative.
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 Simon Baron-Cohen’s speculation that Einstein may have had Asperger syndrome (see also people speculated to have been autistic).
Themes of Sowell’s writing 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.
In Intelligence and Ethnicity, Sowell argues that 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 particular ethnic white groups in years past.
Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on ideologies and political positions, including A Conflict of Visions where he speaks about the origins of political strife, The Vision of the Anointed, where he compares the conservative/libertarian and liberal/progressive worldviews,The Quest for Cosmic Justice, where, like in many of his other writings, he outlines the his thesis of the need for 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'', where he discusses what he argues to be the blind hubris and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas, building on his earlier work.
Sowell takes strong issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite.
Sowell also challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies, in The Economics and Politics of Race, (1983), Ethnic America (1981), Affirmative Action (2004), and other books. He claims that many problems identified with blacks in modern society are hardly unique in terms of American ethnic groups, nor in terms of a rural proletariat swept by disruption as it became urbanized, discussed in his book, Black Rednecks and White Liberals.
In Affirmative Action Around the World Sowell holds that affirmative action covers most of the American population, particularly women, and has long since ceased to be directed towards blacks
Columns
Sowell has a nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators Syndicate that appears in various newspapers, as well as online on websites such as Townhall, WorldNetDaily, OneNewsNow and the Jewish World Review.
Sowell comments on issues he considers to be problematic in modern-day society, which include liberal media bias; judicial activism (while staunchly defending originalism); partial birth abortion; the minimum wage; socializing health care; affirmative action; government bureaucracy; militancy in U.S. foreign policy; the U.S. war on drugs, and multiculturalism.
Sowell supports free market and pro-growth economics. In one column he criticized as socialism for the rich certain policies which he describes as benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
Sowell in a Townhall editorial, "The Bush Legacy", assessed President George W. Bush, deeming him "a mixed bag", but "an honorable man".
Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs.
Criticism
The liberal watchdog group, Media Matters has criticized many of Sowell's remarks such as a comparison Sowell made between President Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler in an editorial for Investor's Business Daily after the creation of a relief fund "as a result of negotiations between BP and the White House". Sowell was also criticized for an editorial in which he stated that the Democratic Party played the Race card, instigating ethnic divisions and separatism, and argued that a similar situation occurred between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Rwanda.
Economic criticism
The Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen reached conclusions inconsistent with Sowell's research of price gouging. In addition, some studies claim that welfare systems can reduce poverty, contrary to Sowell's claims indicating that welfare exacerbates poverty.
Reviewing Sowell's 1984 book Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?, University of Chicago sociologist William Julius Wilson said that Sowell did not explore "reasonable alternative explanations and hypotheses" in his critiques of affirmative action. For instance, regarding Sowell's theory that women are underrepresented in fields like law and engineering because of the heavy responsibilities of marriage such as childrearing and other household work: "A plausible alternative to Mr. Sowell's hypothesis on women's pay differentials and occupational segregation is that women are virtually excluded from many desirable positions and therefore crowd into obtainable occupations."
Career highlights
- Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, September 1980–present
- Professor of Economics, UCLA, July 1974–June 1980
- Visiting Professor of Economics, Amherst College, September–December 1977
- Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, April–August 1977
- Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, July 1976–March 1977
- Project Director, The Urban Institute, August 1972–July 1974
- Associate Professor of Economics, UCLA, September 1970–June 1972
- Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University, September 1969–June 1970
- Assistant Professor of Economics, Cornell University, September 1965–June 1969
- Economic Analyst, American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964–August 1965
- Lecturer in Economics, Howard University, September 1963–June 1964
- Instructor in Economics, Douglass College, Rutgers University, September 1962–June 1963
- Labor Economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961–August 1962
Books by Sowell
- 2011. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (4th edition ed.). Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Books Group. ISBN 978-046502252.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help); Check|isbn=value: length (help) - 2010. Dismantling America. Basic Books. p. 352. ISBN 978-0465022519.
- 2010. Intellectuals and Society. Basic Books. p. 416. ISBN 978-0465019489.
- 2009. The Housing Boom and Bust. Basic Books. p. 184. ISBN 978-0465018802.
- 2008. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One (2nd ed.). Basic Books. p. 400. ISBN 978-0465003457. OCLC 260206351.
- 2007. Economic Facts and Fallacies. Basic Books. p. 262. ISBN 978-0465003495.
- 2007. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (3rd edition ed.). Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Books Group. ISBN 978-0465002603. OCLC 76897806.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - 2007. A Man of Letters. San Francisco: Encounter Books. p. 320. ISBN 978-1594031960.
- 2006. Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. p. 460. ISBN 978-0817947521.
- 2006. On Classical Economics. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. 2006. p. 320. ISBN 978-0300126068.
- 2005. Black Rednecks and White Liberals: And Other Cultural And Ethnic Issues. San Francisco: Encounter Books. p. 360. ISBN 978-1594030864.
- 2004. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-0300107753.
- 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
- 2002. The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late, ISBN 0-465-08141-X
- 2002. Controversial Essays, ISBN 0-8179-2992-4
- 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 OCLC 41748039
- 1996. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08995-X
- 1995. Race and Culture: A World View. Description & chapter previews. ISBN 0-465-06796-4
- 1993. Inside American Education, ISBN 0-7432-5408-2
- 1987. A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-06912-6
- 1987. Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays. William Morrow, ISBN 0688-07114-7
- 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. The 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
- 1972. Say's Law, An Historical Analysis. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04166-0
See also
References
- Thomas Sowell. "Hoover Institution - Fellows - Thomas Sowell". Hoover.org. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- ^ Graglia, Nino A. (Winter 2001). "Profile in courage". Hoover Institution Newsletter. Hoover Institution. Archived from the original on September 9, 2005.
- Sowell, A Personal Odyssey, p. 6.
- Sowell, A Personal Odyssey, pp. 47, 58, 59, 62.
- Nordlinger, Jay. "Brains and Nerve". National Review. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ Sowell, Thomas. "Curriculum vita". TSowell.com. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- "Charlie Rose - September 15, 1995". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
- "Thomas Sowell". Hoover Institution. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
- Sowell, Thomas (1963). “Karl Marx and the Freedom of the Individual,” Ethics 73:2, p 120.
- Elizabeth, Mary (1999-11-10). "Salon interview with Sowell". Salon.com. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
- "''Townhall.com''". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
- "''Townhall.com''". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
- Sawhill R. (1999) “Black and right: Thomas Sowell talks about the arrogance of liberal elites and the loneliness of the black conservative.” Salon.com. Accessed May 6, 2007.
- Sowell, Thomas (2004-10-30). "Affirmative Action around the World | Hoover Institution". Hoover.org. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
- "Thomas Sowell". Jewishworldreview.com. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
- "Thomas Sowell, Conservative, Political News". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Judicial Activism Reconsidered". Tsowell.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Thomas Sowell, Conservative, Political News". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Thomas Sowell, Conservative, Political News". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Conservative Columnists and Political Commentary". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Thomas Sowell, Conservative, Political News". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- Sowell, Thomas. "Thomas Sowell : 'Partial truth' abortion". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- "Thomas Sowell". Jewishworldreview.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
- Thomas Sowell (16 January 2009), The Bush Legacy, Townhall.com
- Sowell, Thomas (1987); Compassion versus guilt, and other essays; ISBN 0688071147.
- Media Matters category for Thomas Sowell
- Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny? Investor Business Daily.
- Sowell falsely claims Obama essentially "confiscated" $20 billion from BP and compares Obama to Hitler"
- Race and Politics, Townhall.com
- [http://mediamatters.org/blog/201004070005 Media Matters
- Amartya Sen Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (Oxford) 1981
- Kenworthy, L. (1999). Do social-welfare policies reduce poverty? A cross-national assessment. Social Forces, 77(3), 1119-1139.
- Bradley, D., Huber, E., Moller, S., Nielson, F. & Stephens, J. D. (2003). Determinants of relative poverty in advanced capitalist democracies. American Sociological Review, 68(3), 22-51.
- Wilson, William Julius (June 24, 1984). "Hurting the Disadvantaged". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
External links
- Thomas Sowell’s home page
- Thomas Sowell Features at Creators Syndicate
- Column archive at Townhall.com
- Free Podcasts of Sowell’s recent articles
- Archive of Articles by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com
- Book review of The Einstein Syndrome by Isabelle Rapin, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
- Snopes.com on Various articles attributed to Thomas Sowell
Articles and interviews
- 'Uncommon Knowledge' Interviews (2008-2011)
- CSPAN -'Booknotes' interview (May 24, 1990)
- Fox News - 'In the Right Direction' interview (2005)
- CSPAN - 'Q&A' interview (April 17, 2005)
- "A Dangerous Obsession" — Part I II, III, IV, and V
- "Too “Complex”?" — Part I, II, & III
- "Alice in Health Care" — Part I, II, III, IV
- "The 'Costs' of Medical Care" — Part I, II, III, IV
- Socialism for the rich by Thomas Sowell (October 6, 2006)
- “10 Questions With Thomas Sowell”, John Hawkins, Right Wing News. Sowell on flat-tax vs. progressive tax, rent-control, balanced budget amendments, protectionist tariffs, poverty and welfare, profit-restriction, illegal immigration, a weak dollar vs. a strong dollar, affirmative action, and reparations.
- 'Uncommon Knowledge' discussion of affirmative action
- Economic Fallacies -- Interview with Thomas Sowell by Bill Steigerwald
- Thomas Sowell- Columns on Jewish World Review website
- “Race and IQ” Detailed discussion of Race and IQ including techniques that have masked the improvement of black IQ scores.
- “Choosing a College” — discusses benefits and costs including college quality, size, specialty, intellectual rigor, social, political and sexual environment of today’s campuses. Recommends hard-nosed parental analysis (including campus visits) that ignores PR fluff and focuses on the bottom line
- “Affirmative Action around the World” - critical analysis of Affirmative Action and its failures worldwide.
- Salon interview with Sowell
- Audio interview with National Review Online
- Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies: Audio interview
- Sowell en español
| Chicago school of economics | |
|---|---|
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