A list of Thomas Sowell's most recent columns is
here. Below are a few special pieces to consider:
- from Thomas Sowell's "
Who Really Cares?":
One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring. It is liberals who advocate "forgiveness" of loans to Third World countries, a "living wage" for the poor and a "safety net" for all.
But these are all government policies -- not individual acts of compassion -- and the actual empirical consequences of such policies are of remarkably little interest to those who advocate them. Depending on what those consequences are, there may be good reasons to oppose them, so being for or against these policies may tell us nothing about who is compassionate or caring and who is not.
- from Thomas Sowell's "
Mind-Changing Books":
Experience has probably changed more minds than books have. But some books can pull your experiences together and show how they require a very different vision of the world.
Two lists of Walter E. Williams'
columns, and
articles, and a few special ones to consider:
- from a speech called "
Constitution Day" (emphasis added):
James Madison is the acknowledged father of the constitution. In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees who fled from insurrection in San Domingo to Baltimore and Philadelphia. James Madison wrote disapprovingly, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." Today, at least two-thirds of a $2.5 trillion federal budget is spent on the “objects of benevolence.” That includes Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, aid to higher education, farm and business subsidies, welfare, ad nauseam.
- from "
Conflicting Visions":
Generally, people share common goals. Most of us want: poor people to enjoy higher standards of living, greater traffic safety, fewer wars and more world peace, greater racial harmony, cleaner air and water, and less crime.
Despite the fact that people have common goals, more often than not, we see them grouped into contentious factions, fighting tooth and nail to promote differing government policies in the name of achieving those commonly held goals. Often the policies may be unproductive and often have the unintended consequence of sabotaging the goal. Almost always the conflict is centered around the means to achieve goals rather than the goals themselves.
A good example of conflict surrounding means is found in the periodic debates over minimum wage and tariffs. Many people profess concern for the welfare of low-skilled workers. To achieve their goal, one group adamantly demands that Congress legislate higher minimum wages. Another group professing the identical concern, are just as adamant in demanding that Congress not legislate higher minimum wages. Similarly, one group of advocates for greater employment opportunities might lobby Congress for higher tariffs and stricter quotas on foreign imports. Another group of people sharing the identical goal will fight against tariffs and quotas and lobby for fewer trade restrictions.
How is it that people who share identical goals come to advocate polar opposite policies? One possible explanation is that they are dishonest and simply promoting their personal interests. Their political strategy is to express concern for the unskilled and greater employment opportunities simply as a ruse to conceal their true agenda: higher wages, profits and monopoly wealth. The more interesting question is why do people, who are assumed to be honest, intelligent, selfless and not motivated by a hidden agenda, arrive at polar opposite policy proposals as a means to achieve commonly shared goals, that may indeed produce polar opposite results?
- from "
Economics for the Citizen, Pt. 1":
The first lesson in economic theory is that we live in a world of scarcity. Scarcity is a situation whereby human wants exceed the means to satisfy those wants. Human wants are assumed to be limitless, or at least they don't frequently reveal their bounds. People always want more of something, be it: more cars, more food, more love, more happiness, more peace, more health care, more clean air or more charity. Our ability and resources to satisfy all human wants are indeed limited. There's only a finite amount of: land, iron, workers and years in a lifetime.
Scarcity produces several economic problems: What's to be produced, who's going to get it, how's it to be produced, and when is it to be produced? For example, many Americans, and foreigners too, would love to have a home or vacation home along the thousand miles of California, Oregon and Washington coastline. Shipping companies would like to use some of it as ports. The U.S. Defense Department would like to use it for military installations. There's simply not enough coastline to meet all the competing wants and uses. That means there's conflict over coastline ownership and its uses. If human wants were not unlimited, or the resources to satisfy those wants were limitless, there would be no economic problem and hence conflict.
- from "Economics for the Citizen, Pt. 2":
There are four classes of behavior that can be called economic behavior. They are: production, consumption, exchange and specialization. Production is any behavior that creates utility, that is, raises the want satisfying capacity of something. When a mill smelts iron ore, it raises the want satisfying capacity of the material by changing its form. The metal’s want satisfying capacity is raised further when it’s made into steel and the steel into rails, girders and the like.
- from "
Economics for the Citizen, Pt. 3":
Just about the most important generalization that we can make about human behavior is that the higher the cost of a particular choice the less of it will be chosen and the lower the cost the more of it will be chosen. This generalization underlies the law of demand. For simplicity let’s assume price measures cost while we hold everything else influencing choice constant. The law of demand can be expressed several ways: the lower the price of something, the more will be taken; and the opposite is true the higher price. We can also say, there exists a price whereby one can be induced to take more or less of something. Finally, there’s an inverse (reverse) relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded.
- from "
Economics for the Citizen, Pt. 4":
There's a reggae song that advises "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife." Mechanics have been accused of charging women higher prices for emergency road repairs. Airlines charge business travelers higher prices than tourists. Car rental companies and hotels often charge cheaper rates on weekends.
Transportation companies often give senior citizen and student discounts. Prostitutes charge servicemen higher prices than theirindigenous clientele. Gasoline stations on interstate highways charge higher prices than those off the interstate. What are we to make of all of this discrimination? Should somebody notify the U.S. attorney general?
- from "
Economics for the Citizen, Pt. 5":
We're all grossly ignorant about most things that we use and encounter in our daily lives, but each of us is knowledgeable about tiny, relatively inconsequential, things. For example, a baker might be the best baker in town, but he's grossly ignorant about virtually all the inputs that allow him to be the best baker. What is he likely to know about what goes into the processing of the natural gas that fuels his oven? For that matter, what does he know about the metallurgy involved in oven manufacture? Then, there are all the ingredients he uses -- flour, sugar, yeast, vanilla and milk. Is he likely to know how to grow wheat and sugar and how to protect the crop from diseases and pests? What is he likely to know about vanilla extraction and yeast production? Just as important is the question how do all the people who produce and deliver all these items know what he needs and when he needs them? There are literally millions of people cooperating anonymously with one another to ensure that the baker has all the necessary inputs.
It's the miracle of the market and prices that gets the job done so efficiently. What's called the market is simply a collection of millions upon millions of independent decision makers not only in America but around the world. Who or what coordinates the activities all of these people? Rest assured it's not a bakery czar.
