I dropped the ball. This post was supposed to be on the 29th. I hope the three or four of you who read this blog didn't lose any sleep over it.
by
(2007)
Last year while on a shuttle bus from the airport to a
conference, I struck up a conversation with some of the other
passengers. Turns out one was an economics professor. I asked
her if she's ever read or assigned works by Thomas Sowell. She started
by saying she's heard of him, but never read his stuff. Then she asked,
her mouth slightly contorted, "But isn't he a conservative?" Um, yeah
... So? And he's black too. Ooooooo!
And there you have it. I'm sorry, but Thomas Sowell is one of the brightest economic minds of the past century. He's a Rose & Milton Friedman (yes, that Milton Friedman) Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. And
this economics professor, whose main concern is his political leanings, has merely "heard
of him." If college students of economics only getting the liberal side
of economic thought (which is, pure and simple, Marxism-socialism and
anti-capitalism), then I really fear for this country's future.
Dr. Sowell has also written a lot on education. While earning my state teacher's certification, I read lots of books on education and the American education system, but none were Sowell's works. Even at the age of 20, I knew the material was politically correct feel-good bullcrap. (In fact, my most boring classes and worst professors were in the education department!)
I never took an economics course in college; I wish I had. But Sowell's books are more understandable and practical than I imagine a typical economics textbook would be. His latest book, Economic Facts and Fallacies, is fascinating. Using factual data, historical and empirical evidence, and just plain common sense, he blows holes into (mostly left-wing) conventional wisdoms that drive American thought and, more dangerously, influences policy. From the book description:
Economic Facts and Fallacies exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues--and does so in a lively manner and without requiring any prior knowledge of economics by the readers. These fallacies include many beliefs widely disseminated in the media and by politicians, such as fallacies about urban problems, income differences, male-female economic differences, as well as economics fallacies about academia, about race, and about Third World countries.
One of the themes of Economic Facts and Fallacies is that fallacies are not simply crazy ideas but in fact have a certain plausibility that gives them their staying power--and makes careful examination of their flaws both necessary and important, as well as sometimes humorous.
I will admit to not getting through this book as fast as others. A textbook it is not, but it is still rather cerebral, and I find it's not the type of reading to undertake right before shutting off the light and falling asleep.
The only bad thing about Economic Facts and Fallacies is that Sowell's facts and conclusions will most certainly continue to fall on deaf ears, particularly those of the sanctimonious politicians and media types who continue to soil our children's minds.
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