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Thomas Sowell

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Thomas Sowell

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American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author

Person · Open Library

Born
30 Jun 1930
Works
120

Top works

  • המרדף אחר צדק קוסמי
  • The quest for cosmic justice
  • The Marxian system
  • ʻImut ben hashḳafot
  • Housing Boom and Bust

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Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Origin
Jamaica

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Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
883
Total plays
7,783

Tags

economicsspoken wordpoliticstheoryauthor

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social critic, political commentator and author. He advocates laissez-faire economics and, generally, libertarian ideological views. 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. In 2003, he was awarded

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Quotes

  • What the welfare system and other kinds of governmental programs are doing is paying people to fail. In so far as they fail, they receive the money; in so far as they succeed, even to a moderate extent, the money is taken away.
  • Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.
  • Too many Republicans treat English as a second language, with Beltway lingo being their native tongue.
  • The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.
  • 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 50 years ago, a liberal 25 years ago and a racist today.
  • Ideas are everywhere, but knowledge is rare.

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Key facts

Born
( 1930-06-30 ) June 30, 1930 (age 95) , Gastonia, North Carolina , U.S.
Political party
Democratic (until 1972), Independent (after 1972)
Spouses
Alma Parr ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1964 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1975 ) ​ Mary Ash ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. January 17, 1981</span>"}]]}'>1981 ) ​
Education
Harvard University ( BA ) Columbia University ( MA ) University of Chicago ( PhD )
Doctoral advisor
George Stigler
Influences
Smith Marx Keynes Hayek Friedman Stigler Brown
Discipline
Economic history Welfare economics Economic development Sociology Political sociology Education Higher education History Intellectual history African-American history Discrimination Race relations Historical linguistics
School or tradition
Chicago school of economics
Awards
Francis Boyer Award (1990) American Philosophical Society (1998) National Humanities Medal (2002) Bradley Prize (2004) GetAbstract International Book Award (2008)
Allegiance
United States
Branch
United States Marine Corps
Service years
1951–1952
Conflicts
Korean War
Website
tsowell .com

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Wikidata facts

Official website
tsowell.com
Image
Thomas Sowell cropped.jpg
Show 4 more facts
social media followers
444000
date of birth
1930-06-30
name in native language
Thomas Sowell
Commons category
Thomas Sowell
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~36 min read

Article

Thomas Sowell (/soʊl/ SOHL; born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, economic historian, and social theorist. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he is a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.

Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, 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 graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1958. He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year, and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. In his academic career, he held professorships at Cornell University, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has also worked at think tanks, including the Urban Institute. Since 1977, he has worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.

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