Uncommon Knowledge with guest Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell discusses his essay “‘Trickle Down Theory’ and ‘Tax Cuts for the Rich.’”
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell discusses his essay “‘Trickle Down Theory’ and ‘Tax Cuts for the Rich.’” (39:52)
“Now anyone who studied history knows that for the first 150 years of this country the federal government did not intervene when the economy turned down. And all that time the downturns all corrected themselves; one of the most classic examples was under Warren G. Harding when, during his first year in office, he found the unemployment rate at 11.7 percent. He did absolutely nothing; he did not spend more government money, he cut back on spending. The Federal Reserve had the interest rates up at 6 or 7 percent, not down at 1 percent, where they are now. The next year unemployment was at 6.7 percent; the year after that it was 2.4 percent. So the economy has recuperative powers. I mean employers have an incentive to hire people. Workers have an incentive to get jobs. Lenders have incentives to lend.”
Thomas Sowell on the second edition of Intellectuals and Society
On the occasion of the publication of a new edition of his book Intellectuals and Society, Thomas Sowell returns to Uncommon Knowledge for a wide-ranging interview. (52:37)
“It gives them a much bigger role in the world. I mean if you believe in free markets, what about all these people who want to have social justice. People just go out there; they make whatever deals they can with each other, work things out and then go on their way. Here is all this unused brilliance standing on the sideline watching with impotent rage.”
Thomas Sowell
In this wide-ranging interview marking the publication of his new book, The Thomas Sowell Reader, Thomas Sowell, the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, discusses, with Hoover research fellow Peter Robinson, his life, Barack Obama, class warfare, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and the influence of Milton Friedman. (46:52)
Thomas Sowell—Economic Facts and Fallacies
Thomas Sowell has studied and taught economics, intellectual history, and social policy at institutions that include Cornell University, UCLA, and Amherst College. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Sowell has published more than a dozen books, the latest of which is a revised and expanded second edition of Economic Facts and Fallacies.
Thomas Sowell – Basic Economics
Thomas Sowell has studied and taught economics, intellectual history, and social policy at institutions that include Cornell University, UCLA, and Amherst College. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Sowell has published more than a dozen books, the latest of which is a revised and updated edition of his classic volume, Basic Economics.
Thomas Sowell – Dismantling America
Thomas Sowell has studied and taught economics, intellectual history, and social policy at institutions that include Cornell University, UCLA, and Amherst College. Now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Sowell has published more than a dozen books, the latest of which is Dismantling America.
Thomas Sowell discusses his new book Intellectuals and Society
Thomas Sowell introduces his new book Intellectuals and Society and expounds on what he calls “the fatal misstep of intellectuals” — the assumption that superior ability within a particular realm can be generalized as superior wisdom or morality overall.
Housing with Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell analyzes the recent housing boom and bust, beginning with the underlying economic causes that artificially inflated housing costs in certain markets.
Thomas Sowell and a Conflict of Visions
Sowell describes the critical differences between interests and visions. Interests, he says, are articulated by people who know what their interests are and what they want to do about them. Visions, however, are the implicit assumptions by which people operate. In politics, visions are either “constrained” or “unconstrained.” A closer look at the statements of both McCain and Obama reveals which “vision” motivates their policy positions, particularly as they pertain to the war, the law, and economics. (37:38) Video transcript
Peter Robinson speaks with Thomas Sowell about his new book Economic Facts and Fallacies
Peter Robinson speaks with Thomas Sowell about his new book Economic Facts and Fallacies in which Sowell exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues. Sowell takes on the conventional thinking on a wide swath of America’s economic life, from male-female economic differences to income stagnation, executive pay, and social mobility to economics of higher education. In all cases he demonstrates how economics relates to the social issues that deeply affect our country. (33:21) Video transcript