In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson interviews Hoover fellow and author Thomas Sowell on his 5th edition of Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. In this interview, Sowell brings the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Sowell draws on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history.
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An interesting brouhaha has broken out in France, lately famous for reinvigorating the idea of wealth taxes: The French government should default on (“annul” “cancel” — the left is great at euphemisms) its debt held by the European Central Banks. Voilá. Disparu. Without any financial or economic cost!
August 24, 2026
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The U.S. unemployment rate has trended down for decades. Estimates after removing business cycle fluctuations show that the trend rate fell from 7.8% in 1976 to 4.8% in 2024.
August 24, 2026
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Money, power and security are intimately connected. For extended periods, the world’s financial center has been concentrated in one country, one city, one currency, providing in effect a code of conduct, whose most effective modern variants have been the nineteenth-century gold standard (1873–1914), the Bretton Woods system (1945–1971), and the international system around the so-called Washington Consensus (1980–2008). Each of these orders eventually frayed, and alternatives needed to be constructed. Concentration around a financial center yields powerful network advantages, but the historical record warns against treating any such arrangement as permanent. The emergence of rival centers has repeatedly been associated with heightened conflict, war, and destruction.
August 24, 2026
