View source for Biography:Thomas Sowell

{{Short description|American economist (born 1930)}}

{{Infobox economist
| name = Thomas Sowell
| image = Thomas Sowell cropped.jpg
| caption = Sowell in 1964
| alt = A dark haired man, wearing glasses and a suit and tie, looks into the camera
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1930|6|30}}
| birth_place = Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Alma Parr|1964|1975|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Mary Ash|January 17, 1981}}
}}
| children = 2
| website = {{URL|tsowell.com|Official website}}
| field = {{hlist | [[Finance:Economic history|Economic History]] |[[Finance:Welfare economics|Welfare Economics]] | Economic Development | |Sociology |Political Sociology |Education |[[Social:Higher education|Higher Education]]| [[History:History|History]] | [[Philosophy:Intellectual history|Intellectual History]] | African-American History |Discrimination |[[Social:Race relations|Race Relations]] |Historical Linguistics}}
| education = {{unbulleted list | [[Organization:Harvard University|Harvard University]] (BA) | [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]] (MA) | [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]] ([[Social:Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
| school_tradition = Chicago School of Economics
| doctoral_advisor = [[Biography:George Stigler|George Stigler]]
| influences = {{hlist | [[Biography:Karl Marx|Marx]]|[[Biography:Adam Smith|Smith]]| [[Biography:John Maynard Keynes|Keynes]]| [[Biography:Friedrich Hayek|Hayek]]| [[Biography:Milton Friedman|Friedman]]| [[Biography:George Stigler|Stigler]]| Brown}}
| awards = {{unbulleted list |Francis Boyer Award (1990) |American Philosophical Society (1998) |National Humanities Medal (2002) |Bradley Prize (2004) |GetAbstract International Book Award (2008)}}
| contributions = {{collapsible list| title = {{nbsp}} | {{indented plainlist|
{{Tree list}}
** ''[[Finance:Knowledge and Decisions|Knowledge and Decisions]]'' (1980)
** ''A Conflict of Visions'' (1987)
** ''Inside American Education'' (1993)
** ''The Vision of the Anointed'' (1995)
** ''[[Finance:Basic Economics|Basic Economics]]'' (2000)
** ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One'' (2003)
** ''Affirmative Action Around the World'' (2004)
** ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'' (2005)
** ''Intellectuals and Society'' (2009)
** ''The Housing Boom and Bust'' (2010)
** ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics'' (2015)
** ''Charter Schools and Their Enemies'' (2020)
{{Tree list/end}}
* Historical analysis of [[Finance:Say's law|Say's law]]
* Greenhouse effect
* [[Philosophy:Dispersed knowledge|Dispersed knowledge]]
* [[Social:Middleman minority|Middleman minorities]]
* [[Social:Unintended consequences|Unintended consequences]]
* Black redneck theory
* Global analysis of [[Social:Affirmative action|affirmative action]]
* [[Medicine:Einstein syndrome|Einstein syndrome]]
   }}
 }}
| module = {{Infobox military person
| embed =yes
| allegiance = {{flag|United States}}
| branch = {{flag|United States Marine Corps}}
|battles = Korean War
| serviceyears = 1951–1952}}
|institutions={{Tree list}}
* U.S. Department of Labor (1961–1962)
* [[Organization:Rutgers University|Rutgers University]] (1962–1963)
* Howard University (1963–1964)
* [[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]] (1965–1969)
* [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]] (1967–1968)
* [[Organization:Brandeis University|Brandeis University]] (1969–1970)
* [[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|University of California, Los Angeles]] (1970–1980)
* Urban Institute (1972–1974)
* American Enterprise Institute (1975–1976)
* [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]]
** Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1976–1977){{efn|CASBS formally became part of Stanford University in 2008.}}
** Hoover Institution (1977–present){{efn|Sowell was first a member of the Hoover Institution as a fellow in April of 1977. He became a Senior fellow in September 1980.}}
* [[Organization:Amherst College|Amherst College]] (1977–1978)
{{Tree list/end}}|footnotes={{notelist}}
|party=Democratic (until 1972)<br />Independent (after 1972)
|signature=Thomas Sowell signature.png
}}
'''Thomas Sowell''' ({{IPAc-en|s|oʊ|l}} {{respelling|SOHL}}; born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, [[Philosophy:Social philosophy|social philosopher]], and political commentator. He is a [[Social:Fellow|senior fellow]] at the Hoover Institution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Sowell |url=https://www.hoover.org/profiles/thomas-sowell |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Hoover Institution |quote=He writes on economics, history, social policy, ethnicity, and the history of ideas. |archive-date=May 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516020254/http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9767 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":13" /> With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent [[Social:Black conservatism#United States|black conservative]].<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":11" /> He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wiltz |first=Teresa |date=February 28, 2003 |title=Bush Honors Eight From the Humanities |newspaper={{wipe|The Washington Post}} |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2003/02/28/bush-honors-eight-from-the-humanities/03bf0a0d-ea09-4447-8e50-119ac4ca40f4/}}</ref>{{Efn |Sowell declined to be awarded the National Humanities Medal in person. Justice Clarence Thomas received it on his behalf on February 23, 2003.}}

Sowell was born in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina, to a poor family, and grew up in Harlem, {{wipe|New York City}}.<ref name="courage" /> 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 took night classes at Howard University and then attended [[Organization:Harvard University|Harvard University]], where he graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1958.<ref name="courage" /> He earned a master's degree in economics from [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]] the next year and a [[Social:Doctorate|doctorate]] in [[Finance:Economics|economics]] from the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]] in 1968.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=30–31}} In his academic career, he has served on the faculties of [[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]], [[Organization:Amherst College|Amherst College]], [[Organization:Brandeis University|Brandeis University]], and the [[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|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 [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]], where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.

Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist Walter E. Williams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Ondaatje |first=Michael L. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794702292 |title=Black Conservative Intellectuals in Modern America |date=2010 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0687-6 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |pages=30–32 |oclc=794702292 |quote=Perched at the forefront of the new black vanguard and certainly its unofficial intellectual messiah since the mid-1970s, Sowell was the most prolific black conservative writer of the era.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Walter E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/821216878 |title=Up from the projects : an autobiography |date=2010 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8179-1256-7 |location=Stanford, California |oclc=821216878 |access-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192251/https://www.worldcat.org/title/821216878 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Robin |first=Corey |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1121044511 |title=The enigma of Clarence Thomas |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-62779-384-1 |edition=First |location=New York City |oclc=1121044511}}</ref> He was offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner in the Ford administration,<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A" /> and was considered for posts including U.S. Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration,{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=32}} but declined both times.<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=September 15, 1995 |title=Thomas Sowell |work=Charlie Rose |url=https://charlierose.com/videos/16711 |access-date=February 7, 2022 |archive-date=February 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207054945/https://charlierose.com/videos/16711 |url-status=live |time=5:50}}</ref>

Sowell is the author of more than 45 books (including revised and new editions) on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he has been a syndicated columnist in more than 150 newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Sowell |url=https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/thomas-sowell |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=The National Endowment for the Humanities |archive-date=August 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817035041/https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/thomas-sowell |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4" /> His views are described as conservative, especially on social issues;<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Carlisle |first=Rodney P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/812407954 |title=Encyclopedia of Politics : the left and the right. |date=2005 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6531-5 |location=Thousand Oaks, California |pages=876 |oclc=812407954 |quote=He is a libertarian on economics and a conservative on most social issues, but he has registered as an independent in politics since 1972.... Limbaugh's listeners enjoy listening in as Williams and Sowell discuss the free market and traditional social values.}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name="PostWealthPoverty" /> libertarian, especially on economics;<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Younkins |first=Edward W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcJqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA318 |title=Capitalism and Commerce: Conceptual Foundations of Free Enterprise |date=2002-08-15 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-5280-5 |pages=318 |language=en |access-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906230535/https://books.google.com/books?id=FcJqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA318 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zwolinski |first1=Matt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuNhEAAAQBAJ |title=The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism |last2=Ferguson |first2=Benjamin |date=2022 |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-000-56922-3 |pages=248 |language=en |access-date=September 30, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192301/https://books.google.com/books?id=cuNhEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> or [[Philosophy:Libertarian conservatism|libertarian-conservative]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Robert S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZ5XEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |title=Teaching as Protest: Emancipating Classrooms Through Racial Consciousness |last2=Gonzowitz |first2=Susan |date=2022 |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-000-54060-4 |pages=34 |language=en |access-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906230525/https://books.google.com/books?id=aZ5XEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |url-status=live }}</ref> He has said he may be best labeled as a libertarian, though he disagrees with libertarians on some issues, such as [[Social:National security|national defense]].<ref name="Salon" />


== Early life ==
Sowell was born in 1930 into a poor family in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina.<ref name="courage" /><ref>{{Cite book|date=2009 |title=Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-516779-5 |access-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192233/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001/acref-9780195167795;jsessionid=E08285B0B5EF96373077D3126ED9F891 |url-status=live }}</ref> His father died shortly before he was born, leaving behind Sowell's mother, a housemaid who already had four children. A great-aunt and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell and raised him.<ref name="courage" /> His mother died a few years later of complications while giving birth to another child.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Black History Month Profile: Thomas Sowell |url=https://www.hoover.org/news/black-history-month-profile-thomas-sowell |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Hoover Institution |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509165839/https://www.hoover.org/news/black-history-month-profile-thomas-sowell |url-status=live }}</ref> In his autobiography, ''A Personal Odyssey,'' Sowell wrote that his childhood encounters with white people were so limited that he did not know blond was a hair color.<ref name="TS:APO6" /> He recalls that his first memories were living in a small wooden house in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he stated was typical of most black neighborhoods.<ref name=":2" /> It was located on an unpaved street and had no electricity or running water.<ref name=":2" /> When Sowell was nine years old, he and his extended family moved from North Carolina to Harlem, {{wipe|New York City}}, for greater opportunities, joining in the large-scale trend of African-American migration from the American south to the north. Family quarrels forced him and his aunt to room in other people's apartments.<ref name=":2" />

Sowell qualified for Stuyvesant High School, a prestigious academic high school in New York City; he was the first in his family to study beyond the sixth grade. However, he was forced to drop out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and family quarreling.<ref name="courage" /> He worked a number of odd jobs, including long hours at a machine shop, and as a delivery man for [[Company:Western Union|Western Union]].<ref name="TS:APO47" /> He also tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948.<ref name="nordlinger20110221" /> Sowell was [[Social:Conscription|drafted]] into the armed services in 1951 during the Korean War and was assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps. Although Sowell opposed the war and experienced racism, he was able to find fulfillment as a photographer, which eventually became his favorite hobby.<ref name="courage" /><ref name=":2" /> He was honorably discharged in 1952.<ref name=":2" />

=== Higher education and early career ===
After leaving military service, Sowell completed high school, took a civil service job in Washington, DC, and attended night classes at Howard University, a historically black college.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2011|p=31}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2000|title=A Personal Odyssey from Howard to Harvard and Beyond|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2679117|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education| issue=30| pages=122–128| doi=10.2307/2679117| jstor=2679117| issn=1077-3711| access-date=May 30, 2021| archive-date=June 3, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603012649/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2679117| url-status= live}}</ref> His high scores on the College Board exams and recommendations by two professors helped him gain admission to [[Organization:Harvard University|Harvard University]], where he graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.<ref name="courage" /><ref name="CV" /> He earned a Master of Arts degree from [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]] the following year.<ref name="CV" /> Sowell had initially chosen [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]] to study under [[Biography:George Stigler|George Stigler]], who would later receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, but when he learned that Stigler had moved to the University of Chicago, he followed him there and studied for his doctorate under Stigler upon arriving in the fall of 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riley |first=Jason |date=July 2021 |title=The Conversion of Thomas Sowell |url=https://reason.com/2021/06/12/the-conversion-of-thomas-sowell/ |access-date= |website=Reason |language=en-US |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516230937/https://reason.com/2021/06/12/the-conversion-of-thomas-sowell/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sowell has said that he was a Marxist "during the decade of my 20s". One of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. [[Social:Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] practice.<ref name="TS:1963" /> What began to change his mind toward supporting free market economics, he said, was studying the possible impact of minimum wages on unemployment of sugar industry workers in Puerto Rico, as a U.S. Department of Labor intern. Workers at the department were surprised by his questioning, he said, and he concluded that "they certainly weren't going to engage in any scrutiny of the law".<ref name="Salon" />

Sowell received his [[Social:Doctor of Philosophy|Doctor of Philosophy]] in economics from the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]] in 1968.<ref name="CV" /> His dissertation was titled "Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy".<ref name="TS:Glut" />

== Academic career ==
From 1965 to 1969, Sowell was an [[Social:Assistant professor|assistant professor]] of economics at [[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]]. Writing 30 years later about the 1969 seizure of Willard Straight Hall by black students at Cornell, Sowell characterized the students as "hoodlums" with "serious academic problems [who were] admitted under lower academic standards", and noted "it so happens that the pervasive racism that black students supposedly encountered at every turn on campus and in town was not apparent to me during the four years that I taught at Cornell and lived in Ithaca."<ref name="sowell19990503" />

Sowell has taught economics at Howard University, [[Organization:Rutgers University|Rutgers]], Cornell, [[Organization:Brandeis University|Brandeis University]], [[Organization:Amherst College|Amherst College]], and the [[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|University of California, Los Angeles]].{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2011|p=31}} At Howard, Sowell wrote, he was offered the position as head of the economics department, but he declined.<ref name=":3" /> Since 1980, he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]], where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and [[Biography:Milton Friedman|Milton Friedman]], his mentor.<ref name="CV" /><ref name="Hoover bio" /> The Hoover appointment, because it did not involve teaching, gave him more time for his numerous writings.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=32}} In addition, Sowell appeared several times on William F. Buckley Jr.'s show ''Firing Line'', during which he discussed the economics of race and [[Finance:Privatization|privatization]]. Sowell has written that he gradually lost faith in the academic system, citing low academic standards and counterproductive university bureaucracy, and he resolved to leave teaching after his time at the University of California, Los Angeles.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title=A Personal Odyssey |publisher=BasicBooks |year=2000 |isbn=9780684864648 |pages=275}}</ref> In ''A Personal Odyssey'', he recounts, "I had come to Amherst, basically, to find reasons to continue teaching. What I found instead were more reasons to abandon an academic career."<ref name=":3" />

In an interview, Sowell said he had been offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner by the Ford administration in 1976, but that after pursuing the opportunity, he withdrew from consideration to avoid the political games surrounding the position.<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A" /> He said in another interview that he was offered the post of United States Secretary of Education but declined.<ref name=":12" /> In 1980, after Reagan's election, Sowell and Henry Lucas organized the Black Alternatives Conference to bring together black and white conservatives; one attendee was a young Clarence Thomas, then a congressional aide.{{Sfn|Dillard|2001|p=6}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rueter |first=Theodore |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/959428491 |title=The politics of race : African Americans and the political system |year=1995 |isbn=1-315-28636-X |location=London |pages=97 |oclc=959428491}}</ref> Sowell was appointed as a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Committee of the Reagan administration,{{Sfn|Michael Ondaatje|2010|p=32}} but resigned after the first meeting, disliking travel from the West Coast and lengthy discussions in Washington; of his decision to resign, Sowell cited "the opinion (and the example) of Milton Friedman, that some individuals can contribute more by staying out of government".{{Sfn|Riley|2021}}

In 1987, Sowell testified in favor of federal appeals court judge Robert Bork during the hearings for Bork's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In his testimony, Sowell said that Bork was "the most highly qualified nominee of this generation" and that what he viewed as [[Philosophy:Judicial activism|judicial activism]], a concept that Bork opposed as a self-described originalist and textualist, "has not been beneficial to minorities."<ref>{{cite news|last=Greenhouse|first=Linda|title=Legal Establishment Divided Over Bork Nomination|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/26/us/the-bork-hearings-legal-establishment-divided-over-bork-nomination.html|access-date=November 18, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 26, 1987|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308195327/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/26/us/the-bork-hearings-legal-establishment-divided-over-bork-nomination.html|url-status=live}} [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Day9Pa Video of Sowell's testimony at C-SPAN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724144255/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Day9Pa |date=July 24, 2013 }}</ref>

In a review of Sowell's 1987 book, ''A Conflict of Visions'', Larry D. Nachman in ''Commentary'' magazine described Sowell as a leading representative of the Chicago school of economics.<ref>Nachman, Larry D. March 1987. "'[https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/a-conflict-of-visions-by-thomas-sowell/ A Conflict of Visions', by Thomas Sowell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113113/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/a-conflict-of-visions-by-thomas-sowell/ |date=June 9, 2019 }}." ''Commentary''.</ref>

== Writings and thought ==
Themes of Sowell's writing range from [[Social:Social policy|social policy]] on race, [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]]s, education, and [[Decision-making|decision-making]], to [[Finance:Classical economics|classical]] and [[Finance:Marxian economics|Marxian economics]], to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities.

Sowell had a nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators Syndicate that was published in ''Forbes'' magazine, ''National Review'', ''{{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}}'', ''The Washington Times'', ''The New York Post'', and other major newspapers, as well as online on websites such as ''RealClearPolitics'', ''Townhall'', ''WorldNetDaily'', and the ''Jewish World Review''.<ref>{{cite web|date=2009-11-06|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html|access-date=2011-05-30|work=Jewish World Review|archive-date=October 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029092201/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Sowell commented on current issues, which include liberal media bias;<ref>{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=October 12, 2004|title=The media's role|url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101204.asp|access-date=2010-03-12|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041214143644/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101204.asp|archivedate=December 14, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Judicial activism|judicial activism]] and originalism;<ref>{{cite web|title=Judicial Activism Reconsidered|url=http://www.tsowell.com/judicial.htm|access-date=2010-03-12|work=T Sowell|archive-date=April 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406225207/http://www.tsowell.com/judicial.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> abortion;<ref name="TS:PT" /> [[Social:Minimum wage|minimum wage]]; [[Philosophy:Universal health care|universal health care]]; the tension between government policies, programs, and protections and familial [[Autonomy|autonomy]]; [[Social:Affirmative action|affirmative action]]; government [[Organization:Bureaucracy|bureaucracy]];<ref>{{cite web|title=International Book Award|url=http://www.getabstract.com/pages/0/web/BookAward.jsp|access-date=July 22, 2011|publisher=Get Abstract|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510090033/http://www.getabstract.com/pages/0/web/BookAward.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Engineering:Gun control|gun control]];<ref name="guncontrol" /> militancy in U.S. foreign policy; the war on drugs; [[Philosophy:Multiculturalism|multiculturalism]];<ref name="MultiCult" /> [[Social:Mob rule|mob rule]] and the [[Organization:Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization|overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'']].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |date=2 August 2022 |title=Weeding out pro-mob rule pols is the biggest problem this election year |url=https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/weeding-out-pro-mob-rule-pols-is-the-biggest-problem-this-election-year/ |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=New York Post |language=en-US |archive-date=September 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907014707/https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/weeding-out-pro-mob-rule-pols-is-the-biggest-problem-this-election-year/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'', Sowell was the most [[Citation impact|cited]] black economist between 1991 and 1995, and second most cited between 1971 and 1990.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|date=1997|title=The Most Highly Cited Black Economists|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2962681|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education|issue=15|pages=35–37|doi=10.2307/2962681|jstor=2962681|via=JSTOR|access-date=June 21, 2021|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816233752/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2962681|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|The article finds that "black economists who are most frequently cited are almost never economic theoreticians. Rather, they tend to be social commentators who write widely on issues of race."}}

He was a frequent guest on ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', in conversations with Walter E. Williams, who was a substitute host for Limbaugh.<ref name=":9" />

On December 27, 2016, Sowell announced the end of his syndicated column, writing that, at age 86, "the question is not why I am quitting, but why I kept at it so long", and cited a desire to focus on his photography hobby.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=December 27, 2016|title=Farewell|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/27/farewell_132647.html|access-date=December 27, 2016|work=Real clear politics|archive-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928121804/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/27/farewell_132647.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The TV show ''[[Finance:Free to Choose|Free to Choose]],'' distributed by the Free to Choose Network, features Sowell along with Milton Friedman and a number of other panelists as they discuss the relationship between freedom and individual economic choices.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-21 |title=Bob Chitester: How Free To Choose Changed the World |url=https://reason.com/podcast/2020/10/21/bob-chitester-how-free-to-choose-changed-the-world/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Network |first=Free To Choose |title=Free To Choose |url=http://freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/free_to_choose/ |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=freetochoosenetwork.org |language=en}}</ref> A documentary detailing his career entitled "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World" was released by the Free to Choose Network in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-09|title=Coming in 2021: "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World"|url=https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/coming-in-2021-thomas-sowell-common-sense-in-a-senseless-world/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=American Enterprise Institute – AEI|language=en-US|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121045634/https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/coming-in-2021-thomas-sowell-common-sense-in-a-senseless-world/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Network|first=Free To Choose|title=Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World|url=https://freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/thomas_sowell/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=freetochoosenetwork.org|language=en|archive-date=March 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315175152/https://www.freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/thomas_sowell/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

=== Economic and political ideology ===
Until the spring of 1972, Sowell was a registered Democrat, after which he then left the Democratic Party and resolved not to associate with any political party again, stating "I was so disgusted with both candidates that I didn't vote at all."<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A" /> Though he is often described as a black conservative, Sowell said, "I prefer not to have labels, but I suspect that 'libertarian' would suit me better than many others, although I disagree with the libertarian movement on a number of things."<ref name="Salon" /> He has been described as one of the most prominent advocates of contemporary [[Philosophy:Classical liberalism|classical liberalism]] along with [[Biography:Friedrich Hayek|Friedrich Hayek]] and Larry Arnhart.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dilley |first=Stephen |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739181065/Darwinian-Evolution-and-Classical-Liberalism-Theories-in-Tension |title=Darwinian Evolution and Classical Liberalism: Theories in Tension |year=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0739181065 |language=en-us |access-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192239/https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739181065/Darwinian-Evolution-and-Classical-Liberalism-Theories-in-Tension |url-status=live }}</ref> Sowell primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free market approach to [[Philosophy:Capitalism|capitalism]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell010036.php3|access-date=2010-03-12|website=Jewish World Review|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327171127/http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell010036.php3|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sowell opposes the [[Finance:Federal Reserve|Federal Reserve]], arguing that it has been unsuccessful in preventing economic depressions and limiting [[Finance:Inflation|inflation]].<ref name="TS:Fed" /> Sowell described his study of [[Biography:Karl Marx|Karl Marx]] in his autobiography; as a former Marxist who early in his career became disillusioned with it, he emphatically opposes [[Philosophy:Marxism|Marxism]], providing a [[Philosophy:Critique|critique]] in his book ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics'' (1985).

Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on [[Finance:Economic ideology|ideologies]] and [[Finance:Political economy|political positions]], including ''A Conflict of Visions'', in which he speaks on the origins of political strife; ''The Vision of the Anointed'', in which he compares the conservative/libertarian and liberal/progressive worldviews; and ''The Quest for Cosmic Justice'', in which, as in many of his other writings, he outlines his thesis of the need felt by [[Philosophy:Intellectual|intellectual]]s, [[Social:Politician|politician]]s, and leaders to fix and perfect the world in [[Philosophy:Utopia|utopia]]n and ultimately, he posits, disastrous fashions. Separate from the trilogy, but also in discussion of the subject, he wrote ''Intellectuals and Society'', building on his earlier work, in which he discusses what he argues to be the blind [[Philosophy:Hubris|hubris]] and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas.

His book ''[[Finance:Knowledge and Decisions|Knowledge and Decisions]]'', a winner of the 1980 Law and Economics Center Prize, was heralded as a "landmark work," selected for this prize "because of its cogent contribution to our understanding of the differences between the market process and the process of government." In announcing the award, the centre acclaimed Sowell, whose "contribution to our understanding of the process of regulation alone would make the book important, but in reemphasizing the diversity and efficiency that the market makes possible, [his] work goes deeper and becomes even more significant."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/library/95113281/knowledge-and-decisions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622041757/http://www.questia.com/library/95113281/knowledge-and-decisions|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 22, 2013|title=Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell, 1996 |language=en|access-date=2018-10-11}}</ref> [[Biography:Friedrich Hayek|Friedrich Hayek]] wrote: "In a wholly original manner [Sowell] succeeds in translating abstract and theoretical argument into highly concrete and realistic discussion of the central problems of contemporary economic policy."<ref>{{cite news|last=Hayek|first=Friedrich|date=December 1981|title=The Best Book on General Economics in Many a Year|url=https://reason.com/1981/12/01/the-best-book-on-general-econo/|work=Reason|publisher=Reason Foundation|volume=13|pages=47–49|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101192247/https://reason.com/1981/12/01/the-best-book-on-general-econo/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sowell opposes the imposition of minimum wages by governments, arguing in his book ''Basic Economics'' that "Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they either lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force."<ref>{{Cite news|date=2016-04-08|title=Notable & Quotable: Thomas Sowell|language=en-US|work={{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}}|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-thomas-sowell-1460154361|access-date=2022-02-10|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210135111/https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-thomas-sowell-1460154361|url-status=live}}</ref> He goes further to argue that minimum wages disproportionately affect "members of racial or ethnic minority groups" that have been discriminated against. He asserts that "Before federal minimum wage laws were instituted in the 1930s, the black unemployment rate was slightly lower than the white unemployment rate in 1930. But then followed the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 – all of which imposed government-mandated minimum wages, either on a particular sector or more broadly... By 1954, black unemployment rates were double those of whites and have continued to be at that level or higher. Those particularly hard hit by the resulting unemployment have been black teenage males."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-05-31|title=Thomas Sowell on the differential impact of the minimum wage|url=https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/thomas-sowell-on-the-differential-impact-of-the-minimum-wage/|access-date=2022-02-10|website=American Enterprise Institute – AEI|language=en-US|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210135122/https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/thomas-sowell-on-the-differential-impact-of-the-minimum-wage/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs.<ref name="TS:Essay" /> He opposes [[Engineering:Gun control|gun control]] laws, arguing, "On net balance, they do not save lives, but cost lives."<ref name="guncontrol" />

=== Race and ethnicity ===
Sowell has supported conservative political positions on race, and is known for caustic, sarcastic criticism of liberal black civil rights figures.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2011|p=32–33}}<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Dillard |first=Angela D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45023496 |title=Guess who's coming to dinner now? : multicultural conservatism in America |date=2001 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=0-8147-1939-2 |location=New York |pages=6, 60 |oclc=45023496}}</ref> Sowell has argued that [[Social:Institutional racism|systemic racism]] is an untested, questionable hypothesis, writing, "I don't think even the people who use it have any clear idea what they're saying", and compared it to [[Social:Propaganda|propaganda]] tactics used by Joseph Goebbels because if it is "repeated long enough and loud enough", people "cave in" to it.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chasmar|first=Jessica|date=13 July 2020|title=Thomas Sowell: Joe Biden win could signal 'point of no return for this country'|work=The Washington Times|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/13/thomas-sowell-joe-biden-win-could-signal-point-of-/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201029041334/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/13/thomas-sowell-joe-biden-win-could-signal-point-of-/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 29, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Creitz" />

In several of his works—including ''The Economics and Politics of Race'' (1983), ''Ethnic America'' (1981), ''Affirmative Action Around the World'' (2004), and other books—Sowell challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies. He claims that many problems identified with blacks in modern society are not unique, neither in terms of American ethnic groups, nor in terms of a rural [[Social:Proletariat|proletariat]] struggling with disruption as it became [[Earth:Urbanization|urbanized]], as discussed in his ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'' (2005).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=Black Rednecks and White Liberals |date=January 1, 2005 |publisher=Encounter Books |location=[[Google Books]] |isbn=1594033498 |pages=1–65 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMxpBOnQIH8C&pg=PA1 |access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date= July 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704062056/https://books.google.com/books?id=JMxpBOnQIH8C&pg=PA1&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> He is critical of [[Social:Affirmative action|affirmative action]] and race-based quotas.<ref>{{cite web|date=August 10, 2000|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|title=Blacks and Bootstraps |url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell081400.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001026193310/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell081400.asp|archivedate=October 26, 2000|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=April 22, 2003|title=Quota 'logic' |url= https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042203.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030604112055/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042203.asp|archivedate=June 4, 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
{{blockquote|text=When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.<ref>{{cite web|title= Thomas Sowell Quote |url= https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1148374-when-people-get-used-to-preferential-treatment-equal-treatment-seems |access-date= 4 July 2023|date= 2015-07-13 |archive-date= July 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230704054348/https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1148374-when-people-get-used-to-preferential-treatment-equal-treatment-seems}}</ref>}}
 
He takes issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite. In ''Affirmative Action Around the World'',<ref name="hoover1" /> Sowell holds that affirmative action affects more groups than is commonly understood, though its impacts occur through different mechanisms, and has long since ceased to favor blacks.{{blockquote|text=One of the few policies that can be said to harm virtually every group in a different way. ... Obviously, whites and Asians lose out when you have preferential admission for black students or Hispanic students—but blacks and Hispanics lose out because what typically happens is the students who have all the credentials to succeed in college are admitted to colleges where the standards are so much higher that they fail.<ref>{{cite web |last= Miller |first= Andrew |title= Thomas Sowell: Idea of 'systemic racism' a lie that has 'no meaning' and is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda |url= https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sowell-systemic-racism-is-a-lie-that-has-no-meaning-and-reminiscent-of-nazi-propaganda |work= Washington Examiner |access-date= 6 May 2021 |date= July 13, 2020 |archive-date= May 18, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210518141626/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sowell-systemic-racism-is-a-lie-that-has-no-meaning-and-reminiscent-of-nazi-propaganda |url-status= live }}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}

In ''Intellectuals and Race'' (2013), Sowell argues that [[Philosophy:Intelligence quotient|intelligence quotient]] (IQ) gaps are hardly startling or unusual between, or within, [[Social:Ethnic group|ethnic group]]s. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black–white IQ scores is similar to that between the national average and the scores of certain ethnic white groups in years past, in periods when the nation was absorbing new immigrants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=Intellectuals and race |date=2013 |publisher=Blackstone Audio |location=Ashland, Oregon |isbn=978-1482923537}}</ref>

=== Late-talking and the Einstein syndrome ===
Sowell wrote ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late'', a follow-up to his ''Late-Talking Children'', discussing a condition he termed the ''[[Medicine:Einstein syndrome|Einstein syndrome]]''. This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently misdiagnosed with [[Medicine:Autism|autism]] or [[Medicine:Pervasive developmental disorder|pervasive developmental disorder]]. He includes the research of Stephen Camarata and [[Biography:Steven Pinker|Steven Pinker]], among others, in this overview of a poorly understood developmental trait. It is a trait which he says affected many historical figures who developed prominent careers, such as [[Physicist|physicist]]s [[Biography:Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein]],<ref>Wolff, Barbara, and Hananya Goodman. "[http://www.albert-einstein.org/article_handicap.html The Legend of the Dull-Witted Child Who Grew Up to Be a Genius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820043559/http://www.albert-einstein.org/article_handicap.html |date=August 20, 2018 }}." ''The Albert Einstein Archives''. IS: [[Organization:Hebrew University of Jerusalem|Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].</ref> [[Biography:Edward Teller|Edward Teller]], and [[Biography:Richard Feynman|Richard Feynman]]; [[Biography:Mathematician|mathematician]] [[Biography:Julia Robinson|Julia Robinson]]; and musicians Arthur Rubinstein and Clara Schumann. He makes the case for the theory that some children develop unevenly (asynchronous development) for a period in childhood due to rapid and extraordinary development in the analytical functions of the [[Biology:Brain|brain]]. This may temporarily "rob resources" from neighboring functions such as [[Biology:Language development|language development]].

=== Politics ===

In a 2009 column titled "The Bush Legacy", Sowell assessed President George W. Bush as "a mixed bag" but "an honorable man."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=16 January 2009|title=The Bush Legacy|url=http://www.creators.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/the-bush-legacy.html|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120035536/http://www.creators.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/the-bush-legacy.html|archivedate=January 20, 2009|accessdate=February 26, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sowell was strongly critical of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and grudgingly endorsed [[Biography:Ted Cruz|Ted Cruz]] in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, criticizing  him as well, and stating that "we can only make our choices among those actually available".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|title=Tragedy and Choices|date=February 16, 2016|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/02/16/tragedy-and-choices|publisher=Creators Syndicate|accessdate=February 26, 2022|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232137/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/02/16/tragedy-and-choices|url-status=live}}</ref> Sowell indicated that he would vote in the general election against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, due to fears about the appointments Clinton would possibly make to the Supreme Court.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Sowell said the media was "filtering and spinning" its coverage regarding abortions<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title='Partial truth' abortion |url=https://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2004/06/04/partial-truth-abortion-n1298147 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=Townhall |language=en}}</ref> and has spoken out against sex-selective abortion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-06 |title=The Real 'War on Women' |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/06/real-war-women-thomas-sowell/ |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2018, he named George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge as presidents he liked.<ref name=":5" />

==== Donald Trump ====
During the Republican primary of the 2016 presidential election, Sowell criticized Donald Trump, questioning whether Trump had "any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump?"<ref name="TrumpNotConservative">{{cite news|last1=Sowell|first1=Thomas|title=Conservatives for Trump?|issue=April 26, 2016|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/04/16/conservatives-for-trump|access-date=February 26, 2022|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232132/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/04/16/conservatives-for-trump|url-status=live}}</ref> Two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Sowell recommended voters to vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton, because he would be "easier to impeach".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSJxyVJjAfk|title=Thomas Sowell Reverses Position On Donald Trump|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> In 2018, when asked on his thoughts of Trump's presidency, Sowell replied, "I think he's better than [[Biography:Barack Obama|the previous president]]."<ref name=":7">Malagisi, Christopher, host. 23 April 2018. "[https://www.conservativebookclub.com/31010/podcasts/podcast-episode-5-interview-legendary-thomas-sowell-new-book-legacy-thinks-trump-future-america Interview with the Legendary Thomas Sowell: His New Book, His Legacy, and What He Thinks of Trump and the Future of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808233455/https://www.conservativebookclub.com/31010/podcasts/podcast-episode-5-interview-legendary-thomas-sowell-new-book-legacy-thinks-trump-future-america |date=August 8, 2020 }}" (podcast). Ep. 5 in ''The Conservative Book Club Podcast''. US: The Conservative Book Club.</ref>

During interviews in 2019, Sowell defended President Trump against charges of racism.<ref>"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvQxcVYQlY Sowell: Politicians using race as their ticket to whatever racket they're running] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108025732/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvQxcVYQlY |date=November 8, 2020 }}." ''The Ingraham Angle''. Fox News. March 6, 2019. via [[Company:YouTube|YouTube]].</ref><ref>Sowell, Thomas. March 22, 2019. "[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/22/thomas_sowell_no_hard_evidence_that_trump_is_a_racist.html No Hard Evidence Trump is a racist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521034126/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/22/thomas_sowell_no_hard_evidence_that_trump_is_a_racist.html |date=May 21, 2020 }}." ''Fox & Friends''. – via RealClearPolitics.</ref>

==== Joe Biden presidential nomination ====
In 2020, Sowell wrote that if the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, it could signal a point of no return for the United States, a tipping point akin to the fall of the Roman Empire. In an interview in July 2020, he stated that "the Roman Empire overcame many problems in its long history but eventually it reached a point where it could no longer continue, and much of that was from within, not just the [[Social:Barbarian|barbarian]]s attacking from outside." Sowell wrote that if Biden became president, the Democratic Party would have an enormous amount of control over the nation, and if this happened, they could twin with the "radical left" and ideas such as defunding the police could come to fruition.<ref name="Creitz" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/21/a-vote-at-the-crossroads|title=A vote at the crossroads|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=January 5, 2021|accessdate=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232133/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/21/a-vote-at-the-crossroads|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Education ===
Sowell has written about education throughout his career. He has argued for the need for reform of the school system in the United States. In his latest book, ''Charter Schools and Their Enemies'' (2020), Sowell compares the educational outcomes of school children educated at charter schools with those at conventional public schools. In his research, Sowell first explains the need and his methodology for choosing comparable students—both ethnically and socioeconomically—before listing his findings. He presents the case that charter schools on the whole do significantly better in terms of educational outcomes than conventional schools.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Walter|date=6 July 2020|title=Williams: Charter schools and their enemies|url=https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/williams-charter-schools-and-their-enemies|access-date=2 September 2020|newspaper=Toronto Sun|archive-date=August 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824170128/https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/williams-charter-schools-and-their-enemies|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-07-09|title=The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|access-date=2020-11-23|website=National Review|language=en-US|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120031417/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Carden|first=Art|title=Charters Close The Achievement Gap, Says Thomas Sowell|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2020/07/03/charters-close-the-achievement-gap-says-thomas-sowell/|access-date=2020-11-23|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320182334/https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2020/07/03/charters-close-the-achievement-gap-says-thomas-sowell/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sowell argues that many U.S. schools are failing children; contends that "indoctrination" has taken the place of proper education; and argues that teachers' unions have promoted harmful education policies.  Sowell contends that many schools have become monopolies for educational bureaucracies.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Williamson|first=Kevin D.|date=9 July 2020|title=The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools|website=National Review|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120031417/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In his book ''Education: Assumptions Versus History'' (1986), Sowell analyzes the state of education in U.S. schools and universities. In particular, he examines the experiences of blacks and other ethnic groups in the American education system and identifies the factors and patterns behind both success and failure.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Education: Assumptions Versus History|url=https://contemporarythinkers.org/thomas-sowell/book/3996-2/|access-date=4 November 2020|website=Contemporary Thinkers|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125041842/https://contemporarythinkers.org/thomas-sowell/book/3996-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Reception ==

Classical liberals, libertarians, and conservatives of different disciplines have received Sowell's work positively.<ref name="CM-Peerless" /><ref name="NatRev-Chew" /><ref name="Forbes2" /><ref>{{Cite magazine| last=Higgins| first=James| date=Spring 2001| title=Tom Sowell in Practice and Theory| url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/tom-sowell-in-practice-and-theory/| access-date=2020-12-16| magazine=Claremont Review of Books| volume=1| number=3| language=en-US| archive-date=February 14, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214051149/https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/tom-sowell-in-practice-and-theory/| url-status=live}} Higgins describes Sowell as having written a "brilliant trilogy on culture and societies (''Race and Culture'', ''Migrations and Culture'', and ''Conquests and Culture''). [...] His stature must be attributed to his ability to bring light where there is darkness and logic where there is confusion to public policy in general and economics in particular."</ref> Among these, he has been noted for originality, depth and breadth,<ref name="TS:Seeing" /><ref name="NNC" /> clarity of expression, and thoroughness of research.<ref name="Forbes" /><ref name="NNC" /><ref name=":6" /> Sowell's publications have been received positively by economists Steven Plaut,<ref name=":6" /> Steve H. Hanke<ref>{{cite web| last=Hanke| first=Steve H.|  title=Thomas Sowell at 90 Is More Relevant Than Ever| url=https://www.cato.org/commentary/thomas-sowell-90-more-relevant-ever| access-date=June 29, 2021| newspaper=Cato| date=July 1, 2020| archive-date=July 9, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181421/https://www.cato.org/commentary/thomas-sowell-90-more-relevant-ever| url-status=live}},</ref> [[Biography:James M. Buchanan|James M. Buchanan]];<ref name=":5">{{cite web| last=Hazlett| first=Thomas| author-link=Thomas Hazlett| title=Thomas Sowell Returns| url=https://reason.com/2018/11/26/thomas-sowell-returns/| access-date=December 1, 2021| newspaper=Reason| date=2018| archive-date=December 2, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202050342/https://reason.com/2018/11/26/thomas-sowell-returns/| url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Biography:John B. Taylor|John B. Taylor]];<ref>{{cite web| last=Taylor| first=John B.| author-link=John B. Taylor| title=Happy Birthday and a Terrific New Book by Thomas Sowell| url=https://economicsone.com/2020/06/30/happy-birthday-and-a-terrific-new-book-by-thomas-sowell/| access-date=June 25, 2021| newspaper=Economicsone| date=June 30, 2020| archive-date=June 25, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625055153/https://economicsone.com/2020/06/30/happy-birthday-and-a-terrific-new-book-by-thomas-sowell/| url-status=live}}</ref> philosophers Carl Cohen<ref>{{cite web| last=Cohen| first=Carl| author-link=Carl Cohen (professor)| title=Affirmative Action Around the World by Thomas Sowell| url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/carl-cohen/affirmative-action-around-the-world-by-thomas-sowell/| access-date=June 26, 2021| newspaper=Commentary| date=April 2004| archive-date=June 27, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627012006/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/carl-cohen/affirmative-action-around-the-world-by-thomas-sowell/| url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Biography:Tibor Machan|Tibor Machan]];<ref>{{cite web| last=Machan| first=Tibor| author-link=Tibor Machan| title=Marxism Demystified| url=https://reason.com/1985/09/01/marxism-demystified/| access-date=June 14, 2021| newspaper=Reason| date=September 1985| archive-date=June 23, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623221319/https://reason.com/1985/09/01/marxism-demystified/| url-status=live}}</ref> science historian [[Biography:Michael Shermer|Michael Shermer]];<ref>{{cite web| last=Shermer| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Shermer| title=Liberty and Science| url=https://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/09/06/michael-shermer/liberty-science| access-date=June 23, 2021| newspaper=Cato Institute| date=September 6, 2011| archive-date=July 27, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727224038/https://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/09/06/michael-shermer/liberty-science| url-status=live}}</ref> essayist Gerald Early;<ref name=":8">{{cite web| last=Early| first=Gerald| author-link=Gerald Early| title=The Black Conservative Lion in Winter| url=https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/the-black-conservative-lion-in-winter/| access-date=June 30, 2021| newspaper=The Common Reader| date=May 22, 2018| archive-date=July 9, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181604/https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/the-black-conservative-lion-in-winter/| url-status=live}}</ref> political scientists Abigail Thernstrom<ref name="NatRev-Think" /> and Charles Murray;<ref name="TS:Seeing" /> psychologists [[Biography:Steven Pinker|Steven Pinker]]<ref>{{citation | last=Pinker| first=Steven| author-link=Steven Pinker| title=The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature| publisher=Penguin Books| location=New York| year=2002| pages=286–296| title-link=The Blank Slate}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Q&A with Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate|date=October 30, 2002|access-date=August 25, 2019|last=Sailer|first=Steve|publisher=United Press International|url=https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/|archive-date=December 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205074319/http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Biography:Jonathan Haidt|Jonathan Haidt]];<ref>{{citation | last=Haidt| first=Jonathan| author-link=Jonathan Haidt| title=The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|year=2012|pages=338–340|title-link=The Righteous Mind}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last=Jenkins| first=Holman W.| author-link=Holman W. Jenkins Jr.| title=The Weekend Interview with Jonathan Haidt: He Knows Why We Fight| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303830204577446512522582648| access-date=March 5, 2017| newspaper={{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}}| date=June 29, 2012| archive-date=May 27, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527193001/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303830204577446512522582648| url-status=live}}</ref> and Josef Joffe, publisher and editor of {{Lang|de|Die Zeit.}}<ref name="NNC" /> Steve Forbes, in a 2015 {{wipe|Forbes}}, stated that "it's a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The shameful blackout of Thomas, Sowell and Williams |url=https://torontosun.com/2017/08/11/the-shameful-blackout-of-thomas-sowell-and-williams |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=torontosun |language=en-CA |archive-date=October 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027041339/https://torontosun.com/2017/08/11/the-shameful-blackout-of-thomas-sowell-and-williams |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Biography:Nathan J. Robinson|Nathan J. Robinson]] stated that Sowell "is not given much attention by mainstream scholars in the academy, and few of his books are reviewed by major liberal-leaning publications."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Nathan J. |date=2023-09-19 |title=Is Thomas Sowell a Legendary "Maverick" Intellectual or a Pseudo-Scholarly Propagandist? |language=en |work=Current Affairs |url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/09/is-thomas-sowell-a-legendary-maverick-intellectual-or-a-pseudo-scholarly-propagandist |access-date=2023-12-23 |issn=2471-2647}}</ref>

Economist James B. Stewart wrote a critical review of ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals'', calling it "the latest salvo in Thomas Sowell's continuing crusade to represent allegedly dysfunctional value orientations and behavioral characteristics of African Americans as the principal reasons for persistent economic and social disparities." He also criticized it for downplaying the impact of slavery.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=James B. |date=Autumn 2006 |title=Thomas Sowell's Quixotic Quest to Denigrate African American Culture: A Critique |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20064129 |journal=The Journal of African American History |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=459–466 |doi=10.1086/JAAHv91n4p459 |jstor=20064129 |s2cid=141293584 |access-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214141439/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20064129 |url-status=live }}</ref> Particularly in black communities in the 1980s Sowell became, in historian Michael Ondaatje's words, "persona non grata, someone known to talk ''about'', rather than with, African Americans".{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=33}} Economist Bernadette Chachere,<ref name="link.springer.com" /> law professor Richard Thompson Ford,<ref name="Ford" /> and sociologists William Julius Wilson<ref name="Wilson 1984" /> and Richard Coughlin<ref name="Coughlin 1995">{{Cite journal|title=Book Reviews: Comparative Politics. "Race and Culture: A World View by Thomas Sowell"|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=89|issue=4|pages=1064–1065|date=December 1995 |doi=10.2307/2082585|jstor=2082585|last1=Coughlin|first1=Richard M.|s2cid=147307339 }}</ref> have criticized some of his work. Criticisms include neglecting discrimination against women in the workforce in ''Rhetoric or Reality?'',<ref name="Wilson 1984" /> the methodology of ''Race and Culture: A World View'',<ref name="Coughlin 1995" /> and portrayal of opposing theories in ''Intellectuals and Race''.<ref name="Ford" /> Economist Jennifer Doleac criticized ''Discrimination and Disparities'', arguing that statistical discrimination is real and pervasive (Sowell argues that existing racial disparities are mostly due to accurate sorting based on underlying characteristics, such as education) and that government intervention can achieve societal goals and make markets work more efficiently.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Doleac| first=Jennifer L.| date=2021| title=A Review of Thomas Sowell's Discrimination and Disparities| url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20201541| journal=Journal of Economic Literature| language=en| volume=59| issue=2| pages=574–589| doi=10.1257/jel.20201541| s2cid=236338788| issn=0022-0515| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119163111/http://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20201541| archive-date=January 19, 2022}} [http://jenniferdoleac.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Doleac_SowellReview_JEL.pdf Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123042822/http://jenniferdoleac.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Doleac_SowellReview_JEL.pdf |date=November 23, 2021 }}</ref> Columnist Steven Pearlstein criticized ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics''.<ref name="PostWealthPoverty">{{cite news |last1=Pearlstein |first1=Steven |title=Here's why poor people are poor, says a conservative black academic |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-why-poor-people-are-poor-says-a-conservative-black-academic/2015/09/03/df8ff1fc-1ab4-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |access-date=15 May 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=4 September 2015 |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113054/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-why-poor-people-are-poor-says-a-conservative-black-academic/2015/09/03/df8ff1fc-1ab4-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Sowell was married to Alma Jean Parr from 1964 to 1975, and married Mary Ash in 1981.<ref>Sowell, ''A Personal Odyssey'', pp.&nbsp;162–163, 253, 278.</ref> He has two children.<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Sowell Facts, information, pictures {{!}} Encyclopedia.com articles about Thomas Sowell |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Thomas_Sowell.aspx |access-date=2015-10-20 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=July 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720064714/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Thomas_Sowell.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sowell, Thomas, 1930– |url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/sowell_thomas_1930 |access-date=2015-10-20 |website=search.credoreference.com |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113104/https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/sowell_thomas_1930 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Legacy and honors ==
[[File:National Humanities Medal Winners for 2003.jpg|thumb|Clarence Thomas (last on right) accepting the 2002 National Humanities Medal on Sowell's behalf]]
* 1982: the Mencken Award for Best Book, from the Free Press Association, for his ''Ethnic America: A History''.
* 1990: the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute.
* 1998: the Sydney Hook Award, from the National Association of Scholars.<ref>Jim Nelson Black (2004). "Freefall of the American university". Nashville ''WND Books''.</ref>
* 1998: elected membership to the American Philosophical Society.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+Sowell&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-12-03|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203203023/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+Sowell&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2002: the National Humanities Medal, presented by President George W. Bush, for prolific scholarship melding [[History:History|history]], economics, and political science.
* 2003: the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement.<ref name="Hoovr" />
* 2004: the [[Biography:Lysander Spooner|Lysander Spooner]] Award, presented by Laissez Faire Books, for his ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One''.<ref name="pressREL" />
* 2008: the International Book Award, from getAbstract, for his book ''Economic Facts and Fallacies''.<ref name="EcFaX" />

==Career chronology==
* Labor economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961 – August 1962
* Instructor in economics, Douglass College, [[Organization:Rutgers University|Rutgers University]], September 1962 – June 1963
* Lecturer in economics, Howard University, September 1963 – June 1964
* [[Social:Economic analyst|Economic analyst]], American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964 – August 1965
* Assistant professor of economics, [[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]], September 1965 – August 1969{{r|sowell19990503}}
* Associate professor of economics, [[Organization:Brandeis University|Brandeis University]], September 1969 – June 1970
* Associate professor of economics, [[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|University of California, Los Angeles]], September 1970 – June 1972
* Project director, Urban Institute, August 1972 – July 1974
* [[Social:Fellow|Fellow]], Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, July 1976 – March 1977
* Visiting professor of economics, [[Organization:Amherst College|Amherst College]], September–December 1977
* Fellow, Hoover Institution, [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]], April–August 1977
* Professor of economics, [[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]], July 1974 – June 1980
* Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, September 1980–present

== Bibliography ==
=== Books ===
* 1971. ''Economics: Analysis and Issues''. Scott Foresman & Co.
* 1972. ''Black Education: Myths and Tragedies''. David McKay Co. . {{ISBN|0-679-30015-5}} .
* 1972. ''Say's Law: An Historical Analysis''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-04166-7}}.
* 1974. ''Classical Economics Reconsidered''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-00358-0}}.
* 1975. ''[[Finance:Race and Economics|Race and Economics]]''. David McKay Co. {{ISBN|978-0-679-30262-9}}.
* 1980. ''[[Finance:Knowledge and Decisions|Knowledge and Decisions]]''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-03736-0}}.
* 1981. ''Ethnic America: A History'' . Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-02074-7}} .
** Chapter 1, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200208141440/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/159f/66e582c3bb3f5d5414cf0695dc5aac74426e.pdf The American Mosaic] ."
* 1981. ''Markets and Minorities''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-04399-2}} .
* 1981. ''Pink and Brown People: and Other Controversial Essays'' . Hoover Press . {{ISBN|0-8179-7532-2}}.
* 1983. ''The Economics and Politics of Race''. William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-01891-2}}.
* 1984. ''Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?'' William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-03113-7}}.
* 1985. ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics''. Quill. {{ISBN|0-688-06426-4}}.
* 1986. ''Education: Assumptions Versus History''. Hoover Press. {{ISBN|0-8179-8112-8}}.
* 1987. ''A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles'' . William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-06912-6}} .
* 1987. ''Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays''. William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-07114-7}}.
* 1990. ''Preferential Policies: An International Perspective''. {{ISBN|0-688-08599-7}}
* 1993. ''Inside American Education''. New York: The Free Press. {{ISBN|0-7432-5408-2}}.
* 1993. ''Is Reality Optional?: and Other Essays''. Hoover. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-9262-0}}.
* 1995. ''Race and Culture: A World View''. {{ISBN|0-465-06796-4}}.
* 1995. ''The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-08995-X}}.
* 1996. ''Migrations and Cultures: A World View''. {{ISBN|0-465-04589-8}}. {{OCLC|41748039}}.
* 1998. ''Conquests and Cultures: An International History''. {{ISBN|0-465-01400-3}}.
* 1998. ''Late-Talking Children''. {{ISBN|0-465-03835-2}}.
* 1999. ''The Quest for Cosmic Justice'' . {{ISBN|0-684-86463-0}}.
* 2000. ''A Personal Odyssey''. {{ISBN|0-684-86465-7}}.
* 2000. [[Finance:Basic Economics|''Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy'' (1st ed.)]] . Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-08145-2}}.
* 2002. ''Controversial Essays''. Hoover. {{ISBN|0-8179-2992-4}}.
* 2002. ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late''. {{ISBN|0-465-08141-X}}.
* 2003. ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One''. {{ISBN|0-465-08143-6}}.
* 2004. ''Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study'' . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press . {{ISBN|978-0-300-10775-3}} .
* 2004. [[Finance:Basic Economics|''Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy'' (revised and expanded ed.)]]. New York: Basic Books.
* 2005. ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals''. San Francisco: Encounter Books. {{ISBN|978-1-59403-086-4}}.
* 2006. ''Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays'' . Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-4752-1}}. {{OCLC|253604328}}. {{ASIN|0817947523}} .
* 2006. ''On Classical Economics''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-12606-8}}.<ref>Berdell, John. 2007. "[https://eh.net/book_reviews/on-classical-economics/ On Classical Economics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035418/https://eh.net/book_reviews/on-classical-economics/ |date=July 1, 2020 }}" (review). ''EH.net''. Economic History Association.</ref>
* 2007. ''A Man of Letters''. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books. {{ISBN|978-1-59403-196-0}}.
* 2007. [[Finance:Basic Economics|''Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy'' (3rd ed.).]] Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00260-3}}. {{OCLC|76897806}}.
* 2008. ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One'' (2nd ed.). Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00345-7}} . {{OCLC|260206351}} .
* 2008. ''Economic Facts and Fallacies'' . Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00349-5}}. {{OCLC|1033591370}}. {{ASIN|0465003494}}.
* 2009. ''The Housing Boom and Bust''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01880-2}}.
** Chapter 5, "[http://60secondupdates.com/vnh/60/pdf/housing-boom-and-bust.pdf The Past and the Future] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125084010/http://60secondupdates.com/vnh/60/pdf/housing-boom-and-bust.pdf |date=November 25, 2021 }}."
* 2010. [[Finance:Basic Economics|''Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy'' (4th ed.).]] Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02252-6}}.
* 2010. ''Dismantling America: and Other Controversial Essays''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02251-9}} . {{OCLC|688505777}} .
* 2010. ''Intellectuals and Society'' . Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01948-9}} . [http://www.capitolreader.com/bonus/Intellectuals%20and%20Society.pdf Lay summary] .
* 2011. ''The Thomas Sowell Reader''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02250-2}}.
* 2011. ''Economic Facts and Fallacies, 2nd edition''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0465022038}}
* 2013. ''Intellectuals and Race''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-05872-3}}.
* 2014. ''[[Finance:Basic Economics|Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy]]'' (5th ed.). New York: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-06073-3}}.
* 2015. ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective''. Basic Books.<ref name="PABub" />
* 2016. ''Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective'' (2nd ed.). Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-09676-3}}.
* 2018. ''Discrimination and Disparities''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-64560-8}}.
* 2019. ''Discrimination and Disparities'' (revised, enlarged ed.) Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-64563-9}}.
* 2020. ''Charter Schools and Their Enemies''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-67513-1}}.
* 2023. ''Social Justice Fallacies''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-60392-9}}.

=== Selected essays ===
* {{Cite journal|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|journal=Change|volume=5|issue=4|pages=33–37|jstor=40161749|title=Arthur Jensen and His Critics: The Great IQ Controversy|date=May 1973|doi=10.1080/00091383.1973.10568506}}
* 1975. "[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED130570.pdf Affirmative Action Reconsidered. Was It Necessary in Academia?]" (''Evaluation Studies'' 27). Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. {{ISBN|0-8447-3199-4}}. {{LCCN|7542779}}.
* 1979. "[https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2510&context=law_lawreview Status versus Behavior]." ''Washington University Law Review'' 1979(1):179–188.
* 1982. "[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456.9623&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=57 Weber and Bakke, and the Presuppositions of 'Affirmative Action']." pp.&nbsp;37–63 in ''Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Equal Opportunity: An Economic and Social Perspective'', edited by W. E. Block and M. A. Walker. Fraser Institute. {{ISBN|978-0-88975-039-5}}.
* 2002. "[https://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817928928_79.pdf The Education of Minority Children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626041235/https://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817928928_79.pdf |date=June 26, 2020 }}." pp.&nbsp;79–92 in ''Education in the Twenty-First Century,'' edited by E. P. Lazear. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. [http://tsowell.com/speducat.html Available via eText].
* 2002. "[https://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817998721_167.pdf Discrimination, Economics, and Culture]." pp.&nbsp;167–180 in ''Beyond the Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America'', edited by A. Thernstrom and S.&nbsp;Thernstrom. Hoover Institution Press.
* 2012. "[https://www.weblogbahamas.com/files/hoover-proof.pdf 'Trickle Down' Theory and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich']" (''Hoover Institution Press Publication'' 635) Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-1615-2}}. [[Google Books]]: [https://books.google.com/books?id=EY3prsH-5bwC EY3prsH-5bwC].

== Footnotes ==
{{Notelist|Sowell did not receive the National Humanities Medal in person; Justice Clarence Thomas received it on his behalf on February 23, 2003.}}

== See also ==
* Greenhouse effect
* List of newspaper columnists

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="courage">{{cite web|last=Graglia|first=Nino A.|title=Profile in courage|url=http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/newsletter/01winter/review.html|work=Hoover Institution Newsletter|publisher=Hoover Institution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050909080051/http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/newsletter/01winter/review.html|archive-date=September 9, 2005|date=Winter 2001}}</ref>
<ref name="nordlinger20110221">Nordlinger, Jay. February 21, 2011. "[http://live-national-review.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/nrdpdf/20110221_0.pdf#page=45 A lion in high summer: Thomas Sowell, charging ahead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213030/https://www.nationalreview.com/sites/default/files/nrdpdf/20110221_0.pdf#page=45 |date=March 4, 2016 }}." ''National Review'' 63(3):43–45.</ref>
<ref name="CV">{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|title=Curriculum vita|url=http://www.tsowell.com/cv.html|work=TSowell.com|access-date=January 6, 2011|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522143536/http://www.tsowell.com/cv.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Salon">{{cite web|last=Sawhill|first=Ray|url=https://www.salon.com/1999/11/10/sowell_2/ |title=Black and right |work=Salon.com |date=1999-11-10 |quote=I prefer not to have labels, but I suspect that "libertarian" would suit me better than many others, although I disagree with the libertarian movement on a number of things -- military preparedness, for instance. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001007222000/http://salon.com/books/int/1999/11/10/sowell/print.html|archive-date=October 7, 2000}}</ref>
<ref name="sowell19990503">{{cite news | url=http://www.hoover.org/research/day-cornell-died | title=The Day Cornell Died | work=The Weekly Standard | date=1999-05-03 | access-date=February 25, 2013 | author=Sowell, Thomas | archive-date=July 19, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719114819/https://www.hoover.org/research/day-cornell-died | url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Hoover bio">{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9767|publisher=Hoover Institution|access-date=January 6, 2011|archive-date=May 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516020254/http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9767|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="guncontrol">{{cite web|title=Do Gun Control Laws Control Guns?|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/13/do-gun-control-laws-control-guns|publisher=Creators Syndicate|date=January 22, 2013|accessdate=February 26, 2022|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232136/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/13/do-gun-control-laws-control-guns|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="hoover1">{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2004-10-30|title=Affirmative Action around the World &#124; Hoover Institution|url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/8108|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110191859/http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/8108|archive-date=2011-01-10|access-date=2011-01-30|publisher=Hoover.org}}</ref>

<!--<ref name="Einstein">{{cite book | first = Thomas | last = Sowell | title = The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late | pages = [https://archive.org/details/einsteinsyndrome00sowe/page/89 89–150] | publisher = Basic Books | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-465-08140-0 | url = https://archive.org/details/einsteinsyndrome00sowe/page/89}}</ref>  -->

<ref name="Creitz">{{Cite news|last=Creitz|first=Charles|date=12 July 2020|title=Thomas Sowell says concept of systemic racism 'has no meaning,' warns US could reach 'point of no return'|work=Fox News Website|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/thomas-sowell-systemic-racism-has-no-meaning|access-date=September 1, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819122400/https://www.foxnews.com/media/thomas-sowell-systemic-racism-has-no-meaning|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Forbes">{{Cite news|title = Turning The Page On 2015|url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|website = Forbes|access-date = 2015-12-20|last1 = Forbes|first1 = Steve|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113058/https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-economics-and-politics-of-race-by-thomas-sowell/|title = Unconventional Truths|date = December 1, 1983|access-date = December 20, 2015|work = Commentary Magazine|last = Plaut|first = Steven|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-economics-and-politics-of-race-by-thomas-sowell/|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="NatRev-Think">{{Cite web|title = Clear Thinking on Race|url = https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/345961/clear-thinking-race|website = National Review Online|publisher = National Review|access-date = 2015-12-21|date = 2013-04-16|archive-date = November 11, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161111010600/https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/345961/clear-thinking-race|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="TS:Seeing">{{Cite web|title = Thomas Sowell – Seeing Clearly|url = http://www.aei.org/publication/thomas-sowell-seeing-clearly/|website = AEI|access-date = 2015-12-20|language = en-US|date = 2005-12-19|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141208155110/http://www.aei.org/publication/thomas-sowell-seeing-clearly/|archive-date = December 8, 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="NNC">{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/race-and-culture-by-thomas-sowell/|title = Nature, Nurture, Culture|access-date = December 19, 2015|last = Joffe|first = Josef|date = March 1995|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/race-and-culture-by-thomas-sowell/|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="NatRev-Chew">{{Cite web|url = http://www.nationalreview.com/article/215370/chewing-nails-jay-nordlinger|title = Chewing Nails|date = August 29, 2005|access-date = December 19, 2015|website = www.nationalreview.com|last = Nordlinger|first = Jay|archive-date = December 18, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171218194454/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/215370/chewing-nails-jay-nordlinger|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="CM-Peerless">{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/thomas-sowell-peerless-nerd/|title = Thomas Sowell: Peerless Nerd, The truth about one of America's Giants|date = December 1, 2011|access-date = December 21, 2015|website = commentarymagazine.com|last = Williamson|first = Kevin D.|archive-date = July 20, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190720003414/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/thomas-sowell-peerless-nerd/|url-status = dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Forbes2">{{Cite web|url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|title = Turning the Page on 2015|date = November 4, 2015|access-date = December 19, 2015|website = Forbes.com|last = Forbes|first = Steve|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113058/https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="link.springer.com">{{cite journal|title=The economics of Thomas Sowell: A critique of markets and minorities|journal=The Review of Black Political Economy|volume=12|issue=2|pages=163–177|date=December 11, 2015|doi=10.1007/BF02873530|last1=Chachere|first1=Bernadette P.|s2cid=154870459}}</ref>
<ref name="Wilson 1984">{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=William Julius|title=Hurting the Disadvantaged|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/24/books/hurting-the-disadvantaged.html|access-date=January 5, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 24, 1984|archive-date=December 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210214250/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/24/books/hurting-the-disadvantaged.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Ford">{{Cite web|title = The Simple Falsehoods of Race|url = http://www.the-american-interest.com/2013/10/10/the-simple-falsehoods-of-race/|website = The American Interest|access-date = 2015-12-21|first = Richard Thompson|last = Ford|date = 2013-10-11|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113100/https://www.the-american-interest.com/2013/10/10/the-simple-falsehoods-of-race/|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="EcFaX">{{cite web|title = Economic Facts and Fallacies Summary|url = https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/economic-facts-and-fallacies/10032|website = getAbstract|access-date = 2019-07-01|archive-date = July 1, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190701132706/https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/economic-facts-and-fallacies/10032|url-status = live}}</ref>
<ref name="TS:APO6">Sowell, ''A Personal Odyssey'', p. 6.</ref>
<ref name="TS:APO47">Sowell, ''A Personal Odyssey'', pp. 47, 58, 59, 62.</ref>
<ref name="TS:1963">Sowell, Thomas. 1963. "Karl Marx and the Freedom of the Individual." ''Ethics'' 73(2):120.</ref>
<ref name="TS:Glut">{{cite thesis|author=Sowell, Thomas|title=Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy|url=https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4284259|type=PhD dissertation|publisher=University of Chicago|year=1968|access-date=January 24, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4284259|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="C-SPAN Q&A">{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|work=Q&A|date=April 17, 2005|url=http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1019|publisher={{wipe|C-SPAN}}|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214083124/http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1019|archivedate=December 14, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="TS:PT">{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2004-06-04|title=Thomas Sowell : 'Partial truth' abortion|url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060404.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813183454/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060404.asp|archivedate=August 13, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="MultiCult">{{cite web|date=2010-10-18|title=The Cult of Multiculturalism|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250190/cult-multiculturalism-thomas-sowell|access-date=5 October 2014|work=National Review Online|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092142/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250190/cult-multiculturalism-thomas-sowell|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="TS:Fed">{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell: Federal Reserve a 'Cancer'|url=http://itmakessenseblog.com/2011/01/13/thomas-sowell-federal-reserve-a-cancer/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006155651/http://itmakessenseblog.com/2011/01/13/thomas-sowell-federal-reserve-a-cancer/|archive-date=6 October 2014|access-date=5 October 2014|work=It makes sense|type=[[World Wide Web|blog]]}}</ref>
<ref name="TS:Essay">Sowell, Thomas (1987); ''Compassion Versus Guilt, and Other Essays''; {{ISBN|0-688-07114-7}}.</ref>
<ref name="Hoovr">{{cite web |author=Thomas Sowell |url=http://www.hoover.org/bios/sowell.html |title=Hoover Institution – Fellows – Thomas Sowell |publisher=Hoover.org |access-date=2010-03-12 |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609140438/http://www.hoover.org/bios/sowell.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="pressREL">{{cite web|url=http://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-fellow-thomas-sowell-receives-lysander-spooner-award-applied-economics|title=Hoover Fellow Thomas Sowell Receives Lysander Spooner Award for Applied Economics|publisher=Hoover Institution|date=March 11, 2004|access-date=March 22, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113143/https://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-fellow-thomas-sowell-receives-lysander-spooner-award-applied-economics|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="PABub">O'Driscoll Jr., Gerald P. 2016. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035413/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b092/ce61e2c8fa865b1ddd2d50e651201f22165e.pdf Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective]" (review). ''Cato Journal'' 36:196–206. {{S2CID|132598832}}.</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
* Kwong, Jo (2008). "Sowell, Thomas (1930–)." pp.&nbsp;482–483 in ''The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism'', edited by R. Hamowy. Thousand Oaks, CA: [[Company:SAGE Publishing|Sage]] / [[Organization:Cato Institute|Cato Institute]]. {{doi|10.4135/9781412965811.n294}}. {{ISBN|978-1412965804}}. {{LCCN|2008009151}}. {{OCLC|750831024}}.
* Ebeling, Richard M., [https://www.aier.org/article/thomas-sowell-at-90-understanding-race-relations-around-the-world/ "Thomas Sowell at 90: Understanding Race Relations Around the World,"] [[Organization:American Institute for Economic Research|American Institute for Economic Research]], June 16, 2020
* Riley, Jason L., [https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jason-l-riley/maverick/9781541619692/ ''Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell''] Basic Books, {{ISBN|978-1541619685|978-1541619692}} (e-book), {{ASIN|B08HM2NQ66}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Riley |first1=Jason L. |title=The Continuing Importance of Thomas Sowell |url=https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/continuing-importance-thomas-sowell/|journal=Imprimis |date=March 2022 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=1–7 |access-date=11 April 2022 |publisher=[[Organization:Hillsdale College|Hillsdale College]] |issn=0277-8432}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.tsowell.com/ Thomas Sowell's home page]
* [https://www.creators.com/author/dr-thomas-sowell Thomas Sowell Features] at Creators Syndicate
* [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp Archive of Articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816002915/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp |date=August 16, 2007 }} by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com
* {{C-SPAN}}
* {{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Russ |title=Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies |url=http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/thomas_sowell/ |work=EconTalk |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty |date=February 25, 2008}}
*  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK4M9iJrgto  Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World],  2021 PBS intellectual biography of its subject with Jason Riley hosting.
* {{Internet Archive author |sname = Thomas Sowell }}

{{chiconomists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowell, Thomas}}
[[Category:Autism researchers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Thomas Sowell}}