This is part of the DR Book Collection.
Economist Thomas Sowell was featured once again on the Hoover Institution’s Uncommon Knowledge to promote his latest book Wealth, Poverty, and Politics: An International Perspective. The interview is a nice, if somewhat simplified overview of his main arguments. Poverty, he says, is the norm. Wealth is what needs to be explained. And wealth largely comes by means of productivity. Yet, why are some groups across the globe more productive than others? He delves into a number of factors, ranging from geography to culture (human capital) to politics. Both the conversation and book are enlightening.
Check out the interview below.
Moar Thomas Sowell!
Yeah, I love me some Sowell, even when I don’t agree with him (such as his positions on immigration, foreign policy, and presidential rankings).
Sowell seems to be mostly talking past the sort of thinkers he wants to criticize. Someone like Piketty or or Krugman would not deny that poor people are considerably wealthier than they used to be. Their concern is that poor people haven’t increased their wealth as much as rich people, and that this disparity is unfair and should be corrected or compensated for insofar as possible.
His talk about crime being The Big Problem for poor people in America is outdated. Crime is a bigger problem than it was in the ’50s, but it’s much better than it was in the ’70s and ’80s and still improving.