Too often do activists look at disparities and immediately assume discrimination is the reason behind it. The irony is that historically, well-intended government intervention often made things worse for low-income and minority groups. March 20th 2018 THE GHETTO THE GHETTO THE GHETTO! He accused modern liberal elites of abandoning the goal of legal equality in favor of a utopian goal of absolute equality constructed and enforced by the state. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Sowell renewed his intellectual assault on liberalism in The Quest for Cosmic Justice (1999). I appreciated his logical explanation of disparities but feel he failed in explaining discrimination, or why it might continue to persist. I read this book with an open mind as it was recommended to me by my right-leaning nephew in law. Four years later in A Conflict of Visions (1987), Sowell analyzed the struggle between what he called the constrained and unconstrained visions of human nature and its prospects for perfectibility, and how those competing visions shape public policies and political conflict. Book Review: Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell by Walter Williams | May 2, 2019 | Books Sowell shows that socioeconomic outcomes differ vastly among individuals, groups and nations in ways that cannot be easily explained by any one factor, whether it's genetics, sex or race discrimination. It is amazing to see Thomas Sowell still writing books at 87, an age when most will have long since retired. He hit this one out of the park. I didn't know Thomas Sowell or his writings when I started listening to this book, so I came into the book without any preconceived ideas. Despite the political and moral attractions of such policies, Sowell suggested that it was more important to judge preferential policies by their results. Economist Thomas Sowell shows the reader how disparities, often large, can manifest without any malicious intervention and can be explained for reasons other than discrimination. Amazing review on trying to differentiate between groups deviation (economic, race, gender, geographical, etc) as natural disparities rather than discrimination with ill intent. Last week’s column discussed Dr. Thomas Sowell’s newest book “Discrimination and Disparities,” which is an enlarged and revised edition of an earlier version. While it may sounds plausible at a glance, but is it really? He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective. These descriptions seem more like social commentary than economic explanation of reality. Indeed, we value facts and figures, unfortunately for the shrewd even facts and figures could be easily manipulated out of context by pretty words and numbers to suit certain agenda or narrative when its packaged so beautifully as the truth and nothing but the truth and we ought to take them as such because it's so plausible. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. I give it four stars because if you’ve read his other stuff, the information Sowell presents here isn’t necessarily new to the reader. MASS MEDIA! And while the chapters near the end were title ‘Solutions’, I didn’t hear (I listened to the audiobook) any kind of idea that would improve any of the situations he described. Book Review: Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell by Walter Williams | May 2, 2019 | Books Sowell shows that socioeconomic outcomes differ vastly among individuals, groups and nations in ways that cannot be easily explained by any one factor, whether it's genetics, sex or race discrimination. and other talking points that I would have dismissed immediately had I heard a Fox News broadcaster talking about then. Those who view disparity as proof of racism or discrimination have a hard time dealing with the cultural factors that lead to increased crime and decreased success in life, as these cultural habits are things that work against people but are not the fault of a wider society that (with good reason) finds certain cultural traits and tendencies problematic, particularly those springing from the culture of the south as it relates to prickly senses of honor and dignity and a quick recourse to violence. In “Discrimination and Disparities,” Mr. Sowell challenges believers in one-factor explanations, among them discrimination, exploitation or genetics, for differences in … “The crucial question is not whether evils exist but whether the evils of the past or present are automatically the cause of major economic, educational and other social disparities today. I hope he is with us for some time yet. He quotes Edmund Burke: “In history a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from past errors and infirmities of mankind.”. I appreciated his logical explanation of disparities but feel he failed in explaining discrimination, or why it might continue to persist. He approvingly quotes David Landes: “The world has never been a level playing field.”. I found myself having very mixed feelings about this book. Much of this will be familiar to those who have read Sowell’s other works. A Review of Thomas Sowell’s Discrimination and Disparities Jennifer L. Doleac February 5, 2020 In Discrimination and Disparities, Thomas Sowell describes how economists think about the causes of disparities in socioeconomic outcomes. In this book he takes empirical aim at the truth about outcomes. Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell book review. His logic, reasoning, economic actuary skills, and writing are 5 star level. And, in many instances, Sowell writes, government attempts to level the playing field in these areas created more social problems or exacerbated existing social problems. Thomas Sowell challenges the basic assumption that equal outcomes between groups would be the norm in society in the absence of discrimination. Professor Thomas Sowell is able to analyze and counter a lot of these misconceptions with data and studies from a variety of sources. He also seems to lean heavy on the argument that the lack of discrimination against Asians in mortgages means that black people aren't discriminated against in mortgages). He also shows that in many instances individuals and businesses in the economic marketplace have been the opponents of discrimination against particular groups, while governments (South Africa under apartheid, Nazi Germany, the state governments of the Confederacy, to name only three) have been the more effective and insidious purveyors of discriminatory policies. I liked how he made some of his points at the beginning, so I didn't realize until halfway through that he was setting me up for CHARTER SCHOOLS! A disparity does not equal discrimination the same way correlation does not equal causation. Indeed, we value facts and figures, unfortunately for the shrewd even facts and figures could be easily manipulated out of context by pretty words and numbers to suit ce. He broadened his approach in The Economics and Politics of Race (1983), where he analyzed the differences in racial and ethnic economic patterns throughout the world. A Brief Review of Sowell’s Discrimination and Disparities Despite my interest in race, racial injustice, and racial disparities, I’d put off reading any of the work of Dr. Thomas Sowell, a renowned economist at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute who has written extensively on these questions. For another, this book mentions several times the hillbilly problem spoken of in. He himself seems to feel the poor and people of color, especially blacks are practically worthy of discrimination with the way he sets up examples and the biased language he uses (‘lazy’ ‘hoodlums’ ‘hooligans’). The widely accepted notion that disparate outcomes result from discrimination alone led to legislation, court decisions, and executive regulations that, though well-intentioned, ultimately failed to produce the equality of outcomes desired. 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