Read & Study Economics

Thomas Sowell and the hidden side of rhetoric

Years ago, I discovered Thomas Sowell. I honestly have no clue how, but it was 2015 and I heard about this guy who wrote a book called, “White Rednecks & White Liberals”. My brother bought me the book for Christmas, and I have loved him ever since. I read his Wikipedia page like a thousand times, and I dreamed of the day I had read all of his books. A daunting task, considering he’s published well over 60, if you include the revisions and expansions, or at least 40 original books.

Recently, at almost 95, Sowell released a 1 hour interview with Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge. Check it out:

The first book I read cover to cover of his was “A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles,” and it changed the way I think and approach political discussions so much that it is now in my top ten favorite books of all time.

More recently, I finished his latest book, published in 2023 at the ripe age of 93, “Social Justice Fallacies,” which absolutely tears down the arguments made by many politicians, journalists, and academics regarding the social justice cause, or crusade.

The book is relatively short, with much of the book being notes, or references to the countless facts he cites, rather than random buzzwords and common phrases people use to get their followers to feel good about the message.

In his other work, perhaps his most well-known book, Basic Economics, Sowell argues that most people can live their entire lives without understanding complex things, ranging from rocket science to botany. I don’t need any physics knowledge to acknowledge that the moon landing was an incredible feat, and it also doesn’t affect me much. Economics, however, is different.

Living in a free country, where we have a good democratic process¹, requires us to know at least the basics about economics and its processes in order to cast a proper vote. A proper vote, in this case, means well-informed and well-reasoned. Going with your gut, voting along party lines, or voting however your friends and family tell you to vote does not qualify.

Sowell would break this process down in a few easy steps:

1. Understand the arguments on both sides.

   1. Anyone can “straw man” the opposite side of an argument, which means to misrepresent it. Sowell has said it’s best to research the opposing side of a debate so well that you almost convince yourself that you’re on the wrong side. That’s when you know you actually understand it. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, such as abortion, where there is simply no good reason to rationalize murder. But on other topics, such as minimum wage, it’s best to thoroughly understand the opposite side.

2. Understand the real results vs. the expected, or “wished” results

   1. There are a number of politicians (on either side) who assert their viewpoints with such enthusiasm that their followers believe whatever they say will happen is what’s going to happen. Going back to minimum wage laws, many proponents of increasing it will say it helps people afford to live life, and it’s a basic right. That is not presenting a fact; that’s an assertion. A simple analysis of the FACTS, no, I don’t care about your feelings or wishes, but the FACTS say that every. single. The minimum wage increase in our country’s minimum wage has led to a decrease in aggregate wages in the following years, higher unemployment, and higher costs of living.² This analysis is done with real numbers, not nominal, meaning it’s adjusted for inflation accordingly. This is the difference between the real results of a law being passed, vs. the wishes of the politicians who assert that it will work.

3. Understand “Where will it end?”

   1. Sowell has said that one of the most eye-opening moments of his academic career was when his economics professor asked a question, he answered, and the professor responded, “And then what will happen?” And Sowell responded. And the professor said again, “And then what will happen?” and Sowell was stumped. He thought it ended there. But no, policies have a longer downstream effect than their proposed benefits.

   2. This may sound like the previous point, but there is a distinction in that the previous point was about the quick, stage 1 result. This point goes beyond stage 1, so to speak: “What are the downstream effects of this policy?”

   3. The best example of this is rent-controlled apartments. Several cities have put these into place, and it completely ruins the cost to rent an apartment - it has the adverse effect in the short term, but in the long term: people don’t build there, less people can move there, less tax money collected, no people to work jobs, infratructure suffers, etc. I could go on. These are all unintended consequences of a disastrous policy that was intended to help poor people. The result is the opposite. And, as Sowell states, “Consequences, results, matter more than intentions when it comes to public policy.”

I have said previously that I try to avoid politics on this blog, but lately I have been dabbling more and more. I can’t avoid my interest in it, and this post was in response to the video from the Hoover Institution. Additionally, none of this is meant to get you to vote a certain way, but rather to be a good citizen and servant of Christ, I believe we must cast a well-informed, well-reasoned vote. And this provides the way to do it. Do your research, be rational and logical, and think through things; don’t just “go with your gut”.

1. I know I’m going to get the loser who disagrees and shouts, “Voter fraud!!!” and one person would be talking about 2020 and another about 2024. Regardless, however, if you think about everything that is happening in the world and you can see how the world formed the USA to operate the way it does, you cannot deny that it is almost a miracle that our system works as cleanly it does. If you still deny it, then you are blinded by hatred and unable to see good reason.

2. Source? Thomas Sowell, Basic Economics. Check it out.