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Thomas Sowell interview

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Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#211

Post by MisterBastahrd »

derision wrote: post #25
Eleopteryx wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His argument that Donald Trump would be a better choice for President than Hillary Clinton because the former would be easier to remove from office than the latter, arguing specifically that "congressional Republicans would [not] automatically spring to his defense, if he overstepped the line". Doesn't seem like a great example of keen political judgment in hindsight.

I've seen numerous examples of congressional Republicans not automatically springing to his defense

Meanwhile Senate Republicans wouldn't even vote to see evidence in his impeachment trial.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#212

Post by datavirtue »

z9e wrote: post #2

I’ve been reading a lot of his books lately, I cannot recommend enough. He does take a conservative approach to a lot of topics but the way he breaks things down helps you understand why. His book Basic Economics taught me more than any economics classes did in school.

The correct approach which happens to feel conservative. He has other writings that explain your perspective.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#213

Post by MisterBastahrd »

keiferski wrote: post #57
Eleopteryx wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reading of the situation seems predicated on a conveniently pedantic definition of "automatic" from my perspective. I watched the entirety proceedings as they transpired and don't recall witnessing much hesitation from Republicans, but it's definitely possible that by not "following conservative media" I overlooked the actually agonizing deliberation that transpired behind the scenes. I would love to educate mys…

Most of the conservative establishment was against Trump at the beginning. Especially Fox News, the primary mouthpiece of the then-traditional Republican Party. Remember that Trump was/is quite critical of the Bushes and other neocons. Watch one of those "Trump won't be president" highlight reels on YouTube and you'll see plenty of Republicans included. Even today, you have a fair amount of Republicans who criticize…

The Lincoln Project is mostly a group of ad guys who would normally get paid at this time of year but have made themselves anathema for the time being from their traditional customers. They've just pivoted because the smart money is on getting funding from Trump oppo groups.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#214

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

viburnum wrote: post #191
deiznof wrote: post #17

His economics are sound, but I often find that his takes on social issues are extremely reductionist. His social views a lot of the time are just standard conservative views (and wrong IMO), I wish he wasn't being praised for that. One example being his view on systemic racism, which he described as: “It does remind me of the propaganda tactics of Joseph Goebbels in the age of the Nazis, in which he was supposed to h…

There’s a link between his social views and his economics.

There's a link between his social views and economics as a mainstream discipline.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#215

Post by 1980phipsi »

mc32 wrote: post #51
kypro wrote: post #37

Thomas Sowell has had a huge impact on me and my views on economics. I'm from a poor working-class background and am often irritated by the needless language barriers of academics. > “Too many academics write as if plain English is beneath their dignity,” Sowell once said, “and some seem to regard logic as an unconstitutional infringement of their freedom of speech.” Sowell is unique in this respect. He's book, "Basi…

I wish other writers would take this to heart. Reading The New Yorker it’s as if their language is a shibboleth and if they didn’t use it, it would alienate their audience for using average language, yet they are the same people who pontificate and pretend they advocate for the lower classes.

I can't stand most articles in The New Yorker.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#216

Post by rukittenme »

Barrin92 wrote: post #205
rukittenme wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Strawmanning the education system Maybe he is. If that's the case, let's "steelman" his position and do better. Do you feel that Thomas Sowell would read your response and feel you grasped the argument he was making to the fullest extent? Do you feel you've honestly and accurately portrayed his position after understanding it fully? In my opinion, you haven't. I think you're upset and its preventing you from unders…

>He has a wikipedia. Try your best to read it. Sowell has published over thirty books, but I can find virtually no actual academic research. One of the last papers dates to the 60s, where he debates Marxism, but I think this is actually just a sort of philosophical treatise. He's repeatedly rejected modelling, mathematics and virtually every other econonmic tool, so to call him an economist is kind of a misnomer. And…

[flagged]

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#217

Post by ajuc »

altcognito wrote: post #109
ajuc wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sum of squares of the differences on all important issues between you and the average? So basically the same formula as variance in probability theory.

Well I mean at that level what counts as a difference and what’s the measure of that distance. I like that this is an attempt to define it even if is isn’t op and we do t actually have any actual numbers, past or present for comparison.

Doesn't seem to be that hard.

On abortion it would be 1 if you're in favor of total ban and 0 if you're in favor of no regulation whatsoever.

On free healthcare it would be 0 if you want no state involvement whatsoever and 1 if you want free tax-payed healthcare for every citizen.

Etc.

It doesn't even matter which way the 0 and 1 are.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#218

Post by mr_overalls »

I'm going to be a nonconformist myself and oppose the near-univeral approval of Sowell in this discussion. His book Basic Economics was the first book on econ that I read, and I was very impressed by it. It reaffirmed the rather right-wing political views that I'd inherited from my parents. However, after taking a few introductory econ classes at university and doing further reading on my own, Sowell starts to appear very ideologically driven.

Sowell is a free-market fundamentalist, in that he opposes most government intervention in markets, and universally trusts laissez-faire capitalism to provide the optimal social & economic good for practically any situation.

The problem with this position is that there's simply a ton of evidence that targeted government intervention provides far better outcomes in many situations.

Another classic example is environmental pollution, a classic case of tragedy of the commons. On the topic of global warming, Sowell doesn't even try to address the issue. He belives climate change is a hoax perpetuated by Democrats.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/01/27/sowell-the-catchwords...

Sowell writes in a conversational style, which is great for accessibility for non-economics. However, he is rightly criticized as failing to cite rigorous studies to back up his opinions.

For a more balanced view of basic economics, I'd highly recommend Principles of Economics by Greg Mankiw.

Re: Thomas Sowell interview

#220

Post by [deleted] »

deiznof wrote: post #201
tathougies wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to redlining, sowell directly addresses it in in Vision of the Anointed. He points out that the kinds of houses blacks tend to purchase tends to be ignored in studies that find widespread discrimination. For example blacks are much more likely to want to buy multi family homes. The income and other requirements for these are much stricter which is why they are denied loans more often. Moreover, he point…

>He then shows data that the anti discrimination legislation increased black default rates and questions whether you encouraging minorities to declare bankruptcy and enter financial ruin is really something to be desired. Sowell talked about the CRA and was proven wrong by multiple studies, like this one, which has a section dedicated to how the CRA wasn't a problem: https://www.responsiblelending.org/mortgage-lendin…

[deleted]
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