Econ Talk with Thomas Sowell part 1 of 8

Russ Roberts Interviews Thomas Sowell on subjects from his book Economic Facts and Fallacies.

Contents

Part 1 - In this segment Russ and Sowell discuss income distribution and ask whether household income has increased over time.

Part 2 - Topics discussed include: the problems with the phrase 'distribution of income', and the role of society in the economy. As well as the controversy over corporate and CEO pay.

Part 3 This section covers the topic of income inequality between the races and sexes.

Part 4 - The conversation continues on inequality between the races and sexes, and examines discrimination as a cause of inequality. As well as examining the effect of anti discrimination laws on poverty.

Part 5 Topics covered are; the appeal of equality, the role intellectuals play in promoting it and their reasons for doing so. As well as assessing the role that multi-national corporations play in causing poverty

Part 6 - Topics covered include; how economic thinking requires looking beyond immediate consequences to secondary consequences and why this is ignored, and an examination of the role raw materials and natural resources play in the wealth of a nation.

Part 7 Topics covered include; economic planning and knowledge with reference to F.A. Hayek's article The Use Of Knowledge in Society, and discuss why utopian visions continue to thrive.

Part 8 - Roberts and Sowell finish up with a discussion on the desirability of immigration.

More econ talk can can be found at

http://www.econtalk.org/

For more on Thomas Sowell visit his website at

http://www.tsowell.com/

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• Interview

[23580578hh]

thomas sowell is my hero

[BrentJ277]

Dr.'s Walter E. Williams and Thomas Sowell ought to see if they can get audience with Obama, perhaps they could teach him some economics and instill some sense into him before he takes America down the shitter, economically speaking..

[dantean]

@midnight9wanderer You're why I can't tell people I'm a libertarian without them thinking "NUTBAG!" A President trying 2 sabotage his presidency (and legacy) 4 some sinister plot/plan is the thinking that KEEPS free marketers a kook-fringe when WE'RE the one's who really know what to do. If I've missed ur having been sarcastic here you must only have discovered the internet, like, yesterday & so have no idea how seriously every idiotic conspiracy theory is taken. Please commit suicide 2day. Thx

[koyunbaba73]

@dweebieMC If you believe that there are good people on both sides, then you're not on the left.

[walt7500]

Go Thomas Go!

[dweebieMC]

I am on the left (BUT HATE DEMOCRATS). yet I really like t sowell. I think he is PROOF that there are smart people on BOTH SIDES of the political spectrum (and everywhere in between). there are also IDIOTS who are both LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE. I love listening to sowell even if I DISAGREE with him on many things (yet agree on others). I wish more people BOTH liberal and conservative, would approach their beliefs like like sowell. maybe then we could get somewhere...

[raptorkiller2k5]

@Nintendomanwill. Well, regardless of the sources of input capital, it's quite clear that quintile groups are equal percentages of people. There are more people in the top 20% than bottom 20%. This fact, that US has an affluent majority, is actually very recent phenomena.

Moving on, please refer to US life expectancy in the early 1900s. Let's compare health indicators in the past vs now. After checking that, I ask, have things taken turns for the worse? ;)

[Nintendomanwill]

It's not heartening to hear Sowell say that claims that the standard of living has been stagnant since the 80s, are nonsense, because in fact where there are booms and busts (like over the last decade) there is no real growth, it's all driven by increasing debt and induced by meddling central banks trying to induce overconsumption by keeping rates artificially low. Malinvestment and overconsumption are just that: unproductive. Living standards certainly haven't skyrocketed as from 1870-1900.

[midnight9wanderer]

yeah right. Obama is plenty happy to take us down the drain. He thinks that if he does so, the FedRes mafia is going pamper his lame ass and want to hear his telepromted speeches forever I guess. They'll dump him like a bag of trash once they get all they can from him.

[girzwald3]

We don't necessarily consume too much. We just don't produce enough. So many people have jobs that don't produce jack. And WAYYYY too many government jobs, which do worse than produce nothing, all they do is take.