Thomas Sowell from Creators Syndicate

Ego and Mouth for 10/31/2008

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

After the big gamble on subprime mortgages that led to the current financial crisis, is there going to be an even bigger gamble, by putting the fate of a nation in the hands of a man whose only qualifications are ego and mouth?

Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibili ...

Updated: Fri Oct 31, 2008

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Affirmative Action and Gay Marriage for 11/04/2008

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The politically clever way to get special privileges is to call them "rights"— especially "equal rights."

Some local election campaigns in various states are using that tactic this year, trying to get special privileges through affirmative action quotas or through demands that the definition of marriage be changed to suit homosexuals.

Equality of rights d ...

Updated: Tue Nov 04, 2008

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A "Sound" Economy? for 11/04/2008

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The truest thing that Senator John McCain said during this election campaign is what got him into the most trouble: "The economy is sound."

"Sound" does not mean bullet-proof. Nor does it mean that everything is going wonderfully at the moment or that nothing needs to be done.

You may be as sick as a dog from having eaten the wrong thing. But that does not mean ...

Updated: Tue Nov 04, 2008

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"Intellectuals" for 11/11/2008

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Among the many wonders to be expected from an Obama administration, if Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times is to be believed, is ending "the anti-intellectualism that has long been a strain in American life."

He cited Adlai Stevenson, the suave and debonair governor of Illinois, who twice ran for president against Eisenhower in the 1950s, as an example of an intellectual ...

Updated: Tue Nov 11, 2008

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It's Priceless for 11/18/2008

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a world where there were no prices?

If you happened to want a Rolex or a Rolls-Royce, you could just go get one— or two if you wanted— and not have to worry about ugly little things like price tags.

There is such a world. It is the world of political rhetoric. No wonder so many people are attracted to that world. It would be a great ...

Updated: Tue Nov 18, 2008

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The Right To Win for 11/18/2008

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Among the many new "rights" being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a "right" to win.

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

Hillary Clinton's supporters were not merely disappointed, but outraged, when she lost the ...

Updated: Tue Nov 18, 2008

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"Jolting" the Economy for 11/25/2008

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Barack Obama says that we have to "jolt" the economy. That certainly makes sense, if you take the media's account of the economy seriously— but should the media be taken seriously?

Amid all the political and media hysteria, national output has declined by less than one-half of one percent. In fact, it may not have declined even that much— or at all— when the s ...

Updated: Tue Nov 25, 2008

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Ivan and Boris Again for 11/25/2008

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

There is an old Russian fable, with different versions in other countries, about two poor peasants, Ivan and Boris. The only difference between them was that Boris had a goat and Ivan didn't. One day, Ivan came upon a strange-looking lamp and, when he rubbed it, a genie appeared. She told him that she could grant him just one wish, but it could be anything in the world.

Ivan said, " ...

Updated: Tue Nov 25, 2008

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Freedom and the Left for 12/02/2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Most people on the left are not opposed to freedom. They are just in favor of all sorts of things that are incompatible with freedom.

Freedom ultimately means the right of other people to do things that you do not approve of. Nazis were free to be Nazis under Hitler. It is only when you are able to do things that other people don't approve that you are free.

One of the most innoce ...

Updated: Tue Dec 02, 2008

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The Meaning of Mumbai for 12/09/2008

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Will the horrors unleashed by Islamic terrorists in Mumbai cause any second thoughts by those who are so anxious to start weakening the American security systems currently in place, including government interceptions of international phone calls and the holding of terrorists at Guantanamo?

Maybe. But never underestimate partisan blindness in Washington or in the mainstream media where, i ...

Updated: Tue Dec 09, 2008

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The High Cost of Favoritism for 12/09/2008

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

O.J. Simpson has attracted less attention by being declared "guilty" in Nevada than he did by being declared "not guilty" in California. Yet his story is more than the tragedy of one man.

O.J. is not the first star athlete— or movie star, political leader or pacesetter in some other fields— to fall from the heights to the depths. Often they are people who ...

Updated: Tue Dec 09, 2008

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Postponing Reality for 12/16/2008

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Some of us were raised to believe that reality is inescapable. But that just shows how far behind the times we are. Today, reality is optional. At the very least, it can be postponed.

Kids in school are not learning? Not a problem. Just promote them on to the next grade anyway. Call it "compassion," so as not to hurt their "self-esteem."

Can't meet college admi ...

Updated: Tue Dec 16, 2008

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Christmas Books for 12/16/2008

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Good books are especially good to give as gifts to the proverbial "man who has everything" because he (or she) may not have heard of a new book that fits their interests.

Good new books are one of the few good things about this past year. Here are some books that could make fine gifts, obtainable painlessly without battling crowds at the mall— or even in the bookstores, i ...

Updated: Tue Dec 16, 2008

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Another Great Depression? for 12/23/2008

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

With both Barack Obama's supporters and the media looking forward to the new administration's policies being similar to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies during the 1930s depression, it may be useful to look at just what those policies were and— more important— what their consequences were.

The prevailing view in many quarters is that the stock market crash of 1929 w ...

Updated: Tue Dec 23, 2008

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Random Thoughts for 12/23/2008

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

Maybe the current bailout fever is Congress' way of getting into the spirit of the season— saying in effect, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." They will undoubtedly also be saying, "Yes, New Jersey, there is a Santa Claus... Yes, Ohio, there is a Santa Claus. . ."

A reader suggests that members of Congress shou ...

Updated: Tue Dec 23, 2008

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"Outliers" for 12/30/2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

"Outliers" are not politicians who lie even more than other politicians. It is a term used by statisticians to describe some data that are far away from the average— data on seven-foot women or freezing temperatures in Los Angeles, for example.

"Outliers" is also the title of a very insightful and very readable new book by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell. T ...

Updated: Tue Dec 30, 2008

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The Art of the Impossible for 12/30/2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Whoever called politics "the art of the possible" must have had a strange idea of what is possible or a strange idea of politics, where the impossible is one of the biggest vote-getters.

People can get the possible on their own. Politicians have to be able to offer the voters something that they cannot get on their own. The impossible fills that bill perfectly.

As a note ...

Updated: Tue Dec 30, 2008

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The Economic "Stimulus" for 01/06/2009

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Two centuries ago, when there were plans to create a huge fund of money to pay off Britain's national debt, the great classical economist David Ricardo objected on grounds that— no matter what the money was said to be for— politicians could spend it for whatever they wanted.

Two centuries later, we have not yet caught up to that plain reality, even though the $700 billion tha ...

Updated: Tue Jan 06, 2009

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An Emergency Review for 01/07/2009

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

This is an emergency book review.

Before you do anything else, make a note to read "The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care" by Sally C. Pipes. It might literally save your life, by checking the political stampede toward a government-controlled medical profession— usually presented politically as "universal health care."

It is one of the painful signs o ...

Updated: Wed Jan 07, 2009

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Manufacturing a Crime for 01/08/2009

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In December, I was asked to file a second report on an automobile accident that took place back in September, during a visit to Los Angeles. A truck slammed into my car from behind while I was stopped at a traffic light.

As I sat down to write a new report, I tried to recall the details, beginning with where the accident took place, which I remembered as having been on Wilshire Boulevard ...

Updated: Thu Jan 08, 2009

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