:Thomas Sowell

Sowell was born in 1930 into a poor family in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina.{{Cite book|date=2009 |title=Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-516779-5 |access-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192233/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195167795.001.0001/acref-9780195167795;jsessionid=E08285B0B5EF96373077D3126ED9F891 |url-status=live }} His father died shortly before he was born, leaving behind Sowell's mother, a housemaid who already had four children. A great-aunt and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell and raised him. His mother died a few years later of complications while giving birth to another child.{{Cite web |title=Black History Month Profile: Thomas Sowell |url=https://www.hoover.org/news/black-history-month-profile-thomas-sowell |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=Hoover Institution |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509165839/https://www.hoover.org/news/black-history-month-profile-thomas-sowell |url-status=live }} In his autobiography, A Personal Odyssey, Sowell wrote that his childhood encounters with white people were so limited that he did not know blond was a hair color. He recalls that his first memories were living in a small wooden house in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he stated was typical of most black neighborhoods. It was located on an unpaved street and had no electricity or running water. When Sowell was nine years old, his extended family and he moved from North Carolina to Harlem, New York City, for greater opportunities, joining in the large-scale trend of African-American migration from the American south to the north. Family quarrels forced his aunt and him to room in other people's apartments.

Sowell qualified for Stuyvesant High School, a prestigious academic high school in New York City; he was the first in his family to study beyond the sixth grade. However, he was forced to drop out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and family quarreling. He worked a number of odd jobs, including long hours at a machine shop, and as a delivery man for Western Union. He also tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. Sowell was drafted into the armed services in 1951 during the Korean War and was assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps. Although Sowell opposed the war and experienced racism, he was able to find fulfillment as a photographer, which eventually became his favorite hobby. He was honorably discharged in 1952.

After leaving military service, Sowell completed high school, took a civil service job in Washington, DC, and attended night classes at Howard University, a historically black college.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=31}}{{Cite journal|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2000|title=A Personal Odyssey from Howard to Harvard and Beyond|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2679117|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education| issue=30| pages=122–128| doi=10.2307/2679117| jstor=2679117| issn=1077-3711| access-date=May 30, 2021| archive-date=June 3, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603012649/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2679117| url-status= live}} His high scores on the College Board examinations and recommendations by two professors helped him gain admission to Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958 with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University the following year. Sowell had initially chosen Columbia University to study under George Stigler, who would later receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, but when he learned that Stigler had moved to the University of Chicago, he followed him there and studied for his doctorate under Stigler upon arriving in the fall of 1959.{{Cite web |last=Riley |first=Jason |date=July 2021 |title=The Conversion of Thomas Sowell |url=https://reason.com/2021/06/12/the-conversion-of-thomas-sowell/ |access-date= |website=Reason |language=en-US |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516230937/https://reason.com/2021/06/12/the-conversion-of-thomas-sowell/ |url-status=live }}

Sowell has said that he was a Marxist "during the decade of my 20s". One of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. Marxist–Leninist practice. What began to change his mind toward supporting Free-market economics, he said, was studying the possible impact of minimum wages on unemployment of sugar-industry workers in Puerto Rico, as a U.S. Department of Labor intern. Workers at the department were surprised by his questioning, he said, and he concluded, "they certainly weren't going to engage in any scrutiny of the law".

Sowell received his doctor of philosophy in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. His dissertation was titled "Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy".

From 1965 to 1969, Sowell was an assistant professor of economics at Cornell University. Writing 30 years later about the 1969 seizure of Willard Straight Hall by black students at Cornell, Sowell characterized the students as "hoodlums" with "serious academic problems [who were] admitted under lower academic standards", and noted, "it so happens that the pervasive racism that black students supposedly encountered at every turn on campus and in town was not apparent to me during the four years that I taught at Cornell and lived in Ithaca."

Sowell has taught economics at Howard University, Rutgers, Cornell, Brandeis University, Amherst College, and the University of California, Los Angeles.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=31}} At Howard, Sowell wrote, he was offered the position as head of the economics department, but he declined. Since 1980, he has been a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman, his mentor. The Hoover appointment, because it did not involve teaching, gave him more time for his numerous writings.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=32}} In addition, Sowell appeared several times on William F. Buckley Jr.'s show Firing Line, during which he discussed the economics of race and privatization. Sowell has written that he gradually lost faith in the academic system, citing low academic standards and counterproductive university bureaucracy, and he resolved to leave teaching after his time at the University of California, Los Angeles.{{Cite book |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title=A Personal Odyssey |publisher=BasicBooks |year=2000 |isbn=9780684864648 |pages=275}} In A Personal Odyssey, he recounts, "I had come to Amherst, basically, to find reasons to continue teaching. What I found, instead, were more reasons to abandon an academic career."

In an interview, Sowell said he had been offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner by the Ford administration in 1976, but that after pursuing the opportunity, he withdrew from consideration to avoid the political games surrounding the position. He said in another interview that he was offered the post of United States Secretary of Education, but declined. In 1980, after Reagan's election, Sowell and Henry Lucas organized the Black Alternatives Conference to bring together black and white conservatives; one attendee was a young Clarence Thomas, then a congressional aide.{{Sfn|Dillard|2001|p=6}}{{Cite book |last=Rueter |first=Theodore |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/959428491 |title=The politics of race : African Americans and the political system |year=1995 |isbn=1-315-28636-X |location=London |page=97 |oclc=959428491}} Sowell was appointed as a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Committee of the Reagan administration,{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=32}} but resigned after the first meeting, disliking travel from the West Coast and lengthy discussions in Washington; of his decision to resign, Sowell cited "the opinion (and the example) of Milton Friedman, that some individuals can contribute more by staying out of government".{{Sfn|Riley|2021}}

In 1987, Sowell testified in favor of federal appeals court judge Robert Bork during the hearings for Bork's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In his testimony, Sowell said that Bork was "the most highly qualified nominee of this generation" and that what he viewed as judicial activism, a concept that Bork opposed as a self-described originalist and textualist, "has not been beneficial to minorities."{{cite news|last=Greenhouse|first=Linda|title=Legal Establishment Divided Over Bork Nomination|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/26/us/the-bork-hearings-legal-establishment-divided-over-bork-nomination.html|access-date=November 18, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 26, 1987|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308195327/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/26/us/the-bork-hearings-legal-establishment-divided-over-bork-nomination.html|url-status=live}} [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Day9Pa Video of Sowell's testimony at C-SPAN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724144255/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Day9Pa |date=July 24, 2013 }}

In a review of Sowell's 1987 book, A Conflict of Visions, Larry D. Nachman in Commentary described Sowell as a leading representative of the Chicago school of economics.Nachman, Larry D. March 1987. "'[https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/a-conflict-of-visions-by-thomas-sowell/ A Conflict of Visions', by Thomas Sowell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113113/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/a-conflict-of-visions-by-thomas-sowell/ |date=June 9, 2019 }}." Commentary.

Themes of Sowell's writing range from social policy on race, ethnic groups, education, and decision-making, to classical and Marxian economics, to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities.

Sowell had a nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators Syndicate that was published in Forbes and National Review magazines, and The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The New York Post, and other major newspapers, as well as online on websites such as RealClearPolitics, Townhall, WorldNetDaily, and the Jewish World Review.{{cite web|date=2009-11-06|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html|access-date=2011-05-30|work=Jewish World Review|archive-date=October 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029092201/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html|url-status=live}} Sowell commented on current issues, which include liberal media bias;{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=October 12, 2004|title=The media's role|url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101204.asp|access-date=2010-03-12|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041214143644/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101204.asp|archivedate=December 14, 2004|url-status=dead}} judicial activism and originalism;{{cite web|title=Judicial Activism Reconsidered|url=http://www.tsowell.com/judicial.htm|access-date=2010-03-12|work=T Sowell|archive-date=April 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406225207/http://www.tsowell.com/judicial.htm|url-status=live}} abortion; minimum wage; universal health care; the tension between government policies, programs, and protections and familial autonomy; affirmative action; government bureaucracy;{{cite web|title=International Book Award|url=http://www.getabstract.com/pages/0/web/BookAward.jsp|access-date=July 22, 2011|publisher=Get Abstract|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510090033/http://www.getabstract.com/pages/0/web/BookAward.jsp|url-status=live}} gun control; militancy in U.S. foreign policy; the war on drugs; multiculturalism; mob rule; and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.{{Cite web |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |date=2 August 2022 |title=Weeding out pro-mob rule pols is the biggest problem this election year |url=https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/weeding-out-pro-mob-rule-pols-is-the-biggest-problem-this-election-year/ |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=New York Post |language=en-US |archive-date=September 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907014707/https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/weeding-out-pro-mob-rule-pols-is-the-biggest-problem-this-election-year/ |url-status=live }} According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Sowell was the most cited black economist between 1991 and 1995, and second-most cited between 1971 and 1990.{{Cite journal|date=1997|title=The Most Highly Cited Black Economists|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2962681|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education|issue=15|pages=35–37|doi=10.2307/2962681|jstor=2962681|access-date=June 21, 2021|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816233752/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2962681|url-status=live}}{{efn|The article finds that "black economists who are most frequently cited are almost never economic theoreticians. Rather, they tend to be social commentators who write widely on issues of race."}}

He was a frequent guest on The Rush Limbaugh Show, in conversations with Walter E. Williams, who was a substitute host for Limbaugh.

On December 27, 2016, Sowell announced the end of his syndicated column, writing that, at age 86, "the question is not why I am quitting, but why I kept at it so long", and cited a desire to focus on his photography hobby.{{Cite web|date=December 27, 2016|title=Farewell|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/27/farewell_132647.html|access-date=December 27, 2016|work=Real clear politics|archive-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928121804/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/27/farewell_132647.html|url-status=live}}

The TV show Free to Choose, distributed by the Free to Choose Network, features Sowell along with Milton Friedman and a number of other panelists as they discuss the relationship between freedom and individual economic choices.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-21 |title=Bob Chitester: How Free To Choose Changed the World |url=https://reason.com/podcast/2020/10/21/bob-chitester-how-free-to-choose-changed-the-world/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Network |first=Free To Choose |title=Free To Choose |url=http://freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/free_to_choose/ |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=freetochoosenetwork.org |language=en}} A documentary detailing his career entitled "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World" was released by the Free to Choose Network in 2021.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-09|title=Coming in 2021: "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World"|url=https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/coming-in-2021-thomas-sowell-common-sense-in-a-senseless-world/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=American Enterprise Institute – AEI|language=en-US|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121045634/https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/coming-in-2021-thomas-sowell-common-sense-in-a-senseless-world/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Network|first=Free To Choose|title=Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World|url=https://freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/thomas_sowell/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=freetochoosenetwork.org|language=en|archive-date=March 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315175152/https://www.freetochoosenetwork.org/programs/thomas_sowell/|url-status=live}}

Until the spring of 1972, Sowell was a registered Democrat, after which he then left the Democratic Party and resolved not to associate with any political party again, stating, "I was so disgusted with both candidates that I didn't vote at all." Though he is often described as a black conservative, Sowell said, "I prefer not to have labels, but I suspect that 'libertarian' would suit me better than many others, although I disagree with the libertarian movement on a number of things." He has been described as one of the most prominent advocates of contemporary classical liberalism along with Friedrich Hayek and Larry Arnhart.{{Cite book |last=Dilley |first=Stephen |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739181065/Darwinian-Evolution-and-Classical-Liberalism-Theories-in-Tension |title=Darwinian Evolution and Classical Liberalism: Theories in Tension |year=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0739181065 |language=en-us |access-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120192239/https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739181065/Darwinian-Evolution-and-Classical-Liberalism-Theories-in-Tension |url-status=live }} Sowell primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free-market approach to capitalism.{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell010036.php3|access-date=2010-03-12|website=Jewish World Review|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327171127/http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell010036.php3|url-status=dead}} Sowell opposes the Federal Reserve, arguing that it has been unsuccessful in preventing economic depressions and limiting inflation. Sowell described his study of Karl Marx in his autobiography; as a former Marxist, who early in his career became disillusioned with it, he emphatically opposes Marxism, providing a critique in his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics (1985).

Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on ideologies and political positions, including A Conflict of Visions, in which he speaks on the origins of political strife; The Vision of the Anointed, in which he compares the conservative/libertarian, and liberal/progressive worldviews; and The Quest for Cosmic Justice, in which, as in many of his other writings, he outlines his thesis of the need felt by intellectuals, politicians, and leaders to fix and perfect the world in utopian and ultimately, he posits, disastrous fashions. Separate from the trilogy, but also in discussion of the subject, he wrote Intellectuals and Society, building on his earlier work, in which he discusses what he argues to be the blind hubris and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas.

His book Knowledge and Decisions, a winner of the 1980 Law and Economics Center Prize, was heralded as a "landmark work", selected for this prize "because of its cogent contribution to our understanding of the differences between the market process and the process of government". In announcing the award, the center acclaimed Sowell, whose "contribution to our understanding of the process of regulation alone would make the book important, but in reemphasizing the diversity and efficiency that the market makes possible, [his] work goes deeper and becomes even more significant."{{Cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/library/95113281/knowledge-and-decisions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622041757/http://www.questia.com/library/95113281/knowledge-and-decisions|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 22, 2013|title=Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell, 1996 |language=en|access-date=2018-10-11}} Friedrich Hayek wrote: "In a wholly original manner, [Sowell] succeeds in translating abstract and theoretical argument into highly concrete and realistic discussion of the central problems of contemporary economic policy."{{cite news|last=Hayek|first=Friedrich|author-link=Friedrich Hayek|date=December 1981|title=The Best Book on General Economics in Many a Year|url=https://reason.com/1981/12/01/the-best-book-on-general-econo/|work=Reason|publisher=Reason Foundation|volume=13|pages=47–49|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101192247/https://reason.com/1981/12/01/the-best-book-on-general-econo/|url-status=live}}

Sowell opposes the imposition of minimum wages by governments, arguing in his book Basic Economics, "Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they either lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force."{{Cite news|date=2016-04-08|title=Notable & Quotable: Thomas Sowell|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-thomas-sowell-1460154361|access-date=2022-02-10|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210135111/https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-thomas-sowell-1460154361|url-status=live}} He goes further to argue that minimum wages disproportionately affect "members of racial or ethnic minority groups" that have been discriminated against. He asserts, "Before federal minimum-wage laws were instituted in the 1930s, the black unemployment rate was slightly lower than the white unemployment rate in 1930. But then followed the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933, and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 – all of which imposed government-mandated minimum wages, either on a particular sector or more broadly... By 1954, black unemployment rates were double those of whites and have continued to be at that level or higher. Those particularly hard hit by the resulting unemployment have been black teenaged males."{{Cite web|date=2016-05-31|title=Thomas Sowell on the differential impact of the minimum wage|url=https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/thomas-sowell-on-the-differential-impact-of-the-minimum-wage/|access-date=2022-02-10|website=American Enterprise Institute – AEI|language=en-US|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210135122/https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/thomas-sowell-on-the-differential-impact-of-the-minimum-wage/|url-status=live}}

Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs. He opposes gun control laws, arguing, "On net balance, they do not save lives, but cost lives."

Sowell has supported conservative political positions on race, and is known for caustic, sarcastic criticism of liberal black civil-rights figures.{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|pp=32–33}}{{Cite book |last=Dillard |first=Angela D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45023496 |title=Guess who's coming to dinner now? : multicultural conservatism in America |date=2001 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=0-8147-1939-2 |location=New York |pages=6, 60 |oclc=45023496}} Sowell has argued that systemic racism is an untested, questionable hypothesis, writing, "I don't think even the people who use it have any clear idea what they're saying", and compared it to propaganda tactics used by Joseph Goebbels because if it is "repeated long enough and loud enough", people "cave in" to it.{{Cite news|last=Chasmar|first=Jessica|date=13 July 2020|title=Thomas Sowell: Joe Biden win could signal 'point of no return for this country'|work=The Washington Times|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/13/thomas-sowell-joe-biden-win-could-signal-point-of-/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201029041334/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/13/thomas-sowell-joe-biden-win-could-signal-point-of-/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 29, 2020}}

In several of his works—including The Economics and Politics of Race (1983), Ethnic America (1981), Affirmative Action Around the World (2004), and other books—Sowell challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies. He claims that many problems identified with black people in modern society are not unique, neither in terms of American ethnic groups, nor in terms of a rural proletariat struggling with disruption as it became urbanized, as discussed in his Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005).{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=Black Rednecks and White Liberals |date=January 1, 2005 |publisher=Encounter Books |location=Google Books |isbn=1594033498 |pages=1–65 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMxpBOnQIH8C&pg=PA1 |access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date= July 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704062056/https://books.google.com/books?id=JMxpBOnQIH8C&pg=PA1&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1#v=onepage&q&f=false}} He is critical of affirmative action and race-based quotas.{{cite web|date=August 10, 2000|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|title=Blacks and Bootstraps |url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell081400.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001026193310/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell081400.asp|archivedate=October 26, 2000|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|date=April 22, 2003|title=Quota 'logic' |url= https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042203.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030604112055/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042203.asp|archivedate=June 4, 2003|url-status=dead}}

{{blockquote|text=When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.{{cite web|title= Thomas Sowell Quote |url= https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1148374-when-people-get-used-to-preferential-treatment-equal-treatment-seems |access-date= 4 July 2023|date= 2015-07-13 |archive-date= July 4, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230704054348/https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1148374-when-people-get-used-to-preferential-treatment-equal-treatment-seems}}}}

He takes issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows the opposite. In Affirmative Action Around the World, Sowell holds that affirmative action affects more groups than is commonly understood, though its impacts occur through different mechanisms, and has long since ceased to favor blacks.{{blockquote|text=One of the few policies that can be said to harm virtually every group in a different way. ... Obviously, whites and Asians lose out when you have preferential admission for black students or Hispanic students—but blacks and Hispanics lose out because what typically happens is the students who have all the credentials to succeed in college are admitted to colleges where the standards are so much higher that they fail.{{cite web |last= Miller |first= Andrew |title= Thomas Sowell: Idea of 'systemic racism' a lie that has 'no meaning' and is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda |url= https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sowell-systemic-racism-is-a-lie-that-has-no-meaning-and-reminiscent-of-nazi-propaganda |work= Washington Examiner |access-date= 6 May 2021 |date= July 13, 2020 |archive-date= May 18, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210518141626/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sowell-systemic-racism-is-a-lie-that-has-no-meaning-and-reminiscent-of-nazi-propaganda |url-status= live }}|author=|title=|source=}}

In Intellectuals and Race (2013), Sowell argues that intelligence quotient (IQ) gaps are hardly startling or unusual between, or within, ethnic groups. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black–white IQ scores is similar to that between the national average and the scores of certain ethnic white groups in years past, in periods when the nation was absorbing new immigrants.{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=Intellectuals and race |date=2013 |publisher=Blackstone Audio |location=Ashland, Oregon |isbn=978-1482923537}}

Sowell's book The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late was published in 2021 as a follow-up to his Late-Talking Children. In it, Sowell discusses what he calls the "Einstein syndrome", which refers to the phenomenon of late-talking children. Sowell says these children are frequently misdiagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. He includes the research of Stephen Camarata and Steven Pinker, among others. Sowell says this trait affected many historical figures who developed prominent careers, such as physicists Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, and Richard Feynman; mathematician Julia Robinson; and musicians Arthur Rubinstein and Clara Schumann. According to Sowell, some children develop unevenly (asynchronous development) for a period in childhood due to rapid and extraordinary development in the analytical functions of the brain. This may temporarily "rob resources" from neighboring functions such as language development.{{cite book |last1=Sowell |first1=Thomas |title=The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late |date=Aug 10, 2021 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=9781541601376}}{{secondary source needed|date=May 2024}}

In a 2009 column titled "The Bush Legacy", Sowell assessed President George W. Bush as "a mixed bag", but "an honorable man."{{Cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=16 January 2009|title=The Bush Legacy|url=http://www.creators.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/the-bush-legacy.html|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120035536/http://www.creators.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/the-bush-legacy.html|archivedate=January 20, 2009|accessdate=February 26, 2022|url-status=dead}}

Sowell said the media was "filtering and spinning" its coverage regarding abortions{{Cite web |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title='Partial truth' abortion |url=https://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2004/06/04/partial-truth-abortion-n1298147 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=Townhall |language=en}} and has spoken out against sex-selective abortion.{{Cite web |date=2012-06-06 |title=The Real 'War on Women' |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/06/real-war-women-thomas-sowell/ |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=National Review |language=en-US}} In 2018, he named George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge as presidents he liked.

Sowell was strongly critical of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and grudgingly endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, criticizing him as well, stating, "we can only make our choices among those actually available."{{Cite web |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |date=February 16, 2016 |title=Tragedy and Choices |url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/02/16/tragedy-and-choices |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232137/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/02/16/tragedy-and-choices |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |accessdate=February 26, 2022 |publisher=Creators Syndicate}} During the 2016 Republican primary, Sowell criticized Trump, questioning whether Trump had "any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump?"{{cite news|last1=Sowell|first1=Thomas|title=Conservatives for Trump?|issue=April 26, 2016|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/04/16/conservatives-for-trump|access-date=February 26, 2022|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232132/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/04/16/conservatives-for-trump|url-status=live}} Two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Sowell recommended voting for Trump over Hillary Clinton, because he would be "easier to impeach."{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSJxyVJjAfk|title=Thomas Sowell Reverses Position On Donald Trump|date=October 6, 2022 |via=www.youtube.com}} In 2018, when asked on his thoughts of Trump's presidency, Sowell replied, "I think he's better than the previous president [Barack Obama]."Malagisi, Christopher, host. 23 April 2018. "[https://www.conservativebookclub.com/31010/podcasts/podcast-episode-5-interview-legendary-thomas-sowell-new-book-legacy-thinks-trump-future-america Interview with the Legendary Thomas Sowell: His New Book, His Legacy, and What He Thinks of Trump and the Future of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808233455/https://www.conservativebookclub.com/31010/podcasts/podcast-episode-5-interview-legendary-thomas-sowell-new-book-legacy-thinks-trump-future-america |date=August 8, 2020 }}" (podcast). Ep. 5 in The Conservative Book Club Podcast. US: The Conservative Book Club. During interviews in 2019, Sowell defended Trump against charges of racism."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvQxcVYQlY Sowell: Politicians using race as their ticket to whatever racket they're running] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108025732/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvQxcVYQlY |date=November 8, 2020 }}." The Ingraham Angle. Fox News. March 6, 2019. via YouTube.Sowell, Thomas. March 22, 2019. "[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/22/thomas_sowell_no_hard_evidence_that_trump_is_a_racist.html No Hard Evidence Trump is a racist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521034126/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/22/thomas_sowell_no_hard_evidence_that_trump_is_a_racist.html |date=May 21, 2020 }}." Fox & Friends. – via RealClearPolitics.

In 2025, Sowell criticized Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, comparing them to the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs from the start of the Great Depression. Sowell warned that the tariffs might set off a global trade war resulting in a "great reduction in international trade". He further cautioned that policy unpredictability might lead to people hanging on to their money, which would cause economic effects similar to those seen in the Great Depression.{{Cite web |title=Notable & Quotable: Thomas Sowell on Tariffs |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/notable-quotable-thomas-sowell-on-tariffs-uncertainty-economic-damage-009ad0f1 |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}

In 2020, Sowell wrote that if the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, it could signal a point of no return for the United States, a tipping point akin to the fall of the Roman Empire. In an interview in July 2020, he stated, "the Roman Empire overcame many problems in its long history, but eventually it reached a point where it could no longer continue, and much of that was from within, not just the barbarians attacking from outside." Sowell wrote that if Biden became president, the Democratic Party would have an enormous amount of control over the nation, and if this happened, they could twin with the "radical left" and ideas such as defunding the police could come to fruition.{{Cite news|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/21/a-vote-at-the-crossroads|title=A vote at the crossroads|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=January 5, 2021|accessdate=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232133/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/21/a-vote-at-the-crossroads|url-status=live}}

Sowell has written about education throughout his career. He has argued for the need for reform of the school system in the United States. In his book Charter Schools and Their Enemies (2020), Sowell compares the educational outcomes of school children educated at charter schools with those at conventional public schools. In his research, Sowell first explains the need and his methodology for choosing comparable students—both ethnically and socioeconomically—before listing his findings. He presents the case that charter schools on the whole do significantly better in terms of educational outcomes than conventional schools.{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Walter|date=6 July 2020|title=Williams: Charter schools and their enemies|url=https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/williams-charter-schools-and-their-enemies|access-date=2 September 2020|newspaper=Toronto Sun|archive-date=August 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824170128/https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/williams-charter-schools-and-their-enemies|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2020-07-09|title=The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|access-date=2020-11-23|website=National Review|language=en-US|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120031417/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Carden|first=Art|title=Charters Close The Achievement Gap, Says Thomas Sowell|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2020/07/03/charters-close-the-achievement-gap-says-thomas-sowell/|access-date=2020-11-23|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320182334/https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2020/07/03/charters-close-the-achievement-gap-says-thomas-sowell/|url-status=live}}

Sowell argues that many U.S. schools are failing children, contends that "indoctrination" has taken the place of proper education, and argues that teachers' unions have promoted harmful education policies. Sowell contends that many schools have become monopolies for educational bureaucracies.{{Cite web|last=Williamson|first=Kevin D.|date=9 July 2020|title=The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools|website=National Review|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120031417/https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/the-collapsing-case-against-charter-schools/|url-status=live}}

In his book Education: Assumptions Versus History (1986), Sowell analyzes the state of education in U.S. schools and universities. In particular, he examines the experiences of blacks and other ethnic groups in the American education system, and identifies the factors and patterns behind both success and failure.{{Cite web|title=Education: Assumptions Versus History|url=https://contemporarythinkers.org/thomas-sowell/book/3996-2/|access-date=4 November 2020|website=Contemporary Thinkers|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125041842/https://contemporarythinkers.org/thomas-sowell/book/3996-2/|url-status=live}}

Classical liberals, libertarians, and conservatives of different disciplines have received Sowell's work positively.{{Cite magazine| last=Higgins| first=James| date=Spring 2001| title=Tom Sowell in Practice and Theory| url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/tom-sowell-in-practice-and-theory/| access-date=2020-12-16| magazine=Claremont Review of Books| volume=1| number=3| language=en-US| archive-date=February 14, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214051149/https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/tom-sowell-in-practice-and-theory/| url-status=live}} Higgins describes Sowell as having written a "brilliant trilogy on culture and societies (Race and Culture, Migrations and Culture, and Conquests and Culture). [...] His stature must be attributed to his ability to bring light where there is darkness and logic where there is confusion to public policy in general and economics in particular." Among these, he has been noted for originality, depth and breadth, clarity of expression, and thoroughness of research. Sowell's publications have been received positively by economists Steven Plaut, Steve H. Hanke{{cite web| last=Hanke| first=Steve H.| author-link=Steve H. Hanke| title=Thomas Sowell at 90 Is More Relevant Than Ever| url=https://www.cato.org/commentary/thomas-sowell-90-more-relevant-ever| access-date=June 29, 2021| newspaper=Cato| date=July 1, 2020| archive-date=July 9, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181421/https://www.cato.org/commentary/thomas-sowell-90-more-relevant-ever| url-status=live}}, James M. Buchanan;{{cite web| last=Hazlett| first=Thomas| author-link=Thomas Hazlett| title=Thomas Sowell Returns| url=https://reason.com/2018/11/26/thomas-sowell-returns/| access-date=December 1, 2021| newspaper=Reason| date=2018| archive-date=December 2, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202050342/https://reason.com/2018/11/26/thomas-sowell-returns/| url-status=live}} and John B. Taylor;{{cite web| last=Taylor| first=John B.| author-link=John B. Taylor| title=Happy Birthday and a Terrific New Book by Thomas Sowell| url=https://economicsone.com/2020/06/30/happy-birthday-and-a-terrific-new-book-by-thomas-sowell/| access-date=June 25, 2021| newspaper=Economicsone| date=June 30, 2020| archive-date=June 25, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625055153/https://economicsone.com/2020/06/30/happy-birthday-and-a-terrific-new-book-by-thomas-sowell/| url-status=live}} philosophers Carl Cohen{{cite web| last=Cohen| first=Carl| author-link=Carl Cohen (professor)| title=Affirmative Action Around the World by Thomas Sowell| url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/carl-cohen/affirmative-action-around-the-world-by-thomas-sowell/| access-date=June 26, 2021| newspaper=Commentary| date=April 2004| archive-date=June 27, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627012006/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/carl-cohen/affirmative-action-around-the-world-by-thomas-sowell/| url-status=live}} and Tibor Machan;{{cite web| last=Machan| first=Tibor| author-link=Tibor Machan| title=Marxism Demystified| url=https://reason.com/1985/09/01/marxism-demystified/| access-date=June 14, 2021| newspaper=Reason| date=September 1985| archive-date=June 23, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623221319/https://reason.com/1985/09/01/marxism-demystified/| url-status=live}} science historian Michael Shermer;{{cite web| last=Shermer| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Shermer| title=Liberty and Science| url=https://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/09/06/michael-shermer/liberty-science| access-date=June 23, 2021| newspaper=Cato Institute| date=September 6, 2011| archive-date=July 27, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727224038/https://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/09/06/michael-shermer/liberty-science| url-status=live}} essayist Gerald Early;{{cite web| last=Early| first=Gerald| author-link=Gerald Early| title=The Black Conservative Lion in Winter| url=https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/the-black-conservative-lion-in-winter/| access-date=June 30, 2021| newspaper=The Common Reader| date=May 22, 2018| archive-date=July 9, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181604/https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/the-black-conservative-lion-in-winter/| url-status=live}} political scientists Abigail Thernstrom and Charles Murray; psychologists Steven Pinker{{citation | last=Pinker| first=Steven| author-link=Steven Pinker| title=The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature| publisher=Penguin Books| location=New York| year=2002| pages=286–296| title-link=The Blank Slate}}{{cite web|title=Q&A with Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate|date=October 30, 2002|access-date=August 25, 2019|last=Sailer|first=Steve|publisher=United Press International|url=https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/|archive-date=December 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205074319/http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2002/10/30/QA-Steven-Pinker-of-Blank-Slate/26021035991232/|url-status=live}} and Jonathan Haidt;{{citation | last=Haidt| first=Jonathan| author-link=Jonathan Haidt| title=The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|year=2012|pages=338–340|title-link=The Righteous Mind}}{{cite web| last=Jenkins| first=Holman W.| author-link=Holman W. Jenkins Jr.| title=The Weekend Interview with Jonathan Haidt: He Knows Why We Fight| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303830204577446512522582648| access-date=March 5, 2017| newspaper=The Wall Street Journal| date=June 29, 2012| archive-date=May 27, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527193001/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303830204577446512522582648| url-status=live}} and Josef Joffe, publisher and editor of {{Lang|de|Die Zeit.}} Steve Forbes, in a 2015 column, stated that "it's a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books."{{Cite web |title=The shameful blackout of Thomas, Sowell and Williams |url=https://torontosun.com/2017/08/11/the-shameful-blackout-of-thomas-sowell-and-williams |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=torontosun |language=en-CA |archive-date=October 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027041339/https://torontosun.com/2017/08/11/the-shameful-blackout-of-thomas-sowell-and-williams |url-status=live }}

Nathan J. Robinson stated that Sowell "is not given much attention by mainstream scholars in the academy, and few of his books are reviewed by major liberal-leaning publications."{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Nathan J. |date=2023-09-19 |title=Is Thomas Sowell a Legendary "Maverick" Intellectual or a Pseudo-Scholarly Propagandist? |language=en |work=Current Affairs |url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2023/09/is-thomas-sowell-a-legendary-maverick-intellectual-or-a-pseudo-scholarly-propagandist |access-date=2023-12-23 |issn=2471-2647}} He suggested this may be because "[h]is books rarely engage with the major academic literature on the subject he's writing about" and he often "leaves out crucial pieces of data that would make his position look weaker", citing his writing on minimum wage policy and unemployment as an example. Economist James B. Stewart wrote a critical review of Black Rednecks and White Liberals, calling it "the latest salvo in Thomas Sowell's continuing crusade to represent allegedly dysfunctional value orientations and behavioral characteristics of African Americans as the principal reasons for persistent economic and social disparities." He also criticized it for downplaying the impact of slavery.{{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=James B. |date=Autumn 2006 |title=Thomas Sowell's Quixotic Quest to Denigrate African American Culture: A Critique |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20064129 |journal=The Journal of African American History |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=459–466 |doi=10.1086/JAAHv91n4p459 |jstor=20064129 |s2cid=141293584 |access-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214141439/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20064129 |url-status=live }} Particularly in black communities in the 1980s Sowell became, in historian Michael Ondaatje's words, "persona non grata, someone known to talk about, rather than with, African Americans".{{Sfn|Ondaatje|2010|p=33}} Economist Bernadette Chachere, law professor Richard Thompson Ford, and sociologists William Julius Wilson and Richard Coughlin{{Cite journal|title=Book Reviews: Comparative Politics. "Race and Culture: A World View by Thomas Sowell"|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=89|issue=4|pages=1064–1065|date=December 1995 |doi=10.2307/2082585|jstor=2082585|last1=Coughlin|first1=Richard M.|s2cid=147307339 }} have criticized some of his work.

Criticisms include neglecting discrimination against women in the workforce in Rhetoric or Reality?, the methodology of Race and Culture: A World View, and portrayal of opposing theories in Intellectuals and Race. Economist Jennifer Doleac criticized Discrimination and Disparities, arguing that statistical discrimination is real and pervasive (Sowell argues that existing racial disparities are mostly due to accurate sorting based on underlying characteristics, such as education) and that government intervention can achieve societal goals and make markets work more efficiently.{{Cite journal| last=Doleac| first=Jennifer L.| date=2021| title=A Review of Thomas Sowell's Discrimination and Disparities| url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20201541| journal=Journal of Economic Literature| language=en| volume=59| issue=2| pages=574–589| doi=10.1257/jel.20201541| s2cid=236338788| issn=0022-0515| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119163111/http://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20201541| archive-date=January 19, 2022}} [http://jenniferdoleac.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Doleac_SowellReview_JEL.pdf Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123042822/http://jenniferdoleac.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Doleac_SowellReview_JEL.pdf |date=November 23, 2021 }} Columnist Steven Pearlstein criticized Wealth, Poverty and Politics.{{cite news |last1=Pearlstein |first1=Steven |title=Here's why poor people are poor, says a conservative black academic |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-why-poor-people-are-poor-says-a-conservative-black-academic/2015/09/03/df8ff1fc-1ab4-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |access-date=15 May 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=4 September 2015 |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113054/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heres-why-poor-people-are-poor-says-a-conservative-black-academic/2015/09/03/df8ff1fc-1ab4-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |url-status=live }}

Sowell was married to Alma Jean Parr from 1964 to 1975, and married Mary Ash in 1981.Sowell, A Personal Odyssey, pp. 162–163, 253, 278. He has two children.{{Cite web |title=Thomas Sowell Facts, information, pictures {{!}} Encyclopedia.com articles about Thomas Sowell |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Thomas_Sowell.aspx |access-date=2015-10-20 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=July 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720064714/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Thomas_Sowell.aspx |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Sowell, Thomas, 1930– |url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/sowell_thomas_1930 |access-date=2015-10-20 |website=search.credoreference.com |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113104/https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/sowell_thomas_1930 |url-status=live }}

File:National Humanities Medal Winners for 2003.jpg (last on right) accepting the 2002 National Humanities Medal on Sowell's behalf]]

• 1982: Mencken Award for Best Book, from the Free Press Association, for his Ethnic America: A History.
• 1990: Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute.
• 1998: Sydney Hook Award, from the National Association of Scholars.Jim Nelson Black (2004). "Freefall of the American university". Nashville WND Books.
• 1998: Elected membership to the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+Sowell&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-12-03|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203203023/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+Sowell&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live}}
• 2002: National Humanities Medal, presented by President George W. Bush, for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science.
• 2003: Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement.
• 2004: Lysander Spooner Award, presented by Laissez Faire Books, for his Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One.
• 2008: International Book Award, from getAbstract, for his book Economic Facts and Fallacies

• Labor economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961 – August 1962
• Instructor in economics, Douglass College, Rutgers University, September 1962 – June 1963
• Lecturer in economics, Howard University, September 1963 – June 1964
• Economic analyst, American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964 – August 1965
• Assistant professor of economics, Cornell University, September 1965 – August 1969{{r|sowell19990503}}
• Associate professor of economics, Brandeis University, September 1969 – June 1970
• Associate professor of economics, University of California, Los Angeles, September 1970 – June 1972
• Project director, Urban Institute, August 1972 – July 1974
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, July 1976 – March 1977
• Visiting professor of economics, Amherst College, September–December 1977
• Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, April–August 1977
• Professor of economics, UCLA, July 1974 – June 1980
• Senior fellow, Hoover Institution, September 1980–present

• 1971. Economics: Analysis and Issues. Scott Foresman & Co.
• 1972. Black Education: Myths and Tragedies. David McKay Co. . {{ISBN|0-679-30015-5}} .
• 1972. Say's Law: An Historical Analysis. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-04166-7}}.
• 1974. Classical Economics Reconsidered. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-00358-0}}.
• 1975. Race and Economics. David McKay Co. {{ISBN|978-0-679-30262-9}}.
• 1980. Knowledge and Decisions. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-03736-0}}.
• 1981. Ethnic America: A History . Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-02074-7}}.
• Chapter 1, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200208141440/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/159f/66e582c3bb3f5d5414cf0695dc5aac74426e.pdf The American Mosaic] ."
• 1981. Markets and Minorities. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-04399-2}} .
• 1981. Pink and Brown People: and Other Controversial Essays. Hoover Press. {{ISBN|0-8179-7532-2}}.
• 1983. The Economics and Politics of Race. William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-01891-2}}.
• 1984. Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-03113-7}}.
• 1985. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. Quill. {{ISBN|0-688-06426-4}}.
• 1986. Education: Assumptions Versus History. Hoover Press. {{ISBN|0-8179-8112-8}}.
• 1987. A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles . William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-06912-6}}.
• 1987. Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays. William Morrow. {{ISBN|0-688-07114-7}}.
• 1990. Preferential Policies: An International Perspective. {{ISBN|0-688-08599-7}}
• 1993. Inside American Education. New York: The Free Press. {{ISBN|0-7432-5408-2}}.
• 1993. Is Reality Optional?: and Other Essays. Hoover. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-9262-0}}.
• 1995. Race and Culture: A World View. {{ISBN|0-465-06796-4}}.
• 1995. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-08995-X}}.
• 1996. Migrations and Cultures: A World View. {{ISBN|0-465-04589-8}}. {{OCLC|41748039}}.
• 1998. Conquests and Cultures: An International History. {{ISBN|0-465-01400-3}}.
• 1998. Late-Talking Children. {{ISBN|0-465-03835-2}}.
• 1999. The Quest for Cosmic Justice. {{ISBN|0-684-86463-0}}.
• 2000. A Personal Odyssey. {{ISBN|0-684-86465-7}}.
• 2000. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy (1st ed.) . Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-08145-2}}.
• 2002. Controversial Essays. Hoover. {{ISBN|0-8179-2992-4}}.
• 2002. The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late. {{ISBN|0-465-08141-X}}.
• 2003. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One. {{ISBN|0-465-08143-6}}.
• 2004. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-10775-3}}.
• 2004. Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy (revised and expanded ed.). New York: Basic Books.
• 2005. Black Rednecks and White Liberals. San Francisco: Encounter Books. {{ISBN|978-1-59403-086-4}}.
• 2006. Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays . Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-4752-1}}. {{OCLC|253604328}}. {{ASIN|0817947523}}.
• 2006. On Classical Economics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-12606-8}}.Berdell, John. 2007. "[https://eh.net/book_reviews/on-classical-economics/ On Classical Economics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035418/https://eh.net/book_reviews/on-classical-economics/ |date=July 1, 2020 }}" (review). EH.net. Economic History Association.
• 2007. A Man of Letters. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books. {{ISBN|978-1-59403-196-0}}.
• 2007. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (3rd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00260-3}}. {{OCLC|76897806}}.
• 2008. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One (2nd ed.). Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00345-7}} . {{OCLC|260206351}} .
• 2008. Economic Facts and Fallacies . Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00349-5}}. {{OCLC|1033591370}}. {{ASIN|0465003494}}.
• 2009. The Housing Boom and Bust. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01880-2}}.
• Chapter 5, "[http://60secondupdates.com/vnh/60/pdf/housing-boom-and-bust.pdf The Past and the Future] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125084010/http://60secondupdates.com/vnh/60/pdf/housing-boom-and-bust.pdf |date=November 25, 2021 }}."
• 2010. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (4th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02252-6}}.
• 2010. Dismantling America: and Other Controversial Essays. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02251-9}} . {{OCLC|688505777}} .
• 2010. Intellectuals and Society . Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01948-9}} . [http://www.capitolreader.com/bonus/Intellectuals%20and%20Society.pdf Lay summary] .
• 2011. The Thomas Sowell Reader. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-02250-2}}.
• 2011. Economic Facts and Fallacies, 2nd edition. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0465022038}}
• 2013. Intellectuals and Race. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-05872-3}}.
• 2014. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (5th ed.). New York: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-06073-3}}.
• 2015. Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective. Basic Books.
• 2016. Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective (2nd ed.). Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-09676-3}}.
• 2018. Discrimination and Disparities. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-64560-8}}.
• 2019. Discrimination and Disparities (revised, enlarged ed.) Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-64563-9}}.
• 2020. Charter Schools and Their Enemies. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-67513-1}}.
• 2023. Social Justice Fallacies. Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-1-541-60392-9}}.

• {{Cite journal|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|journal=Change|volume=5|issue=4|pages=33–37|jstor=40161749|title=Arthur Jensen and His Critics: The Great IQ Controversy|date=May 1973|doi=10.1080/00091383.1973.10568506}}
• 1975. "[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED130570.pdf Affirmative Action Reconsidered. Was It Necessary in Academia?]" (Evaluation Studies 27). Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. {{ISBN|0-8447-3199-4}}. {{LCCN|7542779}}.
• 1979. "[https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2510&context=law_lawreview Status versus Behavior]." Washington University Law Review 1979(1):179–188.
• 1982. "[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456.9623&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=57 Weber and Bakke, and the Presuppositions of 'Affirmative Action']." pp. 37–63 in Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Equal Opportunity: An Economic and Social Perspective, edited by W. E. Block and M. A. Walker. Fraser Institute. {{ISBN|978-0-88975-039-5}}.
• 2002. "[https://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817928928_79.pdf The Education of Minority Children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626041235/https://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817928928_79.pdf |date=June 26, 2020 }}." pp. 79–92 in Education in the Twenty-First Century, edited by E. P. Lazear. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. [http://tsowell.com/speducat.html Available via eText].
• 2002. "[https://hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817998721_167.pdf Discrimination, Economics, and Culture]." pp. 167–180 in Beyond the Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America, edited by A. Thernstrom and S. Thernstrom. Hoover Institution Press.
• 2012. "[https://www.weblogbahamas.com/files/hoover-proof.pdf 'Trickle Down' Theory and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich']" (Hoover Institution Press Publication 635) Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8179-1615-2}}. Google Books: [https://books.google.com/books?id=EY3prsH-5bwC EY3prsH-5bwC].

• Greenhouse effect (United States Supreme Court)
• List of newspaper columnists

{{Notelist|Sowell did not receive the National Humanities Medal in person; Justice Clarence Thomas received it on his behalf on February 23, 2003.}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web|last=Graglia|first=Nino A.|title=Profile in courage|url=http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/newsletter/01winter/review.html|work=Hoover Institution Newsletter|publisher=Hoover Institution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050909080051/http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/newsletter/01winter/review.html|archive-date=September 9, 2005|date=Winter 2001}}

Nordlinger, Jay. February 21, 2011. "[http://live-national-review.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/nrdpdf/20110221_0.pdf#page=45 A lion in high summer: Thomas Sowell, charging ahead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213030/https://www.nationalreview.com/sites/default/files/nrdpdf/20110221_0.pdf#page=45 |date=March 4, 2016 }}." National Review 63(3):43–45.

{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|title=Curriculum vita|url=http://www.tsowell.com/cv.html|work=TSowell.com|access-date=January 6, 2011|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522143536/http://www.tsowell.com/cv.html|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|last=Sawhill|first=Ray|url=https://www.salon.com/1999/11/10/sowell_2/ |title=Black and right |work=Salon.com |date=1999-11-10 |quote=I prefer not to have labels, but I suspect that 'libertarian' would suit me better than many others, although I disagree with the libertarian movement on a number of things – military preparedness, for instance. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001007222000/http://salon.com/books/int/1999/11/10/sowell/print.html|archive-date=October 7, 2000}}

{{cite news | url=http://www.hoover.org/research/day-cornell-died | title=The Day Cornell Died | work=The Weekly Standard | date=1999-05-03 | access-date=February 25, 2013 | author=Sowell, Thomas | archive-date=July 19, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719114819/https://www.hoover.org/research/day-cornell-died | url-status=live }}

{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|url=http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9767|publisher=Hoover Institution|access-date=January 6, 2011|archive-date=May 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516020254/http://www.hoover.org/fellows/9767|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|title=Do Gun Control Laws Control Guns?|url=https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/13/do-gun-control-laws-control-guns|publisher=Creators Syndicate|date=January 22, 2013|accessdate=February 26, 2022|archive-date=February 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226232136/https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/01/13/do-gun-control-laws-control-guns|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2004-10-30|title=Affirmative Action around the World | Hoover Institution|url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/8108|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110191859/http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/8108|archive-date=2011-01-10|access-date=2011-01-30|publisher=Hoover.org}}

{{Cite news|last=Creitz|first=Charles|date=12 July 2020|title=Thomas Sowell says concept of systemic racism 'has no meaning,' warns US could reach 'point of no return'|work=Fox News Website|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/thomas-sowell-systemic-racism-has-no-meaning|access-date=September 1, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819122400/https://www.foxnews.com/media/thomas-sowell-systemic-racism-has-no-meaning|url-status=live}}

{{Cite news|title = Turning The Page On 2015|url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|website = Forbes|access-date = 2015-12-20|last1 = Forbes|first1 = Steve|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113058/https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|url-status = live}}

{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-economics-and-politics-of-race-by-thomas-sowell/|title = Unconventional Truths|date = December 1, 1983|access-date = December 20, 2015|work = Commentary Magazine|last = Plaut|first = Steven|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-economics-and-politics-of-race-by-thomas-sowell/|url-status = live}}

{{Cite web|title = Clear Thinking on Race|url = https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/345961/clear-thinking-race|website = National Review Online|publisher = National Review|access-date = 2015-12-21|date = 2013-04-16|archive-date = November 11, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161111010600/https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/345961/clear-thinking-race|url-status = live}}

{{Cite web|title = Thomas Sowell – Seeing Clearly|url = http://www.aei.org/publication/thomas-sowell-seeing-clearly/|website = AEI|access-date = 2015-12-20|language = en-US|date = 2005-12-19|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141208155110/http://www.aei.org/publication/thomas-sowell-seeing-clearly/|archive-date = December 8, 2014}}

{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/race-and-culture-by-thomas-sowell/|title = Nature, Nurture, Culture|access-date = December 19, 2015|last = Joffe|first = Josef|date = March 1995|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/race-and-culture-by-thomas-sowell/|url-status = live}}

{{Cite web|url = http://www.nationalreview.com/article/215370/chewing-nails-jay-nordlinger|title = Chewing Nails|date = August 29, 2005|access-date = December 19, 2015|website = www.nationalreview.com|last = Nordlinger|first = Jay|archive-date = December 18, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171218194454/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/215370/chewing-nails-jay-nordlinger|url-status = live}}

{{Cite web|url = https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/thomas-sowell-peerless-nerd/|title = Thomas Sowell: Peerless Nerd, The truth about one of America's Giants|date = December 1, 2011|access-date = December 21, 2015|website = commentarymagazine.com|last = Williamson|first = Kevin D.|archive-date = July 20, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190720003414/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/thomas-sowell-peerless-nerd/|url-status = dead}}

{{Cite web|url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|title = Turning the Page on 2015|date = November 4, 2015|access-date = December 19, 2015|website = Forbes.com|last = Forbes|first = Steve|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113058/https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/11/04/turning-the-page-on-2015/|url-status = live}}

{{cite journal|title=The economics of Thomas Sowell: A critique of markets and minorities|journal=The Review of Black Political Economy|volume=12|issue=2|pages=163–177|date=December 11, 2015|doi=10.1007/BF02873530|last1=Chachere|first1=Bernadette P.|s2cid=154870459}}

{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=William Julius|title=Hurting the Disadvantaged|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/24/books/hurting-the-disadvantaged.html|access-date=January 5, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 24, 1984|archive-date=December 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210214250/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/24/books/hurting-the-disadvantaged.html|url-status=live}}

{{Cite web|title = The Simple Falsehoods of Race|url = http://www.the-american-interest.com/2013/10/10/the-simple-falsehoods-of-race/|website = The American Interest|access-date = 2015-12-21|first = Richard Thompson|last = Ford|date = 2013-10-11|archive-date = June 9, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113100/https://www.the-american-interest.com/2013/10/10/the-simple-falsehoods-of-race/|url-status = live}}

{{cite web|title = Economic Facts and Fallacies Summary|url = https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/economic-facts-and-fallacies/10032|website = getAbstract|access-date = 2019-07-01|archive-date = July 1, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190701132706/https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/economic-facts-and-fallacies/10032|url-status = live}}

Sowell, A Personal Odyssey, p. 6.

Sowell, A Personal Odyssey, pp. 47, 58, 59, 62.

Sowell, Thomas. 1963. "Karl Marx and the Freedom of the Individual." Ethics 73(2):120.

{{cite thesis|author=Sowell, Thomas|title=Say's Law and the General Glut Controversy|url=https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4284259|type=PhD dissertation|publisher=University of Chicago|year=1968|access-date=January 24, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113055/https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4284259|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell|work=Q&A|date=April 17, 2005|url=http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1019|publisher=C-SPAN|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214083124/http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1019|archivedate=December 14, 2005|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|last=Sowell|first=Thomas|date=2004-06-04|title=Thomas Sowell : 'Partial truth' abortion|url=https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060404.asp|access-date=February 26, 2022|publisher=Creators Syndicate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813183454/https://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060404.asp|archivedate=August 13, 2004|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|date=2010-10-18|title=The Cult of Multiculturalism|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250190/cult-multiculturalism-thomas-sowell|access-date=5 October 2014|work=National Review Online|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092142/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/250190/cult-multiculturalism-thomas-sowell|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|title=Thomas Sowell: Federal Reserve a 'Cancer'|url=http://itmakessenseblog.com/2011/01/13/thomas-sowell-federal-reserve-a-cancer/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006155651/http://itmakessenseblog.com/2011/01/13/thomas-sowell-federal-reserve-a-cancer/|archive-date=6 October 2014|access-date=5 October 2014|work=It makes sense|type=blog}}

Sowell, Thomas (1987); Compassion Versus Guilt, and Other Essays; {{ISBN|0-688-07114-7}}.

{{cite web |author=Thomas Sowell |url=http://www.hoover.org/bios/sowell.html |title=Hoover Institution – Fellows – Thomas Sowell |publisher=Hoover.org |access-date=2010-03-12 |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609140438/http://www.hoover.org/bios/sowell.html |url-status=live }}

{{cite web|url=http://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-fellow-thomas-sowell-receives-lysander-spooner-award-applied-economics|title=Hoover Fellow Thomas Sowell Receives Lysander Spooner Award for Applied Economics|publisher=Hoover Institution|date=March 11, 2004|access-date=March 22, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609113143/https://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-fellow-thomas-sowell-receives-lysander-spooner-award-applied-economics|url-status=live}}

O'Driscoll Jr., Gerald P. 2016. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200701035413/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b092/ce61e2c8fa865b1ddd2d50e651201f22165e.pdf Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective]" (review). Cato Journal 36:196–206. {{S2CID|132598832}}.

}}

• Kwong, Jo (2008). "Sowell, Thomas (1930–)." pp. 482–483 in The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, edited by R. Hamowy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage / Cato Institute. {{doi|10.4135/9781412965811.n294}}. {{ISBN|978-1412965804}}. {{LCCN|2008009151}}. {{OCLC|750831024}}.
• Ebeling, Richard M., [https://www.aier.org/article/thomas-sowell-at-90-understanding-race-relations-around-the-world/ "Thomas Sowell at 90: Understanding Race Relations Around the World,"] American Institute for Economic Research, June 16, 2020
• Riley, Jason L., [https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jason-l-riley/maverick/9781541619692/ Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell] Basic Books, {{ISBN|978-1541619685|978-1541619692}} (e-book), {{ASIN|B08HM2NQ66}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Riley |first1=Jason L. |title=The Continuing Importance of Thomas Sowell |url=https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/continuing-importance-thomas-sowell/|journal=Imprimis |date=March 2022 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=1–7 |access-date=11 April 2022 |publisher=Hillsdale College |issn=0277-8432}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [http://www.tsowell.com/ Thomas Sowell's home page]
• [https://www.creators.com/author/dr-thomas-sowell Thomas Sowell Features] at Creators Syndicate
• [http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp Archive of Articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816002915/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp |date=August 16, 2007 }} by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com
• {{C-SPAN}}
• {{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Russ |title=Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies |url=http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/thomas_sowell/ |work=EconTalk |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty |author-link=Russ Roberts |date=February 25, 2008}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK4M9iJrgto Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World], 2021 PBS intellectual biography of its subject with Jason Riley hosting.
• {{Internet Archive author |sname = Thomas Sowell }}
• {{IMDb name|id=1752237|name=Thomas Sowell}}

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