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An excellent discussion of the misuse of statistics in current political discourse. This book is essential reading for anyone exposed to current political rhetoric which, of course, is everyone. As an added bonus the book is short. This means anyone who reads it will quickly be able to recognize how ubiquitous misleading statements are. Indeed, misleading statements seem to be the rule rather than the exception these days. After reading this book you will likely think "I knew the situation was bad but it is even worse than I imagined!" Indeed, one even gets to the point of looking at a statement by the media or a politician and thinking "what is the worst case scenario that would make the statement technically true when the reality is close to the opposite of the impression trying to be conveyed."
Sowell is excellent at providing examples to show common problems in the presentation of statistics. For instance, crime statistics are often presented as "black people make up 13% of the population but are many times more than 13% of those stopped/arrested/incarcerated. The shows racism at work.". Sowell compares this to concluding that since NBA referees call fouls on black players much more than 13% of the time the reason must be racial prejudice. Sowell shows that it is not nearly that simple. For example the average age of the populations matters since younger people are more likely to engage in crime than older ones. The amount of crime actually being committed matters as well. Sowell mentions, as an example, experiments with radar cameras showing the black people, in fact, are more likely to speed.
Sowell's writing is not only concise but also very clear and well organized. For example, to head off any ambiguity he clearly distinguishes three types of discrimination and labels them separately. One type of discrimination is good: discernment between individuals based on their individual characteristics and not race. One type is the bad kind: prejudicial attitudes toward a group based on false beliefs about them. A third type is in between: attitudes towards a group based on things statistically true about some but not all members. Sowell uses the example of criminal background checks to show how not allowing the good type of discrimination leads to some unexpected consequences. Employers will then use the statistical type of discrimination and end up hiring fewer members of the group than if background checks are allowed. Think disparate impact laws can be added to prevent that? Employers will just locate to places where there are fewer members of the group. Similarly, Sowell shows how the presence of a particularly problematic subset of a group can cause businesses to increase the price of their product which is then misinterpreted as a "tax" on the all members of the group including those who do not engage in the behavior. The business may even decide not to do business in certain areas at all. This is highly timely given all the businesses shutting down recently due to increased shoplifting and "smash and grab" attacks.
This books contains bits of history which caused me to rethink others books I have read. For example, black incomes did rise after the Civil War until 1900 faster than those of whites. This is not something you are going to hear about in books which treat post-Reconstruction as a virtual reset to slavery. For all its statistical detail The Republic for Which it Stands did not discuss it. Neither did The Black Tax which explicitly counts the period from Reconstruction until the Civil Rights era as equivalent to another 100 years of slavery when figuring how big "the black tax" has been over the years. Sowell also mentions that school desegregation was already happening in the North, was welcome and was being enforced by courts until southern black immigrants who were more prone to crime arrived.
Sowell also mentions the rather remarkable phenomena of survey data being used as a key component in decrying wealth inequality. For example asking lower paid worker how many hours they work compared to higher paid workers and treating lower paid workers' self reporting as fact, which then turned out to be false. Although Sowell does not mention it, self reporting statistics are often key in claims about disparate rates of arrest and incarceration during the war of drugs.
Beyond racial disparities there is also a good discussion of how statistics regarding income disparities involving "the bottom 20%", "the top 20%" or the "the top 1%" are highly misleading given how fluid who is in these groups is.
I could only find a few minor flaws with the book. For example when comparing the United States to other nations when calling Marxists' claims into question Sowell says that other nations are not doing as well as the United States despite all the capitalists there. Any Marxist worth his salt would, of course, instantly point out that perhaps the United States is doing so well because of its capitalists exploitation of the globe. Similarly, attacking the Soviet Union as a Marxist state is a straw-man. Just because the Soviet Union said they were Marxists does not mean they actually were. Finally, Sowell's belief is that the rise in crime starting in the 1960's was due to leftist ideologies being more tolerant of undesirable types of behavior. This is possible but the consensus is that the exact causes are not well known other than there being an explosion of young people, those most likely to be involved in crime, due to the baby boom.
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From the Publisher
Social Justice Fallacies
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Intellectuals and Race
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The Einstein Syndrome
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Wealth, Poverty and Politics
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A Conflict of Visions
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Race and Culture
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| Explore the works of Thomas Sowell | In this instant New York Times bestseller, renowned economist Thomas Sowell demolishes the myths that underpin the social justice movement | Intellectuals and Race is a radical book in the original sense of one that goes to the root of the problem. The role of intellectuals in racial strife is explored in an international context that puts the American experience in a wholly new light. | The Einstein Syndrome is a follow-up to Late-Talking Children, which established Thomas Sowell as a leading spokesman on the subject of late-talking children. | In Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in this country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. | A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks. | Race and Culture shows that cultural capital has far more impact than politics, prejudice, or genetics on the social and economic fates of minorities, nations, and civilization. |
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2021Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell is another well researched and put together material by the author. The book outlines two types of discrimination, why people discriminate against their own actions and against others, how others have aimed as a third-party to intervene in a discriminatory process , and the disparities between intended outcomes and the desire for acting for, or against particular kinds of discrimination.
The author starts out by defining discrimination in two ways; discrimination 1, is the rational separating of things, circumstances, and individuals based on particular needs or particular outcome needed. For example, choosing between two separate pairs of shoes as to the one that would lead to the best outcome for the purpose of wearing. While discrimination 2, is a more general aggregate characterization of particular circumstances, situation, persons, or things based on group criteria. For example, saying that a particular pair of shoes will not fit your need because the group of shoes that it falls under generally does not.
What I find compelling about this book is the fact that the author went into an understanding of why people choose to discriminate or not discriminate against particular groups or individuals. The main thing that he highlighted that may lead to either discrimination one or two when dealing with individuals and society is, The Cost of Discrimination. I find this point to be quite important. If the cost of discriminating is high then there would be less discrimination, whether it is discrimination 1 or 2. The converse is true, if the cost of discrimination is low then they’ll be more discrimination. Examples were given about discriminating against black workers in the south during the Jim Crow era, and how southern companies, given the laws supporting discrimination in choosing white workers, many still defied the laws and hire black workers, when the cost of discrimination was too high. When they had to choose between whites and blacks to hire they end up choosing both when the cost of the process of discrimination was too high. When the government enforce the laws and the cost of not discriminating then became higher than the cost of discriminating through government prosecutions and fines, then they did what cost least, they discriminate. The argument here is that if companies are left on their own , they will discriminate or not discriminate based on the cost. Given the free market society we live in companies will choose not to discriminate, since the cost of discrimination is high.
Another major point of the book is that politicians and the media sometimes look at data and interpret and present them in a mistaken way, either deliberately or by accident. They are looking at the same data and coming to different conclusions based on particular agendas. The author highlights the destructive nature of this behavior. I personally believe that this is particularly dangerous as the average person do not read the facts for themselves, or analyze the data thoroughly for themselves. Therefore, they are left to interpret the filtered version given to them by wherever they consume that information.
A striking fact but the author touched on in the book is about slavery, and how people have sorted themselves through time in groups in particular organizations. As it relates to slavery the author highlighted that slavery has become in this country an argument of one race enslaving another, while it’s a known fact that slavery has been around for thousands of years and it mainly began with one race and slaving their own. Proving that the fact that slavery was abolished in the west showed that while they engage in this horrendous activity they somehow “saw the light“ and decided that this was no longer something that could continue and lead the charge in abolishing slavery.
The other point by the author is that people sort and on sort themselves into groups and societies based on their own needs. They are grouped into communities, Attend schools and provide goods and services to each other based on how they have sorted and on sorted them selves in these groups, communities, and organizations.
The most important point about this book, is that individuals should be left alone to sort and on sort themselves in various groups, communities an economic activities, based on their own discrimination (discrimination 1) as they see fit. It is also claiming that the government should stay out of this process. It made some valid points and proved that when people act independently the results are far greater, but when a third-party act for individuals it makes the situation worse, and the intended end of the intervention is never achieved.
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Top reviews from other countries
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Luiz Fernando Nora RosaReviewed in Brazil on February 22, 2024
informações concretas, mostrando a fonte, com explicações e exemplos bem claros.
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- Uta C. GroeschelReviewed in Germany on July 23, 2022
Disparities are the norm, not the exception
