{"author":"Thomas Sowell","author_id":"Thomas+Sowell","total_quotes":88,"quotes":[{"text":"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["question","decide","most "],"id":1028,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"Price controls almost invariably produce black markets, where prices are not only higher than the legally permitted prices, but also higher than they would be in a free market, since the legal risks must also be compensated. While small-scale black markets may function in secrecy, large-scale black markets usually require bribes to officials to look the other way.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["anarcho-capitalism","anarchy","ancap","austrian-economics","austrian-school-of-economics","capitalism","coercion","evil","free-market","freedom","government","liberty","regulations","socialism","statism","voluntaryism"],"id":5716,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"Without a moral framework, there is nothing left but immediate self-indulgence by some and the path of least resistance by others. Neither can sustain a free society.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["path","free","moral "],"id":17210,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"The staunchest conservatives advocate a range of changes which differ in specifics, rather than in number or magnitude, from the changes advocated by those considered liberal…change, as such, is simply not a controversial issue. Yet a common practice among the anointed is to declare themselves emphatically, piously, and defiantly in favor of 'change.' Thus those who oppose their particular changes are depicted as being against change in general. It is as if opponents of the equation 2+2=7 were depicted as being against mathematics. Such a tactic might, however, be more politically effective than trying to defend the equation on its own merits. ","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["change","politics"],"id":17457,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"All the political angst and moral melodrama about getting 'the rich' to pay 'their fair share' is part of a big charade. This is not about economics, it is about politics.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["political","economics","rich "],"id":18311,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"Clearly, only very unequal intellectual and moral standing could justify having equality imposed, whether the people want it or not, as Dworkin suggests, and only very unequal power would make it possible.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["economics","politics"],"id":24314,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["diversity","important","you "],"id":33856,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["health","government","people "],"id":35442,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"The power of the intelligentsia is demonstrated not only by their ability to create a general climate of opinion that strikes fear into those who oppose their agenda but also by their ability to create a climate of opinion which richly rewards those political leaders whose decisions are consonant with the vision of the intelligentsia.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["intelligentsia","opinion","politics"],"id":41544,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"},{"text":"When I was an undergraduate studying economics under Professor Arthur Smithies of Harvard, he asked me in class one day what policy I favored on a particular issue of the times. Since I had strong feelings on that issue, I proceeded to answer him with enthusiasm, explaining what beneficial consequences I expected from the policy I advocated. “And then what will happen?” he asked. The question caught me off guard. However, as I thought about it, it became clear that the situation I described would lead to other economic consequences, which I then began to consider and to spell out. “And what will happen after that?” Professor Smithies asked. As I analyzed how the further economic reactions to the policy would unfold, I began to realize that these reactions would lead to consequences much less desirable than those at the first stage, and I began to waver somewhat. “And then what will happen?” Smithies persisted. By now I was beginning to see that the economic reverberations of the policy I advocated were likely to be pretty disastrous— and, in fact, much worse than the initial situation that it was designed to improve. Simple as this little exercise might seem, it went further than most economic discussions about policies on a wide range of issues. Most thinking stops at stage one.","author":"Thomas Sowell","tags":["economics","inspirational"],"id":45427,"author_id":"Thomas+Sowell"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":88,"pages":9,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}