Knowledge and Decisions
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $23.36
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robertson Dean
-
By:
-
Thomas Sowell
About this listen
This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom. This is because actual knowledge is being replaced by assumptions based on an abstract and elitist social vision of what ought to be.
Knowledge and Decisions, a winner of the 1980 Law and Economics Center Prize, was heralded as a landmark work and 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 that the “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, [this] work goes deeper and becomes even more significant.”
Thomas Sowell is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has been published in both academic journals and such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune and writes a syndicated column for newspapers across the country.
©1980 Basic Books, Inc. Preface 1996 by Thomas Sowell (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Vision of the Anointed
- Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vision of the Anointed is a devastating critique of the mindset behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Thomas Sowell sees what has happened not as a series of isolated mistakes, but as a logical consequence of a vision whose defects have led to disasters in education, crime, family disintegration, and other social pathology. In this book, "politically correct" theory is repeatedly confronted with facts-and sharp contradictions between the two are explained in terms of a whole set of self-congratulatory assumptions held by political and intellectual elites.
-
-
An Absolute Masterpiece!
- By Brendan Martino on 04-04-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Inside American Education
- The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.
-
-
Must read if you want to understand the condition in America
- By Aaron on 12-21-21
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of essays that discusses such issues as the media, immigration, the minimum wage, and multiculturalism.
-
-
Mr. Sowell exposed the soul of America.
- By ruth S. on 11-24-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Migrations and Cultures
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time. Migrations and Cultures shows the persistence of cultural traits in particular racial and ethnic groups.
-
-
good but a dense read
- By Hi5Me on 03-27-18
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Vision of the Anointed
- Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vision of the Anointed is a devastating critique of the mindset behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Thomas Sowell sees what has happened not as a series of isolated mistakes, but as a logical consequence of a vision whose defects have led to disasters in education, crime, family disintegration, and other social pathology. In this book, "politically correct" theory is repeatedly confronted with facts-and sharp contradictions between the two are explained in terms of a whole set of self-congratulatory assumptions held by political and intellectual elites.
-
-
An Absolute Masterpiece!
- By Brendan Martino on 04-04-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Inside American Education
- The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.
-
-
Must read if you want to understand the condition in America
- By Aaron on 12-21-21
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of essays that discusses such issues as the media, immigration, the minimum wage, and multiculturalism.
-
-
Mr. Sowell exposed the soul of America.
- By ruth S. on 11-24-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Migrations and Cultures
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time. Migrations and Cultures shows the persistence of cultural traits in particular racial and ethnic groups.
-
-
good but a dense read
- By Hi5Me on 03-27-18
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Thomas Sowell Reader
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These selections from the many writings of Thomas Sowell over a period of half a century cover social, economic, cultural, legal, educational, and political issues. The sources range from Dr. Sowell’s letters, books, newspaper columns, and articles in both scholarly journals and popular magazines. The topics range from latetalking children to tax cuts for the rich, baseball, race, war, the role of judges, medical care, and the rhetoric of politicians.
-
-
The Best Book By The Smartest Guy in the Room
- By Dave on 10-20-11
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Maverick
- A Biography of Thomas Sowell
- By: Jason L. Riley
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the first-ever biography of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most influential conservative social theorists, Jason L. Riley gives this iconic thinker his due and responds to the detractors. Maverick showcases Sowell's most significant writings and traces the life events that shaped his ideas and resulted in a Black orphan from the Jim Crow South becoming one of our foremost public intellectuals.
-
-
A Biography of Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 06-08-21
By: Jason L. Riley
-
Is Reality Optional?
- And Other Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell challenges all the assumptions of contemporary liberalism on issues ranging from the economy to race to education in this collection of controversial essays, and captures his thoughts on politics, race, and common sense with a section at the end for thought-provoking quotes.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anonymous User on 09-28-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Ever Wonder Why?
- And Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell takes aim at a range of legal, social, racial, educational, and economic issues in this latest collection of his controversial, never boring, always thought-provoking essays. From "gun control myths" to "mealy mouth media" to "free lunch medicine," Sowell gets to the heart of the matters we all care about with his characteristically unsparing candor.
-
-
He does it again.
- By David H on 09-28-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of conservatism's most articulate voices dissects today's most important economic, racial, political, education, legal, and social issues, sharing his entertaining and thought-provoking insights on a wide range of contentious subjects.
-
-
The Divine Logic
- By Yi Mon on 07-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Einstein Syndrome
- Bright Children Who Talk Late
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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. While many children who talk late suffer from developmental disorders or autism, there is a certain well-defined group who are developmentally normal or even quite bright, yet who may go past their fourth birthday before beginning to talk.
-
-
Explains my children so much!
- By CoffeeMama2 on 03-16-24
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Race and Culture
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell is one of America’s leading voices on matters of race and ethnicity. In his book, Inside American Education, he surveyed the ills of American education from the primary grades to graduate school with “an impressive range of knowledge and acuity of observation”, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, in his book Race and Culture, he asks the question: “What is it that allows certain groups to get ahead?” and the answer will undoubtedly create debates for years to come.
-
-
Thomas Sowell is rare breed of public intellectual
- By PAUL on 09-03-12
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Quest for Cosmic Justice
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is about the great moral issues underlying many of the headline-making political controversies of our times. It is not a comforting book but a book about disturbing and dangerous trends. The Quest for Cosmic Justice shows how confused conceptions of justice end up promoting injustice, how confused conceptions of equality end up promoting inequality, and how the tyranny of social visions prevents many people from confronting the actual consequences of their own beliefs and policies.
-
-
First released 20 years ago & now a classic!
- By Wayne on 11-05-18
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Charter Schools and Their Enemies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A leading conservative intellectual defends charter schools against the teachers' unions, politicians, and liberal educators who threaten to dismantle their success.
-
-
Another winner from Thomas Sowell!
- By Wayne on 07-01-20
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Basic Economics
- A Citizen's Guide to the Economy: Revised and Expanded Edition
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brian Emerson
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell has a different idea about how economics should be taught. With this groundbreaking introduction to economics, Sowell has thrown out the graphs, statistics, and jargon. Learning economics, he believes, should be relaxing - and even enjoyable. In this edition, Basic Economics has been revised and expanded to address the new concerns of the 21st century. It's focus has become more international, including the range of economic problems faced by foreign countries around the world.
-
-
A mind opening consideration of Economics.
- By Chad S. on 06-12-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Intellectuals and Society
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a study of how intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop, on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace. You will hear a withering and clear-eyed critique about (but not for) intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large.
-
-
Biased but good
- By Justin on 05-06-10
By: Thomas Sowell
-
A Conflict of Visions
- Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Michael Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, which the author calls a "culmination of 30 years of work in the history of ideas", Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature. Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions.
-
-
Critical read for 2008 change election
- By Elaine C Grimes on 06-05-08
By: Thomas Sowell
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
For a New Liberty
- The Libertarian Manifesto
- By: Murray N. Rothbard
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, Rothbard proposes a once-and-for-all escape from the two major political parties, the ideologies they embrace, and their central plans for using state power against people. Libertarianism is Rothbard's radical alternative that says state power is unworkable and immoral, and ought to be curbed and finally overthrown.
-
-
I'm a Ron Paul Libertarian but this is a good
- By monte reed on 03-20-12
-
Defending the Undefendable
- By: Walter Block
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professor Block's book is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. However, beneath the surface, this book is also an outstanding work of microeconomic theory that explains the workings of economic forces in everyday events and affairs.
-
-
Stretching My Mind
- By Johnny Noob on 12-14-11
By: Walter Block
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Creating Freedom
- The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future
- By: Raoul Martinez
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A manifesto for deep and radical change, Creating Freedom explores the limits placed on freedom by human nature and society. It explodes myths, calling for a profound transformation in the way we think about democracy, equality, and our own identities.
-
-
The BEST book, I've listened to in a long time
- By G. Newton on 04-16-17
By: Raoul Martinez
-
World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction
- A John Hope Franklin Center Book
- By: Immanuel Wallerstein
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein provides a concise and accessible introduction to the comprehensive approach that he pioneered 30 years ago to understanding the history and development of the modern world. Since Wallerstein first developed world-systems analysis, it has become a widely utilized methodology within the historical social sciences and a common point of reference in discussions of globalization.
-
-
Uneven, but Ambitious
- By Logical Paradox on 08-27-14
-
Radical Markets
- Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
- By: Eric A. Posner, E. Glen Weyl
- Narrated by: James Conlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right? Radical Markets turns this thinking - and pretty much all conventional thinking about markets, both for and against - on its head. The book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone.
-
-
Terrible Reader ruins this book
- By Brian W. Veit on 10-30-18
By: Eric A. Posner, and others
-
For a New Liberty
- The Libertarian Manifesto
- By: Murray N. Rothbard
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, Rothbard proposes a once-and-for-all escape from the two major political parties, the ideologies they embrace, and their central plans for using state power against people. Libertarianism is Rothbard's radical alternative that says state power is unworkable and immoral, and ought to be curbed and finally overthrown.
-
-
I'm a Ron Paul Libertarian but this is a good
- By monte reed on 03-20-12
-
Defending the Undefendable
- By: Walter Block
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professor Block's book is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. However, beneath the surface, this book is also an outstanding work of microeconomic theory that explains the workings of economic forces in everyday events and affairs.
-
-
Stretching My Mind
- By Johnny Noob on 12-14-11
By: Walter Block
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- By: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Erik on 01-21-08
By: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Creating Freedom
- The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future
- By: Raoul Martinez
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A manifesto for deep and radical change, Creating Freedom explores the limits placed on freedom by human nature and society. It explodes myths, calling for a profound transformation in the way we think about democracy, equality, and our own identities.
-
-
The BEST book, I've listened to in a long time
- By G. Newton on 04-16-17
By: Raoul Martinez
-
World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction
- A John Hope Franklin Center Book
- By: Immanuel Wallerstein
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein provides a concise and accessible introduction to the comprehensive approach that he pioneered 30 years ago to understanding the history and development of the modern world. Since Wallerstein first developed world-systems analysis, it has become a widely utilized methodology within the historical social sciences and a common point of reference in discussions of globalization.
-
-
Uneven, but Ambitious
- By Logical Paradox on 08-27-14
-
Radical Markets
- Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
- By: Eric A. Posner, E. Glen Weyl
- Narrated by: James Conlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many blame today's economic inequality, stagnation, and political instability on the free market. The solution is to rein in the market, right? Radical Markets turns this thinking - and pretty much all conventional thinking about markets, both for and against - on its head. The book reveals bold new ways to organize markets for the good of everyone.
-
-
Terrible Reader ruins this book
- By Brian W. Veit on 10-30-18
By: Eric A. Posner, and others
-
Capitalism
- The Unknown Ideal
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This was the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constituted a major philosophic revolution. In this series of essays, she presented her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the default of conservatism, and the evils of altruism.
-
-
Ashame this is not taught in our
- By Karen on 08-18-07
By: Ayn Rand
-
Economics for the Common Good
- By: Jean Tirole, Steven Rendell - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, he suddenly found himself being stopped in the street by complete strangers and asked to comment on issues of the day, no matter how distant from his own areas of research. His transformation from academic economist to public intellectual prompted him to reflect further on the role economists and their discipline play in society. The result is Economics for the Common Good, a passionate manifesto for a world in which economics, far from being a "dismal science," is a positive force for the common good.
-
-
A Great Overview of the Challenges of Modern Econ
- By Zach Sullivan on 08-06-18
By: Jean Tirole, and others
-
The Constitution of Liberty
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, F. A. Hayek
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
-
-
very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
-
Libertarianism
- What Everyone Needs to Know
- By: Jason Brennan
- Narrated by: Nicholas Ramsey
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Historically, Americans have seen libertarians as far outside the mainstream, but with the rise of the Tea Party movement, libertarian principles have risen to the forefront of Republican politics. But libertarianism is more than the philosophy of individual freedom and unfettered markets that Republicans have embraced. Indeed, as Jason Brennan points out, libertarianism is a quite different - and far richer - system of thought than most of us suspect. In this timely new entry in Oxford's acclaimed series What Everyone Needs to Know, Brennan offers a nuanced portrait of libertarianism.
-
-
very informative
- By S. Schmidt on 09-21-19
By: Jason Brennan
-
The Great Degeneration
- How Institutions Decay and Economies Die
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Paul Slack
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West’s once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.
-
-
Superb as always!
- By Ivanhoe on 08-28-17
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Active Liberty
- Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
- By: Stephen Breyer
- Narrated by: Stephen Breyer
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in September 2005 and based on a series of lectures delivered at Harvard, Active Liberty is a tight, extremely readable, almost memoir-like guide to interpreting the Constitution. Written by a justice of the Supreme Court, it focuses on a pragmatic approach to this great document that may become crucial as the Supreme Court faces deeply divisive decisions.
-
-
Engaging, If Somewhat Dense
- By Maki on 09-04-07
By: Stephen Breyer
-
Ill Fares the Land
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Ill Fares The Land, Tony Judt, one of our leading historians and thinkers, reveals how we have arrived at our present dangerously confused moment. Judt masterfully crystallizes what we've all been feeling into a way to think our way into, and thus out of, our great collective dis-ease about the current state of things.
-
-
Blah, Blah, Blah.
- By Michael on 07-15-10
By: Tony Judt
-
The Economics of Inequality
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Succinct, accessible, and authoritative, Thomas Piketty’s The Economics of Inequality is the ideal place to start for those who want to understand the fundamental issues at the heart of one the most pressing concerns in contemporary economics and politics. This work now appears in English for the first time.
-
-
A Survey of the Economics of Inequality
- By Darwin8u on 12-19-16
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
-
The Socialist Temptation
- By: Iain Murray
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just 30 years ago, socialism seemed utterly discredited. An economic, moral, and political failure, socialism had rightly been thrown on the ash heap of history after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately, bad ideas never truly go away — and socialism has come back with a vengeance. A generation of young people who don’t remember the misery that socialism inflicted on Russia and Eastern Europe is embracing it all over again.
-
-
Full Of Important Insights
- By Ralph Alderson on 12-17-20
By: Iain Murray
-
The Sovereign Individual
- Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
- By: James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel - preface, William Rees-Mogg
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
-
-
Unfortunately distopian for mosty of humanity
- By Phil on 09-29-20
By: James Dale Davidson, and others
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Equal Is Unfair
- America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality
- By: Don Watkins, Yaron Brook
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We've all heard that the American Dream is vanishing, and that the cause is rising income inequality. The rich are getting richer by rigging the system in their favor, leaving the rest of us to struggle just to keep our heads above water. To save the American Dream, we're told that we need to fight inequality through tax hikes, wealth redistribution schemes, and a far higher minimum wage.
-
-
While I agree with most of this book,...
- By Wayne on 12-30-16
By: Don Watkins, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Ever Wonder Why?
- And Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell takes aim at a range of legal, social, racial, educational, and economic issues in this latest collection of his controversial, never boring, always thought-provoking essays. From "gun control myths" to "mealy mouth media" to "free lunch medicine," Sowell gets to the heart of the matters we all care about with his characteristically unsparing candor.
-
-
He does it again.
- By David H on 09-28-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Thomas Sowell Reader
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These selections from the many writings of Thomas Sowell over a period of half a century cover social, economic, cultural, legal, educational, and political issues. The sources range from Dr. Sowell’s letters, books, newspaper columns, and articles in both scholarly journals and popular magazines. The topics range from latetalking children to tax cuts for the rich, baseball, race, war, the role of judges, medical care, and the rhetoric of politicians.
-
-
The Best Book By The Smartest Guy in the Room
- By Dave on 10-20-11
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Migrations and Cultures
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time. Migrations and Cultures shows the persistence of cultural traits in particular racial and ethnic groups.
-
-
good but a dense read
- By Hi5Me on 03-27-18
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Race and Culture
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell is one of America’s leading voices on matters of race and ethnicity. In his book, Inside American Education, he surveyed the ills of American education from the primary grades to graduate school with “an impressive range of knowledge and acuity of observation”, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, in his book Race and Culture, he asks the question: “What is it that allows certain groups to get ahead?” and the answer will undoubtedly create debates for years to come.
-
-
Thomas Sowell is rare breed of public intellectual
- By PAUL on 09-03-12
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of essays that discusses such issues as the media, immigration, the minimum wage, and multiculturalism.
-
-
Mr. Sowell exposed the soul of America.
- By ruth S. on 11-24-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Ever Wonder Why?
- And Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell takes aim at a range of legal, social, racial, educational, and economic issues in this latest collection of his controversial, never boring, always thought-provoking essays. From "gun control myths" to "mealy mouth media" to "free lunch medicine," Sowell gets to the heart of the matters we all care about with his characteristically unsparing candor.
-
-
He does it again.
- By David H on 09-28-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Thomas Sowell Reader
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These selections from the many writings of Thomas Sowell over a period of half a century cover social, economic, cultural, legal, educational, and political issues. The sources range from Dr. Sowell’s letters, books, newspaper columns, and articles in both scholarly journals and popular magazines. The topics range from latetalking children to tax cuts for the rich, baseball, race, war, the role of judges, medical care, and the rhetoric of politicians.
-
-
The Best Book By The Smartest Guy in the Room
- By Dave on 10-20-11
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Migrations and Cultures
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most commentators look at the issue of immigration from the viewpoint of immediate politics. In doing so, they focus on only a piece of the issue and lose touch with the larger picture. Now Thomas Sowell offers a sweeping historical and global look at a large number of migrations over a long period of time. Migrations and Cultures shows the persistence of cultural traits in particular racial and ethnic groups.
-
-
good but a dense read
- By Hi5Me on 03-27-18
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Race and Culture
- A World View
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell is one of America’s leading voices on matters of race and ethnicity. In his book, Inside American Education, he surveyed the ills of American education from the primary grades to graduate school with “an impressive range of knowledge and acuity of observation”, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, in his book Race and Culture, he asks the question: “What is it that allows certain groups to get ahead?” and the answer will undoubtedly create debates for years to come.
-
-
Thomas Sowell is rare breed of public intellectual
- By PAUL on 09-03-12
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of essays that discusses such issues as the media, immigration, the minimum wage, and multiculturalism.
-
-
Mr. Sowell exposed the soul of America.
- By ruth S. on 11-24-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Intellectuals and Society
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a study of how intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop, on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace. You will hear a withering and clear-eyed critique about (but not for) intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large.
-
-
Biased but good
- By Justin on 05-06-10
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Affirmative Action Around the World
- An Empirical Study
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this important book, an eminent authority presents a new perspective on affirmative action, investigating its actual consequences in the United States and in other countries where it has been in effect. Evaluating his empirical data, Thomas Sowell concludes that race preference programs worldwide have not met expectations and have often produced the opposite of what was originally intended.
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Dismantling America
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These wide-ranging essays - on many individual political, economic, cultural, and legal issues - have as a recurring, underlying theme the decline of the values and institutions that have sustained and advanced American society for more than two centuries. This decline has been more than erosion. It has, in many cases, been a deliberate dismantling of American values and institutions by people convinced that their superior wisdom and virtue must override both the traditions of the country and the will of the people.
-
-
Nice Collection of Essays
- By Laura on 09-01-11
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Applied Economics
- Thinking Beyond Stage One: Second Edition
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Bill Wallace
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Applied Economics is an accessible guide to how our economic decisions develop. It explains the application of economics to major world problems, including housing, medical care, discrimination, and the economic development of nations. The book is based on an international view of economics, includes examples from around the world, and shows how certain incentives and constraints produce similar outcomes among disparate peoples and cultures.
-
-
Look at the long term...it's important!
- By Eunice on 07-20-09
By: Thomas Sowell
-
A Conflict of Visions
- Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Michael Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, which the author calls a "culmination of 30 years of work in the history of ideas", Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature. Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions.
-
-
Critical read for 2008 change election
- By Elaine C Grimes on 06-05-08
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Economic Facts and Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Economic Facts and Fallacies is designed for people who want to understand economic issues without getting bogged down in economic jargon, graphs, or political rhetoric. Writing in a lively manner that does not require any prior knowledge of economics, Thomas Sowell exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues, including many that are widely disseminated in the media and by politicians.
-
-
Good with salt...
- By Michael on 05-08-08
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Vision of the Anointed
- Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vision of the Anointed is a devastating critique of the mindset behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Thomas Sowell sees what has happened not as a series of isolated mistakes, but as a logical consequence of a vision whose defects have led to disasters in education, crime, family disintegration, and other social pathology. In this book, "politically correct" theory is repeatedly confronted with facts-and sharp contradictions between the two are explained in terms of a whole set of self-congratulatory assumptions held by political and intellectual elites.
-
-
An Absolute Masterpiece!
- By Brendan Martino on 04-04-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Wealth, Poverty, and Politics
- An International Perspective
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in the country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. Pundits and politically motivated economists trumpet ambiguous statistics and sensational theories while ignoring the true determinant of income inequality: the production of wealth.
-
-
A paradigm shift on the subject of equality
- By Steven Schardein on 10-02-15
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Basic Economics, Fifth Edition
- A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fifth edition of Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell revises and updates his popular book on commonsense economics, bringing the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Drawing on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history, Sowell explains basic economic principles for the general public in plain English.
-
-
The book is great the narrators voice is distracting
- By Eve on 07-28-24
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Marxism
- Philosophy and Economics
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Christopher Louis
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marxism is a term that many people freely use, but few seem to grasp its implications. Sowell's book is the antidote to this problem. He writes in a fluid and easy-to-follow manner, leading the listener through the Marxian scheme of ideas. Along the way, he shatters some existing interpretations of Marx-interpretations that have developed through repetition rather than through scholarship.
-
-
A must read, but a hard one!
- By Keyvan on 09-19-16
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Inside American Education
- The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.
-
-
Must read if you want to understand the condition in America
- By Aaron on 12-21-21
By: Thomas Sowell
What listeners say about Knowledge and Decisions
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve Drowlette
- 07-13-18
Awesome
One of the best books I've ever read. If you're a liberty loving individual, this book puts a lot of our government structure into perspective and really breaks down all thats wrong with it. Absolutely loved it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David R.
- 10-30-18
How the Political Class Evolved in America
This is a classic that, sadly, is timeless. It would have been nice to look back on this book’s writings as no longer relevant but this is not the case. This book is still essential reading as the ideas observations and conclusions are as true today as they were when written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-20-19
Love Thomas Sowell. Very informative !
Packed full of good information! A little on the monotone side. Still great work though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kevin M. Dougherty
- 04-08-21
Great Insight!
Sowell is a great intellectual mind! Full of Deep Knowledge. I am excited to read the next book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AndriiShyshkalov
- 01-08-15
Read at least first half
The most important and foundational of Sowell's book. The first part is superb, while the second is boring at times. I enjoyed second part too because it is 30 years old and gives contemporary account, which is different than reading history books now.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David P. Wingert
- 06-08-23
Outstanding! Required reading for all!!
Outstanding! Required reading for all!!
I recommend that everyone who wishes to develop a better understanding of what we know—and how we decide—should read this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim Devine
- 11-21-22
Terrific book.
Another empirical data driven masterpiece. Love the subject matter, the author, the way the information is delivered (in a no nonsense manner), and the narrator.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Katie
- 06-17-24
A good book, but harder to understand than his other works
A good book, I think I would have to sit again to get most of it. However, it also seemed more dry than basic economics.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C. Verrilli
- 10-12-24
Part 2 made it worthwhile for me
As a non-economist, part one was a bit difficult to get through. Here he applies economic principles to social processes. Part two where he applied those principles to current trends in economics, law and politics was much more relatable and therefore more interesting for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Di
- 10-15-12
A must-read master piece
If you could sum up Knowledge and Decisions in three words, what would they be?
Best best and best
What was one of the most memorable moments of Knowledge and Decisions?
Every moment
What does Robertson Dean bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
A good narrative
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
from cover to cover
Any additional comments?
I just love Thomas sowell, and this book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful