Thomas Sowell

American economist and social commentator

Thomas Sowell was brought up in North Carolina, and moved to Harlem, New York during his teens. He left school at 17 and, after joining the Civil Service, was drafted into the US Army in 1951 during the Korean War. On his return he studied economics at Harvard University and began a career in academia. He studied at Chicago University under George Stilger, and has since taught economics at numerous universities across the US. He is currently the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Sowell has written numerous books and articles on economics, history, social policy, ethnicity, and the history of ideas. These include the widely praised Race and Economics (1975), Classical Economics Reconsidered (1974) and more recently, Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One (2004) and Intellectuals and Society (2010). He also writes a nationally syndicated column that features in publications across the world. Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2002, and received the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement in 2003.