(born 1930) is an American economist and political writer who is known for his conservative views on a wide range of issues. He was born in North Carolina and grew up in Harlem, New York. He attended Harvard University and earned a PhD in economics from Columbia University.
After completing his education, Sowell worked as an economist for the government and in the private sector, and he taught at a number of universities, including Cornell, Brandeis, and Amherst. In the 1980s, he became a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he continues to work today.
Sowell is the author of many books on economics, politics, and social policy, including Basic Economics, Wealth, Poverty and Politics, and Intellectuals and Society. He is known for his strong support of free-market economics and his criticism of government intervention in the economy. He is also known for his insightful and sometimes surprising views on race, immigration, and other social issues.
Sowell start graduate school with Socialist inclinations but as he gained knowledge he realized that Socialism is terribly flawed and became a strong free market advocate. As any political observer knows, the left saves special animosity for those that break from their ranks and liberals and leftists have debated and criticized his work. He remains an influential and widely-read writer on economics and politics.
