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 enlarge | Author: Thomas Sowell
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $15.72
You Save: $10.28 (40%)
New (38) Used (12) from $15.72
Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 598
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0465003494
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780465003495
ASIN: 0465003494
Publication Date: December 31, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent June 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I felt like he spent too much time on the pay differences between men and women, but aside from that I thought it was really good. He shows how statistics can be misinterpreted to "prove" a point of view, but that if you dig down you can see how the statistics were misused.
For example discussing the disparity of income between rich and poor the fallacy is that people within one quintile are there for life. In fact people typically start out in the bottom quintile and as they get more experience and education they work their way up through several quintiles and eventually when they retire they return to the bottom quintile. Retired people with small incomes are not necessarily "poor" because they own their homes and have substantial assets, yet they are grouped with the poor when comparing incomes.
Lies and Stastistics June 12, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
In this book Thomas Sowell shows again and again how "lies, damned lies, and statistics" are abused to buttress arguments--usually including a cry for some form of government intervention. The opening chapter alone should be required reading for anyone trying to understand the errors willfully propagated by politicians and media. Despite sharing a similar economic viewpoint much of the information was new to me. I found very interesting the different impacts of marriage on men and women, which of course made complete sense for social reasons, rather than any innate bias. Also interesting was the fact that income disparities between poorest and richest nations actually decreased over time when you compare the same countries, and not just the countries that are richest or poorest at different times. Many other interesting and illuminating facts can be found, and I would suspect most readers would be able to find something to make them think about an issue differently than they have in the past. The tone throughout is respectful and scholarly, and you may choose to disagree with some of his conclusions but as John Adams is quoted on the title page "Facts are stubborn things".
accessible genius May 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
REad one of his essays, put the book down, think about what you read, apply it to your world around you, then pick up the book and read another essay. Sowell is my hero.
Forewarned is forearmed May 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well, with a presidential election fast approaching, NOW is the time for this book. See the assumptions underlying politicians' promises, and think through the potential consequences for yourself. Thomas Sowell does a remarkable job at making economics clear, logical, and reasonable for lay-people. He writes better than most journalists, and he makes you smarter.
Fact or fiction May 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a book that everyone who believes himself or herself to be a rational, objective person should read. Thomas Sowell, in crisp, crystal clear writing, exposes the false beliefs, and conclusions drawn from them, which have become "revealed truths" in the most sacrosanct areas. These "truths" have formed the rationale for large-scale government programs of social redemption and reclamation, for planning commissions exerting increasing control over private lands, for average people attempting to understand important basis issues in their lives. Each chapter is self-contained enabling the book to be savored at separate readings without losing the continuity. Reading this book should help to sharpen our ability to more carefully evaluate the important issues which play major roles in our lives.
Leonti H. Thompson, M.D.
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