The Economics and Politics of Race

An International Perspective

By: Thomas Sowell

Narrated by: Robert Morris

Using an international framework, Sowell analyzes how much a racial group’s economic fate is determined by the surrounding society and how much by internal patterns that follow that same group around the world.

©2012 Thomas Sowell (P)2012 Blackstone

True

Even though over 35 years old the substance rings true. Required reading to understand todays political non-leaders.

Classic Sowell, Poor Recording

This is a classic, brilliant Sowell analysis marred by a soporific narrator and poor audio quality.

Excellent book, very poor narration quality

Would you be willing to try another one of Robert Morris’s performances?

No. The volume fluctuates from acceptable to nearly inaudible which makes it very difficult to hear. Also, there are constant, sharp, whistling "s" sounds. I've listened to many other books and the others have been fine either playing on my portable audio device with headphones and through my car's speaker system. Also, apart from the quality of the narration, this book suffers from the same problem as many of the other books I've got on audible. I keep hearing faint noises in the background. I don't know what that's about. My speculation is that it's some sort of copyright protection audio watermark, but I find it to be annoying.

Any additional comments?

The overall book is original, but the individual examples are not wholly original to Sowell's works. For example, he's talked about the phenomenon of middle-men minorities and other minorities which quickly surpassed native majorities economically (the Jews in many countries, the expatriate Chinese in SE Asia and the US, the Lebanese in Africa, Italians in Argentina, etc.) in at least a few of his other books. It wouldn't be just to consider this a criticism, as his examples are many and wide ranging in terms of geography and time. As I've read or listened to almost every other book by Sowell, I wasn't going to miss this one; I thought it was good, but not his best.

Thomas Sowell is a genius.

This book was informative and eye-opening. As usual, Dr. Sowelll delivers. Many myths are shattered and many misconceptions dispelled. Thank you Dr. Sowell for continuing to illuminate the world with your knowledge.

True Leadership

You cannot understand today unless you study yesterday. If you listen to most of the media, it has never been as bad as it is today. Nonsense. The book details struggles by every race on every continent. Most overcame the problems they faced by hard work and initiative. So, instead of listening to the latest snake oil salesman they worked, saved, raised their children and did not wait for the next government handout.