Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning of "livestock" is common.

Livestock generally are raised for subsistence or for profit. Raising animals (animal husbandry) is an important component of modern agriculture. It has been practised in many cultures since the transition to farming from hunter-gather lifestyles.

History

Animal-rearing has its origins in the transition of cultures to settled farming communities rather than hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are ‘domesticated’ when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, life cycle, and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild. Dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago, Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BCE in Asia. Swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BCE in the Middle East and China. The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BCE

Older English sources, such as the King James Version of the Bible, refer to livestock in general as "cattle", as opposed to the word "deer", which then was used for wild animals which were not owned. The word ''cattle'' is derived from Middle English ''chatel'', which meant all kinds of movable personal property, including of course livestock, which was differentiated from non-movable real-estate ("real property"). In later English, sometimes smaller livestock was called "small cattle" in that sense of movable property on land, which was not automatically bought or sold with the land. Today, the modern meaning of "cattle", without a qualifier, usually refers to domesticated bovines (see Cattle). Other species of the genus ''Bos'' sometimes are called wild cattle.

Types

The term "livestock" is nebulous and may be defined narrowly or broadly. On a broader view, livestock refers to any breed or population of animal kept by humans for a useful, commercial purpose. This can mean domestic animals, semi-domestic animals, or captive wild animals. Semi-domesticated refers to animals which are only lightly domesticated or of disputed status. These populations may also be in the process of domestication. Some people may use the term livestock to refer to only domestic animals or even to only red meat animals.

!Animal / Type	Domestication status	Wild ancestor	Time of first captivity, domestication	Area of first captivity, domestication	!Current commercial uses	!Picture
AlpacaMammal, herbivore	domestic	Vicuña		Andes	wool
Banteng	Mammal, herbivore	domestic	Banteng		Southeast Asia, Java
! style="text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;font-weight:normal"	captive (see also Beefalo)	N/A		North America	meat, leather
CamelMammal, herbivore	domestic	Wild Dromedary and Bactrian camels		Asia	[[Cat">working animal
[[CatMammal, carnivore	domestic	African Wildcat		Near East
CattleMammal, herbivore	domestic	Aurochs (extinct)		Southwest Asia, India, North Africa (?)
DeerMammal, herbivore	captive	N/A		North America
DogMammal, omnivore	domestic	Wolf			pack animal, draught, hunting, herding, searching/gathering, watching/guarding, meat
DonkeyMammal, herbivore	domestic	African Wild Ass		Egypt	mount, pack animal, draught, meat, dairy
		GayalMammal, herbivore	domestic	Gaur		Southeast Asia
GoatMammal, herbivore	domestic	Wild Goat		Southwest Asia
Guinea pigMammal, herbivore	domestic	''Cavia tschudii''		South America	Meat
HorseMammal, herbivore	domestic	''Wild horse''		Eurasian Steppes
LlamaMammal, herbivore	domestic	Guanaco		Andes	light mount, pack animal, draught, meat, wool
MuleMammal, herbivore	domestic	Sterile hybrid of donkey and horse			mount, pack animal, draught
! style="text-align:left;font-weight:normal"	domestic	Wild boar		Eastern Anatolia	Meat (pork, bacon, etc.), leather, pet, research
RabbitMammal, herbivore	domestic	Wild rabbit		France	Meat, fur, leather, pet, research
ReindeerMammal, herbivore	semi-domestic	reindeer		Northern Russia
! style="text-align:left;font-weight:normal"	domestic	Asiatic mouflon sheep		Southwest Asia	Wool, dairy, leather, meat ([[Water buffalo">lamb (food)
[[Water buffaloMammal, herbivore	domestic	Wild Asian Water buffalo, (Arni)		South Asia	[[Yak">working animal
[[YakMammal, herbivore	domestic	Yak		Tibet, Nepal	Meat, dairy, wool, mount, pack animal, draught

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Animal rearing

‘Livestock’ are defined, in part, by their end purpose as the production of food, fiber and/or labor.

The economic value of livestock includes: ; Meat: the production of a useful form of dietary protein and energy ; Dairy products : Mammalian livestock can be used as a source of milk, which can in turn easily be processed into other dairy products, such as yogurt, cheese, butter, ice cream, kefir, and kumis. Using livestock for this purpose can often yield several times the food energy of slaughtering the animal outright. ; Fiber : Livestock produce a range of fiber/textiles. For example, sheep and goats produce wool and mohair; cows, deer, and sheep skins can be made into leather; and bones, hooves and horns of livestock can be used. ; Fertilizer : Manure can be spread on fields to increase crop yields. This is an important reason why historically, plant and animal domestication have been intimately linked. Manure is also used to make plaster for walls and floors, and can be used as a fuel for fires. The blood and bone of animals are also used as fertilizer. ; Labor : Animals such as horses, donkey, and yaks can be used for mechanical energy. Prior to steam power, livestock were the only available source of non-human labor. They are still used for this purpose in many places of the world, including ploughing fields, transporting goods, and military functions. ; Land management : The grazing of livestock is sometimes used as a way to control weeds and undergrowth. For example, in areas prone to wild fires, goats and sheep are set to graze on dry scrub which removes combustible material and reduces the risk of fires.

During the history of animal husbandry, many secondary products have arisen in an attempt to increase carcass utilization and reduce waste. For example, animal offal and non-edible parts may be transformed into products such as pet food and fertilizer. In the past, such waste products were sometimes also fed to livestock as well. However, intra-species recycling poses a disease risk, threatening animal and even human health (see bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), scrapie and prion). Due primarily to BSE (mad cow disease), feeding animal scraps to animals has been banned in many countries, at least in regards to ruminants and pigs.

Farming practices

Farming practices vary dramatically worldwide and between types of animals. Livestock are generally kept in an enclosure, are fed by human-provided food and are intentionally bred, but some livestock are not enclosed, or are fed by access to natural foods, or are allowed to breed freely, or any combination thereof. Livestock raising historically was part of a nomadic or pastoral form of material culture. The herding of camels and reindeer in some parts of the world remains unassociated with sedentary agriculture. The transhumance form of herding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California still continues, as cattle, sheep or goats are moved from winter pasture in lower elevation valleys to spring and summer pasture in the foothills and alpine regions, as the seasons progress. Cattle were raised on the open range in the Western United States and Canada, on the Pampas of Argentina, and other prairie and steppe regions of the world.

The enclosure of livestock in pastures and barns is a relatively new development in the history of agriculture. When cattle are enclosed, the type of ‘enclosure’ may vary from a small crate, a large fenced pasture or a paddock. The type of feed may vary from natural growing grass, to highly sophisticated processed feed. Animals are usually intentionally bred through artificial insemination or through supervised mating. Indoor production systems are generally used only for pigs and poultry, as well as for veal cattle. Indoor animals are generally farmed intensively, as large space requirements would make indoor farming unprofitable and impossible. However, indoor farming systems are controversial due to the waste they produce, odour problems, the potential for groundwater contamination and animal welfare concerns. (For further discussion on intensively farmed livestock, see factory farming, and intensive pig farming).

Other livestock are farmed outside, although the size of enclosure and level of supervision may vary. In large open ranges animals may be only occasionally inspected or yarded in "round-ups" or a muster (livestock). Herding dogs may be used for mustering livestock as are cowboys, stockmen and jackaroos on horses, or with vehicles and also by helicopters. Since the advent of barbed wire (in the 1870s) and electric fence technology, fencing pastures has become much more feasible and pasture management simplified. Rotation of pasturage is a modern technique for improving nutrition and health while avoiding environmental damage to the land. In some cases very large numbers of animals may be kept in indoor or outdoor feeding operations (on feedlots), where the animals' feed is processed, offsite or onsite, and stored on site then fed to the animals.

Livestock - especially cattle - may be branded to indicate ownership and age, but in modern farming identification is more likely to be indicated by means of ear tags than branding. Sheep are also frequently marked by means of ear marks and/or ear tags. As fears of mad cow disease and other epidemic illnesses mount, the use of implants to monitor and trace animals in the food production system is increasingly common, and sometimes required by government regulations.

Modern farming techniques seek to minimize human involvement, increase yield, and improve animal health. Economics, quality and consumer safety all play a role in how animals are raised. Drug use and feed supplements (or even feed type) may be regulated, or prohibited, to ensure yield is not increased at the expense of consumer health, safety or animal welfare. Practices vary around the world, for example growth hormone use is permitted in the United States, but not in stock to be sold to the European Union. The improvement of health, using modern farming techniques, on the part of animals has come into question. Feeding corn to cattle, which have historically eaten grasses, is an example; where the cattle are less adapted, the rumen pH changes to more acidic, leading to liver damage and other difficulties. The US F.D.A. still allows feedlots to feed nonruminant animal proteins to cattle. For example, feeding chicken manure and poultry meal is acceptable for cattle, and beef or pork meat and bone meal is being fed to chickens.

Predation

Livestock farmers had suffered from wild animal predation and theft by rustlers. In North America, gray wolf, grizzly bear, cougar, black bear, and coyote are sometimes considered a threat to livestock. In Eurasia and Africa, wolf, brown bear, leopard, tiger, lion, dhole, black bear, spotted hyena, and others caused livestock deaths. In Australia, the dingo, foxes, wedge-tailed eagles, hunting and domestic dogs (especially) cause problems for graziers because they often kill for fun. In Latin America, feral dogs cause livestock deaths in nightfall.

Disease

Livestock diseases compromise animal welfare, reduce productivity, and can infect humans. Animal diseases may be tolerated, reduced through animal husbandry, or reduced through antibiotics and vaccines. In developing countries, animal diseases are tolerated in animal husbandry, resulting in considerably reduced productivity, especially given the low health-status of many developing country herds. Disease management for gains in productivity is often the first step taken in implementing an agriculture policy.

Disease management can be achieved through changes in animal husbandry. These measures may aim to control spread using biosecurity measures, such as controlling animal mixing, controlling entry to farm lots and the use of protective clothing, and quarantining sick animals. Diseases also may be controlled by the use of vaccines and antibiotics. Antibiotics in sub-therapeutic doses may also be used as a growth-promoter, increasing growth by 10-15%. The issue of antibiotic resistance has limited the practices of preventative dosing such as antibiotic-laced feed. Countries will often require the use of veterinary certificates before transporting, selling or showing animals. Disease-free areas often rigorously enforce rules for entry of potentially diseased animals, including quarantine.

Transportation and marketing

Since many livestock are herd animals, they were historically driven to market "on the hoof" to a town or other central location. During the period after the American Civil War, the abundance of Longhorn cattle in Texas, and the demand for beef in Northern markets, led to the implementation of the Old West cattle drive. The method is still used in some parts of the world. Truck transport is now common in developed countries. Local and regional livestock auctions and commodity markets facilitate trade in livestock. In other areas, livestock may be bought and sold in a bazaar, such as may be found in many parts of Central Asia, or a flea market type setting.

Stock shows and fairs are events where people bring their best livestock to compete with one another. Organizations like 4-H, Block & Bridle, and FFA encourage young people to raise livestock for show purposes. Special feeds are purchased and hours may be spent prior to the show grooming the animal to look its best. In cattle, sheep, and swine shows, the winning animals are frequently auctioned off to the highest bidder, and the funds are placed into a scholarship fund for its owner. The movie ''Grand Champion'', released in 2004, is the story of a young Texas boy's experience raising a prize steer.

Animal welfare

The issue of raising livestock for human benefit raises the issue of the relationship between humans and animals, in terms of the status of animals and obligations of people. Animal welfare is the viewpoint that animals under human care should be treated in such a way that they do not suffer unnecessarily. What is ‘unnecessary’ suffering may vary. Generally, though, the animal welfare perspective is based on an interpretation of scientific research on farming practices. By contrast, animal rights is the viewpoint that using animals for human benefit is, by its nature, generally exploitation, regardless of the farming practices used. Animal rights activists would generally be vegan or vegetarian, whereas it is consistent with the animal welfare perspective to eat meat, depending on production processes.

Animal welfare groups generally seek to generate public discussion on livestock raising practices and secure greater regulation and scrutiny of livestock industry practices. Animal rights groups usually seek the abolition of livestock farming, although some groups may recognise the necessity of achieving more stringent regulation first. Animal welfare groups, such as the RSPCA, are often, in first world countries, given a voice at governmental level in the development of policy. Animal rights groups find it harder to find methods of input, and may go further and advocate civil disobedience or violence.

A number of animal husbandry practices have been the subject of campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s and have led to legislation in some countries. Confinement of livestock in small and unnatural spaces is often done for economic or health reasons. Animals may be kept in the minimum size of cage or pen with little or no space to exercise. Where livestock are used as a source of power, they may be pushed beyond their limits to the point of exhaustion. The public visibility of this abuse meant it was one of the first areas to receive legislation in the nineteenth century in European countries, but it still goes on in parts of Asia. Broiler hens may be de-beaked, pigs may have deciduous teeth pulled, cattle may be de-horned and branded, dairy cows and sheep may have tails cropped, merino sheep may be mulesed, and many types of male animals are castrated. Animals may be transported long distances to market and slaughter. Overcrowded conditions, heat from tropical-area shipping and lack of food, water and rest breaks have been subject to legislation and protest. (See Live Export) Slaughter of livestock was an early target for legislation. Campaigns continue to target Halal and Kosher religious ritual slaughter.

Environmental impact

At first reports like the United Nations report "Livestock's Long Shadow" cast a pall over the livestock sector (primarily cattle, chickens, and pigs) for 'emerging as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems.' The United Nations controversially included emissions from deforestation as part of its methodology. Rather than the 18% figure that placed on the sector as major contributor to emissions, the real figure, less deforestation is actually 12%. In April 2008, the [United States Environmental Protection Agency] released a major stocktake of emissions in the United States entitled ''Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006'' . On 6.1 it found "In 2006, the agricultural sector was responsible for emissions of 454.1 teragrams of CO₂ equivalent (Tg CO₂ Eq.), or 6 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions." By way of comparison, transportation in the US produces more than 25% of all emissions.

The issue of livestock as a major policy focus remains, especially when dealing with problems of deforestation in neotropical areas, land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. A research team at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine in Hokkaidō found that supplementing the animals' diet with cysteine, a type of amino acid, and nitrate can reduce the methane gas produced, without jeopardising the cattle's productivity or the quality of their meat and milk.

Deforestation Deforestation impacts the carbon cycle (and global and regional climate) and causes habitat loss of many species. Forests that are sinks for the carbon cycle are lost through deforestation. Forests are either logged or burned to make room for grasslands, often the area needed is extensive. Deforestation can also create fragmentation, allowing only patches of habitat for species to live. If patches are distant and small, gene flow is reduced, habitat is altered, edge effects will occur and there will be more opportunities for invasive species to intrude.

Land Degradation Research from the University of Botswana in 2008 has found that farmers' common practice of overstocking cattle to cope with drought losses made ecosystems more vulnerable and risked long term damage to cattle herds, in turn, by actually depleting scarce biomass. The study of the Kgatleng district of Botswana predicted that by 2050, the cycle of mild drought is likely to become shorter for the region (18 months instead of two years) due to climate change.

Climate Change & Air Pollution Methane is one of the gasses emitted from livestock manure; it persists for long periods of time and is a green house gas. It is the second most abundant green house gas after carbon dioxide. Even though there is less methane then carbon dioxide its ability to warm the atmosphere is 25 times greater.

Water Shortage Livestock require water for consumption but also for watering drops necessary for feed. Grains are often used to feed live stock about 50% of US grains produced does and 40% of world grains produced does as well. Grain and in general crop production requires various amounts of water, it takes 100,000 liters of water for a kilogram of grain fed beef, compared to wheat, which takes 900 liters.

Water Pollution Fertilizers that often contain manure are used to grow such crops (as cereal and fodder) that have phosphorus and nitrogen in them, 95% of which is estimated to be lost to the environment. The pollutants then cause dead zones for plants and aquatic animals due to the lack of oxygen in the water. The lack of oxygen is known as eutrophication, where organisms present in the water grow excessively and then later decompose using up the oxygen in the water. The most prominent example of such is the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the nutrients in fertilizer used in the mid west are funneled down the Mississippi River into the Gulf causing massive dead zones. Another pollutant not most commonly though of is antibiotics and hormones. In southern Asia vultures that consumed carcasses of livestock declined 95% due to antibiotic known as Diclofenac.

Alternatives Researchers in Australia are looking into the possibility of reducing methane from cattle and sheep by introducing digestive bacteria from kangaroo intestines into livestock.

In semi arid rangelands such as the Great Plains in the U.S., there has been research that provides evidence that livestock can be beneficial to maintaining grassland habitats. Livestock create and maintain habitat for big game species

Legal definitions

United States federal legislation sometimes more narrowly defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities either eligible, or ineligible, for a program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-78, Title IX) defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and lambs. However, 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as “cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, and other animals designated by the Secretary.”

See also

Agriculture

Agribusiness

Agroecology

Amenable species

Aquaculture (cultivation of aquatic animals and plants)

Beekeeping

California Proposition 2 (2008)

Cattle (disambiguation)

Cuniculture (rabbit farming)

Environmental effects of meat production

Fur farming

Leave the gate as you found it

''Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options'' (UN report)

Poultry

Ranching

Sericulture (silkworm farming)

Sheep husbandry

Western Fair

References

External links

Livestock - New South Wales Government

Havana Livestock Fair (Photo Feature) - ''Havana Times'', October 19, 2010

* Category:Meat industry

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Thomas Sowell
school tradition	New Social Economics
color	maroon
birth date	June 30, 1930
birth place	Gastonia, North Carolina
nationality	United States
institution	Hoover Institution (1980–present)UCLA (1970–1972, 1974–1980)Urban Institute (1972–1974)Brandeis University (1969–1970)Cornell University (1965–1969)
field	Economics, Education, Politics, History, Race relations, Child development
education	Harvard University (B.A.) 1958Columbia University (M.A.) 1959University of Chicago (Ph.D.) 1969
influences	Edmund Burke, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, David Hume, Adam Smith, George Stigler
opposed	Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, John Maynard Keynes, John Kenneth Galbraith
influenced	Clarence Thomas, Walter E. Williams, Milton Friedman, Steven Pinker, George Gilder, Paul Johnson, Arthur C. Brooks, Fred Barnes, Jonah Goldberg, David Mamet, Rush Limbaugh
awards	Military Service: United States Marine Corps, Corporal, Francis Boyer Award, National Humanities Medal, Bradley Prize, getAbstract International Book Award
signature
repec prefix	| repec_id }}

Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, humanitarian and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a libertarian perspective. He is currently a Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Sowell was born in North Carolina and raised in Harlem, New York. He dropped out of high school and served in the United States Marines during the Korean War. In 1968, he earned his doctorate degree in economics from the University of Chicago; in that subject, he earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1958 and a master's degree from Columbia University in 1959.

Throughout his career in economics, Sowell has served on the faculties of such universities as Cornell and University of California, Los Angeles and think tanks as the Urban Institute and since 1980 the Hoover Institution. He has written over 20 books since 1972.

Biography

Sowell, an African-American, was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. His father died before he was born, and Sowell's mother, a maid, already had four children. His great-aunt and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell. In his autobiography, ''A Personal Odyssey,'' he recalled that his encounters with whites were so limited he did not believe that yellow was a hair color. When Sowell was nine, his family moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Sowell attended the selective Stuyvesant High School even though no one in his family had an education beyond sixth grade. He dropped out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and a deteriorating home environment. To support himself he worked at various jobs, including in a machine shop and as a delivery man for Western Union, and tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. Sowell was drafted in 1951, during the Korean War, and was assigned to the US Marine Corps. Due to prior experience in photography, he worked in a photography unit but also trained Marines in handgun use.

After discharge, Sowell took a Civil Service job in Washington, D.C. and attended night classes at Howard University despite lacking a high school diploma. High grades on College Board exams and recommendations by two of his professors helped him be accepted to Harvard University, where in 1958 he graduated ''magna cum laude'' with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics despite early poor grades. He received a Master of Arts in economics from Columbia University in 1959 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. Sowell initially chose Columbia University because he wanted to study under George Stigler (who years later went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics). After arriving at Columbia and learning that Stigler had moved to Chicago, he followed him there.

Sowell has taught economics at Howard University, Rutgers, Cornell, Brandeis University, Amherst College, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman, his mentor.

Sowell has stated that he was a Marxist “during the decade of my 20s"; one of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. Marxist-Leninist practice. His experience working as a federal government intern during the summer of 1960 caused him to reject Marxian economics in favor of free market economic theory. During his work, Sowell discovered a correlation between the rise of mandated minimum wages for workers in the sugar industry of Puerto Rico and the rise of unemployment in that industry. Studying the patterns led Sowell to theorize that the government employees who administered the minimum wage law cared more about their own jobs than the plight of the poor.

Writings

Sowell is both a syndicated columnist and an academic economist.

Besides scholarly writing, Sowell has written books, articles, and syndicated columns for a general audience in such publications as ''Forbes Magazine'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and major newspapers. He is a regular contributor to GOPUSA, a conservative web and email newsletter run by Endeavor Media Group, LLC. He primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free market approach to capitalism. Sowell, whose autobiography describes his serious study of Karl Marx, opposes Marxism, providing a critique in his book ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics''. He also argues that, contrary to popular perception, Marx never held to a labor theory of value.

Sowell also writes on racial topics and is a critic of affirmative action and race based quotas. While often described as a black conservative, he prefers not to be labeled, and considers himself more libertarian than conservative.

In another departure from economics, Sowell wrote ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late'', a follow-up to his ''Late-Talking Children''. This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently misdiagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. He includes the research of—among others—Professor Stephen Camarata, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University and Professor Steven Pinker, Ph.D., of Harvard University in this overview of a poorly understood developmental trait. It is a trait which he says affected many historical figures. He includes famous late-talkers such as physicists Albert Einstein, Edward Teller and Richard Feynman; mathematician Julia Robinson; and musicians Arthur Rubenstein and Clara Schumann. The book and its contributing researchers make a case for the theory that some children develop unevenly (asynchronous development) for a period in childhood due to rapid and extraordinary development in the analytical functions of the brain. This may temporarily “rob resources” from neighboring functions such as language development. The book contradicts Simon Baron-Cohen’s speculation that Einstein may have had Asperger syndrome (see also people speculated to have been autistic).

Themes of Sowell’s writing range from social policy on race, ethnic groups, education and decision-making, to classical and Marxist economics, to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities.

In ''Intelligence and Ethnicity'', Sowell argues that IQ gaps are hardly startling or unusual between, or within, ethnic groups. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black–white IQ scores is similar to that between the national average and the scores of particular ethnic white groups in years past.

Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on ideologies and political positions, including ''A Conflict of Visions'' where he speaks about the origins of political strife, The Vision of the Anointed, where he compares the conservative/libertarian and liberal/progressive worldviews,''The Quest for Cosmic Justice'', where, like in many of his other writings, he outlines the his thesis of the need for intellectuals, politicians and leaders to fix and perfect the world in utopian, and ultimately he posits, disastrous fashions. Separate from the trilogy, but also in discussion of the subject,he wrote ''Intellectuals and Society'', where he discusses what he argues to be the blind hubris and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas, building on his earlier work.

Sowell takes strong issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite.

Sowell also challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies, in ''The Economics and Politics of Race,'' (1983), ''Ethnic America'' (1981), ''Affirmative Action'' (2004), and other books. He claims that many problems identified with blacks in modern society are hardly unique in terms of American ethnic groups, nor in terms of a rural proletariat swept by disruption as it became urbanized, discussed in his book, ''Black Rednecks and White Liberals''.

In ''Affirmative Action Around the World'' Sowell holds that affirmative action covers most of the American population, particularly women, and has long since ceased to be directed towards blacks.

Columns

Sowell has a nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators Syndicate that appears in various newspapers, as well as online on websites such as Townhall, WorldNetDaily, OneNewsNow and the ''Jewish World Review''.

Sowell comments on issues he considers to be problematic in modern-day society, which include liberal media bias; judicial activism (while staunchly defending originalism); partial birth abortion; the minimum wage; socializing health care; affirmative action; government bureaucracy; militancy in U.S. foreign policy; the U.S. war on drugs, and multiculturalism.

Sowell supports free market and pro-growth economics. In one column he criticized as socialism for the rich certain policies which he describes as benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

Sowell in a Townhall editorial, "The Bush Legacy", assessed President George W. Bush, deeming him "a mixed bag", but "an honorable man".

Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs.

Awards

In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002, Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science. In 2003, he was awarded the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement. In 2008, getAbstract awarded his book ''Economic Facts and Fallacies'' with its International Book Award.

Critical reception

Political views

Sowell has been criticized for various remarks such as a comparison he made between President Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler in an editorial for ''Investor's Business Daily'' after the creation of a relief fund for the BP oil spill. This has been criticized by liberal groups such as Media Matters and the Democratic National Committee. However, Republicans such as Sarah Palin and Representative Louie Gohmert have endorsed Sowell's comparison. Sowell was also criticized for an editorial in which he stated that the Democratic Party played the Race card, instigating ethnic divisions and separatism, and argued that a similar situation occurred between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Rwanda.

Economics

''The Economist'' magazine praised Sowell's books ''Affirmative Action Around the World'' as "terse, well argued and utterly convincing" and "crammed with striking anecdotes and statistics" and ''Economic Facts and Fallacies'': "Mr Sowell marshals his arguments with admirable clarity and authority. There is not a chapter in which he does not produce a statistic that both surprises and overturns received wisdom."

The Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen reached conclusions inconsistent with Sowell's research of price gouging.

Reviewing Sowell's 1984 book ''Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?'', University of Chicago sociologist William Julius Wilson said that Sowell did not explore "reasonable alternative explanations and hypotheses" in his critiques of affirmative action. For instance, regarding Sowell's theory that women are underrepresented in fields like law and engineering because of the heavy responsibilities of marriage such as childrearing and other household work: "A plausible alternative to Mr. Sowell's hypothesis on women's pay differentials and occupational segregation is that women are virtually excluded from many desirable positions and therefore crowd into obtainable occupations." Sowell since then has written on affirmative action in an international context to address such criticisms in two books (Preferential Policies, Affirmative Action Around the World) and has written about pay differentials and occupational segregation in ''Economic Facts and Fallacies''.

Career highlights

Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, September 1980–present

Professor of Economics, UCLA, July 1974–June 1980

Visiting Professor of Economics, Amherst College, September–December 1977

Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, April–August 1977

Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, July 1976–March 1977

Project Director, The Urban Institute, August 1972–July 1974

Associate Professor of Economics, UCLA, September 1970–June 1972

Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University, September 1969–June 1970

Assistant Professor of Economics, Cornell University, September 1965–June 1969

Economic Analyst, American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964–August 1965

Lecturer in Economics, Howard University, September 1963–June 1964

Instructor in Economics, Douglass College, Rutgers University, September 1962–June 1963

Labor Economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961–August 1962

Books by Sowell

2011. 2010. 2010. 2009. 2008. 2007. 2007. 2007. 2006. 2006. 2005. 2004.

2004. ''Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy'', revised and expanded ed. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08145-2 (1st ed. 2000)

2003. ''Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One'', ISBN 0-465-08143-6

2002. ''The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late'', ISBN 0-465-08141-X

2002. ''Controversial Essays'', ISBN 0-8179-2992-4

2002. ''A Personal Odyssey'', ISBN 0-684-86465-7

2002. ''The Quest For Cosmic Justice'', ISBN 0-684-86463-0

1998. ''Conquests and Cultures: An International History'', ISBN 0-465-01400-3

1996. ''Migrations and Cultures: A World View'', ISBN 0-465-04589-8 OCLC 41748039

1996. ''The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy''. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08995-X

1995. ''Race and Culture: A World View''. Description & chapter previews. ISBN 0-465-06796-4

1993. ''Inside American Education'', ISBN 0-7432-5408-2

1987. ''A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles''. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-06912-6

1987. ''Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays''. William Morrow, ISBN 0688-07114-7

1986. ''Marxism: Philosophy and Economics''. Quill, ISBN 0-688-06426-4

1984. ''Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?'' William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-03113-7

1983. ''The Economics and Politics of Race''. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-01891-2

1981. ''Ethnic America: A History''. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-02074-7

1981. ''Markets and Minorities''. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-04399-2

1980. ''Knowledge and Decisions''. Basic Books.

1975. ''Race and Economics''. David McKay Company Inc, ISBN 0-679-30262-X

1972. ''Say's Law, An Historical Analysis''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04166-0

See also

List of newspaper columnists

References

External links

Thomas Sowell’s home page

*Complete list of writings

Thomas Sowell Features at Creators Syndicate

Column archive at Townhall.com

Free Podcasts of Sowell’s recent articles

Archive of Articles by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com

Book review of ''The Einstein Syndrome'' by Isabelle Rapin, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Snopes.com on Various articles attributed to Thomas Sowell

Articles and interviews

'Uncommon Knowledge' Interviews (2008-2011)

CSPAN -'Booknotes' interview (May 24, 1990)

Fox News - 'In the Right Direction' interview (2005)

CSPAN - 'Q&A;' interview (April 17, 2005)

"A Dangerous Obsession" — Part I II, III, IV, and V

"Too “Complex”?" — Part I, II, & III

"Alice in Health Care" — Part I, II, III, IV

"The 'Costs' of Medical Care" — Part I, II, III, IV

Socialism for the rich by Thomas Sowell (October 6, 2006)

“10 Questions With Thomas Sowell”, John Hawkins, ''Right Wing News''. Sowell on flat-tax vs. progressive tax, rent-control, balanced budget amendments, protectionist tariffs, poverty and welfare, profit-restriction, illegal immigration, a weak dollar vs. a strong dollar, affirmative action, and reparations.

'Uncommon Knowledge' discussion of affirmative action

Economic Fallacies -- Interview with Thomas Sowell by Bill Steigerwald

Thomas Sowell- Columns on Jewish World Review website

“Race and IQ” Detailed discussion of Race and IQ including techniques that have masked the improvement of black IQ scores.

“Choosing a College” — discusses benefits and costs including college quality, size, specialty, intellectual rigor, social, political and sexual environment of today’s campuses. Recommends hard-nosed parental analysis (including campus visits) that ignores PR fluff and focuses on the bottom line

“Affirmative Action around the World” - critical analysis of Affirmative Action and its failures worldwide.

Salon interview with Sowell

Audio interview with National Review Online

Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies: Audio interview

Sowell en español

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