The Institute for the Study of Economic Growth was proud to partner with AIER’s Bastiat Society program in Wichita and the Kansas Policy Institute to co-host an event in Woolsey Hall on the Wichita State Campus with Jason Riley, Author and Wall Street Journal Columnist.
Jason Riley’s presentation focused on “The Maverick Ideas of Thomas Sowell: Wisdom and Insights”. Thomas Sowell is one of the great social theorists of our age. In a career spanning more than a half century, he has written over thirty books, covering topics from economic history and social inequality to political theory, race, and culture. His bold and unsentimental assaults on liberal orthodoxy have endeared him to many readers but have also enraged fellow intellectuals, the civil-rights establishment, and much of the mainstream media. The result has been a lack of acknowledgement of his scholarship among critics who prioritize political correctness.
In the first-ever biography of Sowell, Jason L. Riley gives this iconic thinker his due and responds to the detractors. Maverick showcases Sowell’s most significant writings and traces the life events that shaped his ideas and resulted in a Black orphan from the Jim Crow South becoming one of our foremost public intellectuals. Riley will discuss the ideas of Thomas Sowell as they relate to today’s critical issues.
Attendees and guests were engaged. They asked a number of questions regarding the state of affairs in America, racial relations and many more. You can watch the full presentation via the video below: