Uncommon Knowledge Thomas Sowell on School Choice and the Price Our Children Pay for Bad Ideas | Peter Robinson | Thomas Sowell | Hoover Institution
63 snips
Jan 27, 2026 
Thomas Sowell, economist and longtime Hoover Institution fellow known for sharp critiques of education and public policy. He critiques public schooling, praises charter successes, challenges affirmative action and university DEI, warns about AI imitation, and reflects on institutional decline and alternatives outside traditional universities.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Why Public Schools Rarely Self-Correct
- Public education lacks market feedback, so failing practices persist for generations.
- Thomas Sowell argues taxpayer funding shields schools from corrective losses that markets impose.
A Library Card Changed Everything
- Eddie took young Thomas Sowell to a public library and started him on a habit of reading.
- That habit became foundational to Sowell's intellectual development and later career.
Struggling Up Through Ability Grouping
- Sowell describes being placed in low ability groups after moving to New York and struggling to catch up.
- After sustained effort he reached the top class and then excelled academically.
