• Knowledge and Decisions

  • By: Thomas Sowell
  • Narrated by: Robertson Dean
  • Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (856 ratings)

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Knowledge and Decisions

By: Thomas Sowell
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
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Publisher's summary

This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom. This is because actual knowledge is being replaced by assumptions based on an abstract and elitist social vision of what ought to be.

Knowledge and Decisions, a winner of the 1980 Law and Economics Center Prize, was heralded as a landmark work and selected for this prize “because of its cogent contribution to our understanding of the differences between the market process and the process of government.” In announcing the award, the center acclaimed that the “contribution to our understanding of the process of regulation alone would make the book important, but in reemphasizing the diversity and efficiency that the market makes possible, [this] work goes deeper and becomes even more significant.”

Thomas Sowell is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has been published in both academic journals and such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune and writes a syndicated column for newspapers across the country.

©1980 Basic Books, Inc. Preface 1996 by Thomas Sowell (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is a brilliant book. Sowell illuminates how every society operates. In the process he also shows how the performance of our own society can be improved.” (Milton Friedman)
“In a wholly original manner [Sowell] succeeds in translating abstract and theoretical argument into a highly concrete and realistic discussion of the central problems of contemporary economic policy.” (F. A. Hayek)

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Thomas Sowell's Greatest Work

IMO, among Thomas Sowell's small library of outstanding contributions, Knowledge and Decisions easily ranks as the finest. This is the 1996 edition, which simply adds a substantial preface to the original 1980 edition as far as I can tell.

The first half of the book is a brilliant, seminal, and timeless treatment of the nature of knowledge, how it is obtained, validated, transmitted, coordinated and acted upon. Sowell analyzes social, economic, and political structures and institutions in terms of their decision making processes and incentives as opposed to their intentions and hoped for results, and explains in a truly fundamental way how complex societies work.

The second half of the book examines specific trends and issues in the social, political, economic, and legal arenas. At the time of its publication, this was the current events section. Of course, the world has changed in many profound (and superficial) ways since 1980, so this section today is more historical in nature.

But since one of the great strengths of Sowell's work is its basis in and exposition of global and world historical experiences and perspectives, section two retains its interest and force, and is an effective reminder of the failures of centralized decision making structures that were viscerally evident a generation ago (especially via communism), but whose implications are largely forgotten today. As the saying goes, those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

All in all, this is a great book that stands the test of time quite easily.

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41 people found this helpful

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Hard but well worth the effort.

Here is what you are getting into. This is not a book to listen to while you are jogging. In fact, you might need to read along and take notes. The first 1 hour will be relatively easy to understand. The middle 17 hours will be tough. You might be tempted to give up but stick with it, listen and re-listen in small chunks. The last 3 hours will also be relatively easy to understand.
So why invest the time to listen? What should you expect at the end? Very simply, a thorough analysis of the political situtation in America. You will understand how simple vocabulary changes you've never noticed or you've been taking for granted signal monumental changes in the political framework.

A short overview of the book is that the kind of knowledge deployed or claimed in public decision making should be verifiable and subject to authentication and feedback. Based on this, the book argues that the most monumental political shifts have occurred in those areas where decision making is being shifted from individuals or institutions with incentives for refining their working knowledge with effective feedback to individuals or institutions insulated from any kind of feedback.

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Important knowledge!

Great insight, and a new way of thinking for me, really enjoyed it, even the dense high level English.

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Interesting in theory but dull in practice

I generally like sowell's work even if it they all tend to move a bit slow for me as they are often geared to a very general reader.
The main problem with this book is one of degree: that it spoon feeds. For anyone who is accustomed to thinking systematically, this book breaks down the bites way too small and hence becomes extra slow moving and by extension dull. I gave up less than one-third of the way through-knowing i couldn't take that many more hours. i will say that i enjoyed the introduction (written 15 years after the original book) more than what followed.

again, he is a good writer, its an interesting topic, his stories and explanations are very clear, but he really belabors every little point in this book.an abridged audio book would NOT help, but i do feel he could have written this in half the text

Dean is a solid narrator.

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The basic premises in all of Sowell's other works.

The basic premises in all of Sowell's other works are seen here. If you're familiar with his more recent books, this may be redundant for you. But, it was still a good listen.

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Read at least first half

The most important and foundational of Sowell's book. The first part is superb, while the second is boring at times. I enjoyed second part too because it is 30 years old and gives contemporary account, which is different than reading history books now.

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Political work, not psychological

Disappointing. I expected a book about how knowledge is processed to make decisions and got a very political diatribe. Would not read another work from this author.

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Great book, lazy audio port

The book and narration are great. It feels more rigorous than other books by the same author and it's more cohesive than the generic-sounding title might imply.

But the book is split up in roughly one-hour chunks, erroneously called chapters, that don't match the book's chapters. How lazy can the publisher be to not even bother to get the table of contents right? It makes it impossible to go back to sections you want to revisit because there'd be no way of knowing where they are.

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Possibly my favourite book of all time

I love this book, puts so much into context. I love the reasech based pragmatic approach Dr. Sowell brings. It's very hard to face the truth so we often lie to ourselves or believe lies that makes us appear better than we are, no such in here.

I would have loved to have recieved this when I turned 18, it would have saved me so much time!

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T Sowell = Timeless

Amazing read, strongly encourage it for understanding all processes undertaken by men. Great political insight and profundity

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