• The Economics and Politics of Race

  • An International Perspective
  • By: Thomas Sowell
  • Narrated by: Robert Morris
  • Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (323 ratings)

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The Economics and Politics of Race  By  cover art

The Economics and Politics of Race

By: Thomas Sowell
Narrated by: Robert Morris
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Publisher's summary

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

What listeners say about The Economics and Politics of Race

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting material, with not very good audi

Where does The Economics and Politics of Race rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The content would be pretty high, but issues with the audio brought down the overall experience. I'm not sure if I would recommend this read to anyone

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The content was very interesting and presented in a way that you would likely never hear in school.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Audio was awful and I had a lot of issues hearing every word clearly.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

This shouldn't be a film

Any additional comments?

It is always good to hear the views of both sides of a story. It was pretty enlightening to see how so much information in our modern life is framed in order to bolster the position of one side over another.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

Sowell is great, but this sounded like it was narrated by someone with a mouth full of marbles, and recorded with a microphone wrapped in a sock.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read/listen book despite the audio quality.

First off, the audio quality for this book is not the best but not so bad that it should deter you from listening. The quality of the book's content more than makes up for it. Now that that's out of the way...

Table of Contents:
Author's Preface
Part I: History
Ch 1: The Role of Race
Ch 2: The Overseas Chinese
Ch 3: Immigrants from Europe
Ch 4: Blacks and Coloreds
Part II: Analysis
Ch 5: An International Perspective
Ch 6: The American Experience
Ch 7: The Third World
Ch 8: The Past and the Future

Why have the Chinese excelled economically in every country they've been present in? What were some of the explicitly discriminatory policies they encountered around the world, and what were the economic consequences both for them and the non-Chinese in these countries as a result of these policies?

Why does Japan have a higher standard of living than Mexico despite having a far higher population density and far fewer natural resources?

How did the cultures and values of Irish, German, and Italian immigrants to the US differ and what were the consequences, both political and economic? How did Germans in Argentina differ from those in Europe? How were they the same?

How have "blacks" been treated vs "coloreds" in South Africa? In the Caribbean? In the US? How have they viewed and treated each other? What is even meant by such terms around the world?

These are but a few questions Sowell answers in his classic book. First published in 1983, initially I thought it might not be especially relevant today in 2020, but in some ways, I found it more insightful BECAUSE of when it was written. The material can be a little dry at times, but it is exceptionally informational and will definitely make you think. Every book from Thomas Sowell offers something new, and his work is empirically based and data-driven, even on controversial issues like race and economics. I feel comfortable in saying reading or listening to this single book alone will make you understand the subject matter better than >95% of the population. It should be required reading. If you want a real education, The Economics and Politics of Race (and every book by Thomas Sowell) is a tremendous bang for your buck.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book, horrible audio

Requires a narration do-over. Its making me focus less on the book and more to the horrible audio quality. I feel I want at least half my money back.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Explaining the value of human capital

One of the finest and most thorough explanations of the futility of prejudice and governmental attempts to remedy past descrimination beyond freeing an oppressed group. The book was written in 1984, but is just as up to date as if it were written yesterday. The only things missing are current examples which would not add significantly to the clarity of the points well made by Mr. Sowell.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very insightful and relevant to 2020

Sowell is a brilliant thinker and clear communicator. This is definitely worth a read.


The audio quality was a little lower than usual for books on audible, but it wasn't unbearable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

eye opening

a wonderful survey of races and cultures often left out of the discussion on race and races and cultures over represented in the discussion in an objective light with critical evaluation of commonly misunderstood metrics.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Need a better reader

The information was good, but hard to listen to.
Good research and opinions stated well


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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • C
  • 04-25-23

Must read

This is a masterpiece that presents a well-researched and compelling argument for how economics and politics shape the discourse around race. Sowell's insights into the intersection of race and economics are eye-opening and offer a fresh perspective on an often-contentious topic. His writing style is engaging, and his arguments are backed up by data and historical examples. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complex relationship between race, economics, and politics.

Only feedback is the narration is terrible. This book deserves better.

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