Archived Columns From 2012

by Walter Williams

2012 January

I Love GreedJanuary 04, 2012

What human motivation gets the most wonderful things done? It’s really a silly question, because the answer is so simple. It turns out that it’s human greed ...

In Greed I TrustJanuary 11, 2012

Last week’s column started off asking: “What human motivation gets the most wonderful things done?” The answer is that human greed is what gets wonderful thi...

Presidential NonsenseJanuary 18, 2012

Last week, President Barack Obama, at a Capital Hilton fundraising event, told the crowd, “We can’t go back to this brand of you’re-on-your-own economics.” T...

Schools of EducationJanuary 25, 2012

Larry Sand’s article “No Wonder Johnny (Still) Can’t Read” — written for The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, based in Raleigh, N.C. — b...

2012 February

Obama's Racial PoliticsFebruary 01, 2012

There’s been a heap of criticism placed upon President Barack Obama’s domestic policies that have promoted government intrusion and prolonged our fiscal cris...

Economic Chaos AheadFebruary 08, 2012

Let’s think about the kind of mess that we’re in. Federal 2010 Medicare and Medicaid expenditures totaled $800 billion. The projected annual growth of both p...

Rising Black Social PathologyFebruary 15, 2012

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s big story Feb. 4 was about how a budget crunch at the Philadelphia School District had caused the district to lay off 91 school p...

Math MattersFebruary 22, 2012

If one manages to graduate from high school without the rudiments of algebra, geometry and trigonometry, there are certain relatively high-paying careers pro...

Equality or InequalityFebruary 29, 2012

Rick Santorum’s speech at the Detroit Economic Club stirred a bit of controversy when he said: “I’m not about equality of result when it comes to income ineq...

2012 March

It Just Ain't SoMarch 07, 2012

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 2011 manufacturing output grew by 11 percent, to nearly $5 trillion. Were our manufacturing sector considered a nation wi...

Compliant AmericansMarch 14, 2012

Last month, at a Raeford, N.C., elementary school, a teacher confiscated the lunch of a 5-year-old girl because it didn’t meet U.S. Department of Agriculture...

Political Rope-A-DopeMarch 21, 2012

It’s not unreasonable to ask how valuable the variously labeled liberal, Democratic or progressive agenda has been to black Americans and whether blacks shou...

ProfilingMarch 28, 2012

Right now, there isn’t enough known about the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a black, by George Zimmerman, a 28-...

2012 April

Dupes for the StateApril 04, 2012

Public misunderstanding, ignorance and possibly contempt for liberty play into the hands of people who want to control our lives. Responses to my recent colu...

Media Dishonesty and Race HustlersApril 11, 2012

When NBC’s “Today” show played the audio of George Zimmerman’s call to a Sanford, Fla., police dispatcher about Trayvon Martin, the editors made him appear t...

Good EconomistsApril 18, 2012

It’s difficult to be a good economist and simultaneously be perceived as compassionate. To be a good economist, one has to deal with reality. To appear compa...

Devious TaxationApril 25, 2012

The Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation does a yeoman’s job of keeping track of how much we’re paying in taxes and who’s paying what. It turns out that Ame...

2012 May

America's Two-Faced LiberalsMay 02, 2012

President Barack Obama and Wall Street occupiers, along with their allies in the mainstream media and on college campuses, have maintained an ongoing attack ...

Leftist Race-baitersMay 09, 2012

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, in a recent debate with former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, called the Republican Party the “grand wizard crowd.” Gra...

Should We Obey All Laws?May 16, 2012

Let’s think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law — and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutio...

Should Black People Tolerate This?May 23, 2012

Each year, roughly 7,000 blacks are murdered. Ninety-four percent of the time, the murderer is another black person. According to the Bureau of Justice Stati...

Our Nation's FutureMay 30, 2012

Our nation is rapidly approaching a point from which there’s little chance to avoid a financial collapse. The heart of our problem can be seen as a tragedy o...

2012 June

Immoral Beyond RedemptionJune 06, 2012

Benjamin Franklin, statesman and signer of our Declaration of Independence, said: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt a...

Duped by Congressional LiesJune 13, 2012

Some of the responses to my column last week, titled “Immoral Beyond Redemption,” prove that Americans have been hoodwinked by Congress. Some readers protest...

Racial Double StandardsJune 20, 2012

Back in 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said we were “a nation of cowards” on matters of race. Permit me to be brave and run a few assertions by you ...

Too Much CollegeJune 27, 2012

In President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address, he said that “higher education can’t be a luxury. It is an economic imperative that every family...

2012 July

The UnderclassJuly 04, 2012

Anthony Daniels, who writes under the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, is a retired prison doctor and psychiatrist who tells of his experiences with his patients...

Difficult Economics LessonsJuly 11, 2012

One of the more difficult lessons to teach economics neophytes — and, many times, trained economists — is that economic theory cannot say anything definitive...

Tyrants and Human NatureJuly 18, 2012

The agendas of liberals, progressives and assorted tyrants desperately depend on the aspects of human nature they often condemn, such as acquisitiveness, pro...

Stubborn IgnoranceJuly 25, 2012

Academic intelligentsia, their media, government and corporate enthusiasts worship at the altar of diversity. Despite budget squeezes, universities have crea...

2012 August

How Times Have ChangedAugust 01, 2012

Having been born in 1936 has allowed me to witness both societal progress and retrogression. High on the list of things made better in our society are the gr...

Liberals, Progressives and SocialistsAugust 08, 2012

In Europe, especially in Germany, hoisting a swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag is a crime. For decades after World War II, people have hunted down and sought pun...

Obama's Educational Excellence InitiativeAugust 15, 2012

President Barack Obama recently wrote an executive order that established a White House initiative on educational excellence for black Americans that will be...

Educational LunacyAugust 22, 2012

If I were a Klansman, wanting to sabotage black education, I couldn’t find better allies than education establishment liberals and officials in the Obama adm...

The Rich Don't Pay Enough?August 29, 2012

If you listen to America’s political hacks, mainstream media talking heads and their socialist allies, you can’t help but reach the conclusion that the natio...

2012 September

Upward Mobility BarriersSeptember 05, 2012

Let’s pretend that we have the political guts to expand economic opportunities for people at the lower end of the economic spectrum. What vested interests sh...

Academic DishonestySeptember 19, 2012

Many of the nation’s colleges and universities have become cesspools of indoctrination, intolerance, academic dishonesty and an “enlightened” form of racism....

Understanding EconomicsSeptember 26, 2012

Here’s a question: If there’s a disaster, a war, a severe drought or some other calamity that restricts future supplies of a commodity — such as oil, coffee ...

2012 October

Trickle Down and Tax CutsOctober 03, 2012

Dr. Thomas Sowell’s “‘Trickle Down Theory’ and ‘Tax Cuts for the Rich’” has just been published by the Hoover Institution. Having read this short paper, the ...

A Modest ProposalOctober 10, 2012

California was once the land of opportunity, but it is going down the tubes. Several of California’s prominent cities have declared bankruptcy, such as Valle...

Poverty NonsenseOctober 17, 2012

Here’s a recent statement frequently suggested by leftist academics, think tank researchers and policymakers: “People were not just struggling because of the...

What You Can't SayOctober 24, 2012

Jon Hubbard, a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, has a book, titled “Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservativ...

Black and White StandardsOctober 31, 2012

The Washington Post (10/25/2012), in giving President Barack Obama an endorsement for another four years, wrote, “Much of the 2012 presidential campaign has ...

2012 November

Our Deviant SocietyNovember 07, 2012

Here’s one usage of the term gentleman: The gentleman helped the fallen lady to her feet. Here’s another, one we might hear from a newscaster or a police spo...

Disaster IgnoranceNovember 14, 2012

Here’s a which-is-better question for you. Suppose a New Jersey motel room rented for $125 a night prior to Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. When the hurricane...

Democracy and Majority RuleNovember 21, 2012

President Barack Obama narrowly defeated Gov. Mitt Romney in the popular vote 51 percent to 48 percent. In the all-important Electoral College, the differenc...

Parting CompanyNovember 28, 2012

For decades, it has been obvious that there are irreconcilable differences between Americans who want to control the lives of others and those who wish to be...

2012 December

Future GenerationsDecember 05, 2012

Is there any reason for today’s Americans to care about what happens to tomorrow’s Americans? After all, what have tomorrow’s Americans done for today’s Amer...

Our Government-Created Financial CrisisDecember 12, 2012

Suppose you saw a building on fire. Would you seek counsel from the arsonist who set it ablaze for advice on how to put it out? You say, “Williams, you’d hav...

A Hundred Percent of NothingDecember 19, 2012

JoAnn Watson, Detroit city council member, said, “Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president, and there ought to be a quid...

Middle East DemocracyDecember 26, 2012

Here’s the first paragraph of my last year’s column “Democracy Is Impossible”: