title: Intellectuals and Society
author:  Thomas Sowell 
description: "It's a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books."<b>Steve Forbes</b><br /><br />"America's best writer on economics, particularly when that discipline intersects with politics."<b><i><i>World</i></i></b><br /><br />"Thomas Sowell is, in my opinion, the most interesting philosopher at work in America."<b>Paul Johnson</b>, <b><i>author of <i>Modern Times</i></i></b>
zlib_text: **OTHER BOOKS BY THOMAS SOWELL:**
  
   _Basic Economics_
  
   _Discrimination and Disparities_
  
   _A Conflict of Visions_
  
   _Intellectuals and Society_
  
   **CONTENTS**
  
   _Cover_
  
   _Other Books by Thomas Sowell_
  
   _Dedication_
  
  Preface
  
  Chapter 1: Comparisons and Comparability
  
  Chapter 2: Charter School Results
  
  Chapter 3: Hostility
  
  Chapter 4: Accountability
  
  Chapter 5: Student Differences
  
  Chapter 6: Dangers
  
   _Appendix I: Test Score Data_
  
   _Appendix II: Student Demographic Data_
  
   _Appendix III: Special Students Data_
  
   _Endnotes_
  
   _Index_
  
  To those children whose futures hang in the balance
  
   **PREFACE**
  
  In a sense, this story began back in the early 1970s, at a gathering of
  various conservative and neoconservative intellectuals, hosted by Irving
  Kristol, then editor of a high-quality quarterly publication called _**The
  Public Interest**_.
  
  After a round of convivial recollections from those present about how we had
  begun our careers on the political left or, as in my case, the far left 