Do the Right Thing: The People's Economist Speaks

by Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams (1936–2020) was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and chairman of the economics department at George Mason University, a nationally syndicated columnist, and the author of several books. This thought-provoking book contains nearly one hundred of Williams's most popular essays on race and sex, government, education, environment and health, law and society, international politics, and other controversial topics.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, Law, Cultural

183 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

About the author

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Walter E. Williams holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA. He also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Union University and Grove City College, Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College and Doctor Honoris Causa en Ciencias Sociales from Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala, where he is also Professor Honorario.

Dr. Williams has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, since 1980; from 1995 to 2001, he served as department chairman. He has also served on the faculties of Los Angeles City College, California State University Los Angeles, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.

Dr. Williams is the author of over 150 publications which have appeared in scholarly journals such as Economic Inquiry, American Economic Review, Georgia Law Review, Journal of Labor Economics, Social Science Quarterly, and Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and popular publications such as Newsweek, Ideas on Liberty, National Review, Reader's Digest, Cato Journal, and Policy Review. He has authored six books: America: A Minority Viewpoint, The State Against Blacks, which was later made into the PBS documentary "Good Intentions," All It Takes Is Guts, South Africa's War Against Capitalism, which was later revised for South African publication, Do the Right Thing: The People's Economist Speaks, and More Liberty Means Less Government.

He has made scores of radio and television appearances which include "Nightline," "Firing Line," "Face the Nation," Milton Friedman's "Free To Choose," "Crossfire," "MacNeil/Lehrer," "Wall Street Week" and was a regular commentator for "Nightly Business Report." He is also occasional substitute host for the "Rush Limbaugh" show. In addition Dr. Williams writes a nationally syndicated weekly column that is carried by approximately 140 newspapers and several web sites.

Dr. Williams serves on several boards of directors: Grove City College, Reason Foundation and Hoover Institution. He serves on numerous advisory boards including: Cato Institute, Landmark Legal Foundation, Institute of Economic Affairs, and Heritage Foundation.

Dr. Williams has received numerous fellowships and awards including: Foundation for Economic Education Adam Smith Award, Hoover Institution National Fellow, Ford Foundation Fellow, Valley Forge Freedoms Foundation George Washington Medal of Honor, Veterans of Foreign Wars U.S. News Media Award, Adam Smith Award, California State University Distinguished Alumnus Award, George Mason University Faculty Member of the Year, and Alpha Kappa Psi Award.

Dr. Williams has participated in numerous debates, conferences and lectures in the United States and abroad. He has frequently given expert testimony before Congressional committees on public policy issues ranging from labor policy to taxation and spending. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, and the American Economic Association.

Reviews

[Steven H]

ANOTHER COLLECTION OF WILLIAMS’ NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

Walter Edward Williams (born 1936) is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1995 collection of newspaper columns, “I care about our country and fear for its future as a free and prosperous nation. I address that concern by showing my fellow Americans how their well-intended actions and demands often constitute an assault on liberty and hence the supremacy of the individual… The subject matter of my columns covers the spectrum from government encroachment on our liberties to education and race discrimination. The underlying theme… is that institutions and actions fostering peaceable, voluntary exchange are moral. Those supporting coercion and control over individuals are immoral…. The biggest difference between me and many of my fellow Americans is that I want liberty not only for myself but for others as well.”

He states, “Issues surrounding race have dogged our nation since its inception… Part of the dilemma is that vision that sees the current problems black Americans face as civil rights problems. For all intents and purposes, the civil rights struggle is over and it is won… [This] does not mean that there are not serious problems within a large segment of the black community. It simply means that the problems that remain are not civil rights problems. Black illegitimacy … is a devastating problem, but it is not a civil rights problem. The high rate of crime… is a major problem but it is not a civil rights problem. The grossly fraudulent education received by majority of black students in government-owned schools is a major problem but, again, not a civil rights problem. Recognizing that most problems affecting the black community are not civil rights problems would allow us to investigate and perhaps find other solutions.” (Pg. 1)

He asserts, “Organizations once part of a proud struggle have now squandered their moral authority. They are little more than race hustlers championing a racial spoils system. They no longer seek fair play and a color blind society; their agenda is one of group rights where quota is king and color blindness is viewed with contempt. Today’s civil rights organizations differ only indegree, not in kind, from white racist organizations past and present.” (Pg. 8)

He points out, “Cities in the steepest decline are those that receive the most federal aid… look for cities with the steepest decay and decline, greatest crime rates, greatest family breakdown, most rotten schools, and filthiest streets. Not surprisingly, people in these cities… get out at the first opportunity. Liberals used to attribute the flight to racism---‘white flight’ to the suburbs. Black people don’t like mugging, drive-by shootings, or property destruction either. For the past two decades, black flight has exceeded white flight to the suburbs.” (Pg. 13-14)

He observes, “Whether we like it or not, race and crime are highly correlated. And… violent criminal acts are highly correlated to race. Black people know this, as do white people. Under certain circumstances, taking extra security precautions with a black person reduces the risk of being a crime victim.” (Pg. 18)

He says, “last September, I gave a present to America’s white liberals: I granted them bull pardon and general amnesty for both their own grievances and those of their forebears against my people. The reason for that magnanimous gesture was to reduce white guilt in the hopes that white liberals would stop acting like fools---at least on matters of race.” (Pg. 27)

He continues, “But I would be all wrong about guilt as a motivator. There is a long-standing liberal tradition whereby if a liberal has an idea that has never worked nowhere nohow, he’ll try it out on black people. Clinton’s idea about a church, business, and government partnership to reduce gang violence might be yet another one of those experiments on black people. I don’t recall Elliot Ness asking for a church, business and government partnership to deal with the Chicago mobs.” (Pg. 28)

He suggests, “The corrupting influence of the public education establishment must be challenged. We, particularly black people, are looking at the very likely prospect of a large portion of our youngsters being absolutely useless in the high-tech world of the twenty-first century.” (Pg. 84)

He charges, “Our founders knew that government was the primary source of evil and oppression. Today’s liberals wish to disarm us so they can run their evil and oppressive agenda on us. The fight against crime is just a convenient excuse to further their agenda. I don’t know about you, but if you hear that [my] guns have been taken, you’ll know that [I] am dead.” (Pg. 118)

He notes, “Marxist professors lecture our youth that communism is ‘the wave of the future’ and that in the ‘workers’ paradise’ there is no want… Of course, no mention is made of the scarcity of soap, toilet paper, and adequate heat. In Marxism 101, professors preach the Marxist cry… ‘[you] have nothing to lose but your chains.’ Try telling that to Romanians and Lithuanians.” (Pg. 131)

He insists, “it there is one basic legitimate function of government, it is to protect its citizens against predators. Politicians have failed miserably in this basic job, and to make matters worse, they now want to take guns away from law-abiding citizens, thereby making us sitting ducks for criminals. But if you think about it, politicians and criminals have a lot in common. Both are in the business of taking what belongs to us.” (Pg. 149)

He contends, “The only official racism left in America is Social Security racism. Black male life expectancy at firth is 64.2 years. Congress takes just as much Social Security tax out of my paycheck as it does of the paycheck of a white guy who has a life expectancy of 73.0 years. Then it tells me I can’t get full benefits until age sixty-five. It’s a racial rip-off; they know that I’m going to croak eight months before eligibility starts and that the white guy is going to get at least eight years or so of benefits. Being a sensitive person, I am not calling for Congress to make white guys live only as long as I.” (Pg. 170)

This book will be of great interest for conservatives---particularly those interested in racial/ethnic economic issues.

[Jeff G]

Fascinating to read a set of essays largely written in the early to mid 1990s. Some quite relevant to today; in others, it feels like we have moved a good distance away from what Williams is discussing.

First of his works that I have read.

[Dave Harbert]

I love Walter Williams! As an economist, he has the ability to point out the absurdity and logical inconsistencies in our laws, government and society.

This should be a must-read for high school and college students of any discipline!

[Steven H]

THE FOURTH COLLECTION OF WILLIAMS’ NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

Walter Edward Williams (born 1936) is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1999 book, “My core values derive from the principles of natural law, or what some might call God-given rights, expounded by philosophers like John Locke, Sir William Blackstone, and Edmund Burke. Their principles … had a major influence on our Founding Fathers… The initial premise of natural law is that each individual owns himself… From that initial premise, certain forms of behavior are readily and easily deemed just or unjust… Not everyone respects the natural rights of others; therefore, we form governments to enforce respect for private property rights…. When we form a government… we give up a limited number of rights to guarantee security… Rights is a concept that is widely confused these days… A right is something that is held simultaneously among people and imposes no burden on another… By the democratic principles we espouse, government cannot have a right that citizens do not grant it… If there is a general theme to my columns, that theme is the attention I give to the proper role of government in a free society and the need for politicians to … uphold the U.S. Constitution.”

He states, “Illegitimacy is the harbinger of just about all underclass problems… The values in communities without fathers are adolescent values: predatory sex, violence, and self-destructive behavior… Young women who lose self-control, are promiscuous, and engage in early sex activity are rewarded with welfare benefits… regular church attendance halves the chances a woman will have a child out of wedlock. These statistics confirm my long-held belief that, contrary to what liberals preach, the solutions to the devastating problems of black communities lie neither in Washington nor at state capitals but in our own communities.” (Pg. 11)

He asserts, “Survey polls show a high degree of black fear of crime. However, crime is an uncomfortable subject for black people. Given our history, this is understandably so. But when crime puts progress on hold for a third of the black population, we can no longer be silent and deny its widespread, devastating effects. We have to do something about it.” (Pg. 22)

He points out, “There is neither moral nor constitutional justification for government handouts to corporate welfare queens. Moreover, there’s no public support for these handouts. So if Republicans moved to eliminate them, they wouldn’t face irate voters. However, they would face an irate corporate lobbyist community that makes contributions to their campaign coffers. But we should press Republicans with this question: How can you possibly talk about slamming the handout door on a poor lazy, good-for-nothing welfare recipient while at the same time sponsoring handouts for members of America’s Fortune 500?” (Pg. 56)

He argues, “Welfare is another national disgrace I’ve called a failure. While it would take a little more than $50 billion to raise every poor American above the official poverty line, annual welfare spending is over four times that amount. Welfare has been a success for the pocketbooks of planners, researchers, social workers, administrators, and other assorted poverty pimps.” (Pg. 99-100)

He explains, “getting back to the decline in black enrollment at prestigious California universities, I’m not wringing my hands. More than 60 percent of blacks admitted… to the University of California at Berkeley do not graduate. But there are three thousand less-prestigious colleges that blacks can attend with more compatible … academic achievement… and thus a greater chance for catching up. Not getting into Berkeley is not the same as not getting into college… graduating from a less prestigious university is better than flunking out of a prestigious one.” (Pg. 128-129)

He says, “There’s no complete answer to why some nations are rich and others poor. But you can bet the rent money that a large part of the answer has to do with personal liberty and private property rights. Even if liberty and private property rights had nothing to do with wealth accumulation, we want it anyway because it’s morally superior to authoritarianism.” (Pg. 169)

He acknowledges, “Speaking of smoking… Sometimes I’m invited to an event… I’ll ask whether smoking is permitted. Most times, the answer is no. Then I tell the person, ‘Sorry, I can’t come because I just have to smoke.’ I tell them, ‘You have your rules, but I have mine.’” (Pg. 244)

This book will be of great interest for conservatives---particularly those interested in racial/ethnic economic issues.