Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study [Hardcover]

"Another brilliant, bracing achievement by Thomas Sowell. With characteristic lucidity, erudition, and depth, Sowell examines the true effects of affirmative action around the globe. This book is compelling, important, mind-opening." Amy Chua, author of World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability. "A masterpiece that deserves to be one of the most influential books of our time. Any honest reader will be informed and enlightened." Donald Kagan, Yale University; "This book makes an important contribution to what is without doubt the hottest constitutional issue of the day. Anyone with an interest in race issues will find it exceptionally interesting and valuable." Lino A. Graglia, University of Texas School of Law"

This book moves the discussion of affirmative action beyond the United States to other countries that have had similar policies, often for a longer time than Americans have. It also moves the discussion beyond the theories, principles, and laws that have been so often debated to the actual empirical consequences of affirmative action in the United States and in India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and other countries. Both common patterns and national differences are examined. Much of what emerges from a factual examination of these policies flatly contradicts much of what was expected and much of what has been claimed.

Thomas Sowell is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. The author of numerous books, most recently Barbarians Inside the Gates and The Quest for Cosmic Justice, he also writes a nationally syndicated column that appears in more than 150 newspapers and contributes regularly to Forbes magazine. He has taught economics at various colleges and universities, including Cornell, Amherst, and the University of California-Los Angeles.