Walter Williams

For most of our history, we followed the British system of common law, including laws dealing with tort liability. This heritage has been attacked by courts and plaintiff attorneys so much that it is barely recognizable. One such doctrine of tort liability is the...

We all can agree that having money to pay our mortgage or rent on time is very important. Since some people are spendthrifts and don’t manage their money well, what about a congressional mandate whereby mortgage or rent money is deducted from our paychecks each...

Suppose you want to deal with me but I don’t want to deal with you. Should I be forced to? You might ask, “What are you talking about?” Here’s a short list. Suppose you want to marry me, but I don’t want to marry you. Or, suppose you want...

Recent advocacy of free trade in this column has caused considerable reader apoplexy and anxiety, not to mention accusations of unconcern with worker plight. Readers have protested loss of good paying jobs to low-wage countries such as India, China and other Asian...

Many of America’s colleges and universities have become the modern leaders of racism and intolerance. Recently, we were treated to information about racism at the University of Michigan, where its academic elite gave students 20 extra points toward admission...

Imagine you’re having a backyard barbeque. A cop walks in and announces, “This is a random health and safety check to see whether you’ve removed the skin from the chicken before you served it.” Though delicious in taste, we all know that...

I’ve written a nationally syndicated column for nearly 25 years. Columns critical of Social Security and handouts to farmers used to bring the angry self-serving mail. Now it’s international trade. Let me address some of the issues raised. First,...

Among George Orwell’s insightful observations, there’s one very worthy of attention: “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Let’s look at a few examples of corrupted language, thought and information....

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Grutter vs. Bollinger permits colleges to award a “plus” to black, Hispanic and American Indian student applications for admission. As sure as night follows day, we can expect racial fraud. You can bet the rent money...

Last week, the House voted 324 to 101 to make it easier for Americans to import lower-priced prescription drugs sold in Canada and Europe for their own use. It rejected a more sweeping proposal to allow such imports by drug wholesalers and pharmacies. The fact of the...

Whenever someone says that this or that government program is absolutely necessary, I always wonder, “What did people do and how did they survive before the program?” If someone says food stamps are absolutely necessary for poor people’s survival, I...

Some of us know more about some things than others, and we often exploit that advantage. I know more about my driving habits than my auto insurance company. Borrowers know more about their repayment prospects than lenders. The seller of a car knows more about the...

People in the major news media have come in for considerable and sometimes bitter criticism. They’ve been charged with anti-Americanism, leftism, bias and just plain lying, as in the cases of former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair, The Associated...

In last week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent included a quotation from an 1865 speech by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “What I ask for the Negro,” Douglass said, “is not...

Oreo cookies should be banned from sale to children in California. That’s according to Stephen Joseph, who filed a lawsuit against Nabisco last month in California’s Marin County Superior Court. Oreo cookies contain trans fat, an ingredient that makes the...

Few Americans have heard of the National Slave Memorial Act (HR 196) that proposes to erect a National Slave Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Last year, Sen. Trent Lott made this suggestion whilst groveling at the feet of black politicians and civil...

How many times have we applauded those who “made a difference in the lives of others” and been admonished to do the same? On the face of it, that has to be one of the more mindless generalities of our modern era. After all, didn’t Hitler, Stalin, Pol...

Dr. Mike S. Adams, an associate professor of criminal justice at University of North Carolina’s Wilmington campus, has given me an excellent idea for grading students, which appeared in his commentary in the web-based Agape Press newswire. For 35 years,...

Maytag recently announced that it’s moving its Galesburg, Ill., production facility to Mexico. A group called Americans Against NAFTA has protested Maytag’s decision. Spokesman Russ Anderson said, “We want to spread the word of what we believe Maytag...

Imagine that you and I are in a rowboat. I commit the stupid act of shooting a hole in my end of the boat. Would it be intelligent for you to respond by shooting a hole in your end of the boat? Or, imagine I were a politician and told you that the Russian, Chinese,...

Here’s part of a letter from a reader: “A hard-working, conscientious person can earn $10,000 a year in a fast-food restaurant. At the same time, movie stars and athletes, who make very little contribution to society, can earn in excess of $10,000,000 a...