Thomas Sowell (previous post here) is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow of The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he has written yet another book, On Classical Economics (Yale 2006).
Although Professor Sowell’s preference for free markets and disdain for governmental planning has often resulted in him being labeled as a leading black conservative (whatever that means), this Jason L. Riley/weekend WSJ ($) interview of Professor Sowell provides an interesting insight regarding that label:

Free-market economics, a legacy of the classical school, is thought of as an old conservative doctrine. But Mr. Sowell explains that it was in fact one of the most revolutionary concepts to emerge in the history of ideas. Moreover, “the thinking of the classical economist was not only a radical break from landmark intellectual figures like Plato and Machiavelli, but also from mainstream thinking to this day.” The notion of a self-equilibrating system — the market economy — meant a reduced role for intellectuals and politicians, [Sowell] says.
“And even today many still haven’t accepted that their superior wisdom might be superfluous, if not damaging.”

Update: Following on the Sowell interview, this NY Sunday Times op-ed by Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, is a thoughtful and timely piece on the plight of young black men in America. He argues that academicians have an affinity for socioeconomic explanations and too often dismiss cultural explanations. As he notes: “Too much is at stake for us to fail to understand the plight of these young men.”