AEI.Org: Scholar: Charles Murray

Intelligence and College

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The refusal to confront the relationship between intelligence and success in college has produced a cascade of harms--to many students who try to go to college, to those who do not, to the system of higher education, and to the nation as a whole.

Tax Withholding Is Bad for Democracy

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Taxes are an essential ingredient in the civic glue that binds us together. It's time to be honest about our fair share.

Thank God America Isn't Like Europe--Yet

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The European model drains too much of the life from life.

The Europe Syndrome and the Challenge to American Exceptionalism

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

America's elites must once again fall in love with what makes the United States different.

Find Alternatives to the B.A.

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The B.A. has become the union card for social respectability.

Beware the BA Diploma

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100

A bachelor's degree, the basic qualification for many jobs, is grossly inefficient as a source of information for employers.

Should the Obama Generation Drop Out?

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The bachelor's degree is of little use to most students--and employers--today. Professional certification tests are a better approach.

Good Teachers in Bad Times

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

We need to create a better learning environment for students and teaching environment for teachers.

Down With the Four-Year College Degree!

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The BA degree wreaks harm on a majority of young people, is grotesquely inefficient as a source of information for employers, and is implicated in the emergence of a class-riven America.

We Can't All Make the Grade

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The romantic belief that every child is capable of academic success has been proven incorrect.

Are Too Many People Going to College?

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

America's university system is creating a class-riven nation. There has to be a better way.

Taking the Gifted Down

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Making sure that all gifted students hit their own personal walls is crucial for developing their empathy with the rest of the world.

Virtue? The Good?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

One of the special tasks in the education of the gifted is to steep them in the study of how good applies to virtue.

An Elite That Is Already Smart

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Every complex society is run by an elite, including our society.

College Daze

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Instead of helping high school graduates grow up, colleges prolong childhood.

Leave This Child Behind

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

We must recognize the fact that most people do not have the ability or interest to succeed on the conventional academic track.

For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Our national obsession with the BA has created a two-tiered entry to adulthood, anointing some for admission to the club and labeling the rest as second-best.

Francophilia

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The French, après tout, are not unlike Americans.

The Age of Educational Romanticism

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Educational romanticism asks too much from students at the bottom of the intellectual pile, asks the wrong things from those in the middle, and asks too little from those at the top.

Poverty and Marriage, Income Inequality and Brains

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0100

When it comes to poverty and income inequality, the cycle of optimistic promises and zero results will repeat itself because politicians ignore causes that don't fit the way they want the world to be.

With a High IQ Comes Need for Special Education

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0100

It is time for the United States to accomodate the needs of its intellectual elite.

Abolish the SAT

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The SAT is an unnecessary and socioeconomically divisive institution. We should drop it in favor of achievement tests.

Should No Child Left Behind Be Reauthorized?

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0100

NCLB is a disaster for federalism, excellence, and imagination.

Why the Jews?

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Jewish Genius

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Why are Jews overrepresented in every field of intellectual accomplishment?

The Magnitude and Components of Change in the Black-White IQ Difference from 1920 to 1991

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0100

A birth cohort analysis of the Woodcock-Johnson standardizations.

Aztecs vs. Greeks

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100

We should acknowledge the existence and importance of high intellectual ability, and think about how best to nurture the children who possess it.

What's Wrong with Vocational School?

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Rightly understood, college is only appropriate for a small minority of young adults--perhaps even a minority of the people who have IQs high enough for college work.

Intelligence in the Classroom

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0100

It is true that many social and economic problems are disproportionately found among people with little education, but the culprit for their educational deficit is often low intelligence.

The G.O.P.'s Bad Bet

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Amonth before a major election, the Republicans have allied themselves with a scattering of voters who are upset by online gambling and have outraged the millions who love it.

In Our Hands

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Changes over Time in the Black-White Difference on Mental Tests

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Data for three Peabody achievement tests and for the Peabody picture vocabulary test administered to children of women in the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that the black–white difference did not diminish for this sample of children born from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.

Acid Tests

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0100

NCLB has not had a significant impact on overall test scores and has not narrowed the racial and socioeconomic achievement gap.

The $10,000 Solution

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0100

As the amount of money we spend on transfer payments continues to rise, while poverty endures, it must eventually become obvious to all that the problem is not a lack of money.

The Plan to Replace the Welfare State

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0100

An interview with Murray about his new book,In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State, which outlines Murray'splan to overhaulwelfare transfer programs.

A Plan to Replace the Welfare State

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0100

The welfare state as we know it cannot survive.

Thomas Sowell--Seeing Clearly

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100

One mark of a great book is a thesis so powerful that after a few years people take it for granted. Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions (1987) is such a book.

Ending Welfare As We Knew It

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Where Are the Female Einsteins?

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Weshould discussintractable differences between men and women, or between any other groups of people, because the refusal to confront the reality of differences has consequences.

The Hallmark of the Underclass

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Whatismore contemptible--Democratsrediscovering poverty and blaming it onBush or Republicansrediscovering poverty and claimingthe government can fix it?

The Inequality Taboo

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Survey of male-female and black-white differences.

How to Accuse the Other Guy of Lying with Statistics

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0100

We have known how to lie with statistics for fifty years now. What we really need are theory and praxis for accusing someone else of lying with statistics.

The Advantages of Social Apartheid

Sun, 03 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0100

If we are unwilling to prevent an underclass by giving responsibility for behavior back to individuals, their families, and communities, custodial democracy is the only option left.

Sex Ed at Harvard

Sun, 23 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100

In the study of gender, large and growing bodies of good science are helping us understand the sources of human abilities and limitations, and it is time to accept their legitimacy.

Freedom

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Sex and Consequences by Phillip B. Levine

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Does Freedom Mean Liberty?

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0100

A Real Job

Wed, 13 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0100

It is unfair that 5 percent of Americans pay 54 percent of all personal income taxes yet use fewer government services than other Americans.

Marriage-Lite

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Picture of Privilege?

Tue, 11 May 2004 00:00:00 +0100

The recent price of $104.2 million for Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe" dramatizes the chasm that separates the art market from the contribution that great art can make to human life.

You Are What You Tax

Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0100

Allowing taxpayers to name where their tax dollars go would put large segments of local, state, and federal government out of business.

Simple Justice

Sun, 25 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0100

By any realistic measure, British criminal justice historically was superb. Its philosophical core was retributive justice, applied consistently and without apology. Isn't it time for its return?

No Justice

Sun, 18 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0100

The British legal establishment shouldstop being kind to criminals.

Well, It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time

Sun, 30 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0100

What belongs in the hall of fame of unintended outcomes in the arts and sciences, when a truly wonderful accomplishment inadvertently contributed to some truly awful consequences?

A Libertarian Looks at Human Accomplishment in the Arts and Sciences

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:00:00 +0100

Measuring Achievement

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 +0100

The West may have been pivotally important, but has it been too much at center stage?

Biotechnology

Sun, 22 Dec 2002 00:00:00 +0100

Essays adapted from remarks made at theAEI's book forum "Human Cloning and Human Dignity" onOctober 29, 2002.

The Fathers Are Still Missing

Tue, 30 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0100

In reacting to the news about changes in American family structure, the right mix seems to be hopefulness about marriage among blacks and concern about the increase in cohabiting parents.

The British Underclass

Sat, 01 Sep 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Does England have an underclass? If so, is it big or small? Stable, shrinking, or growing?

Beyond the Welfare State

Tue, 01 May 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Prole Models

Tue, 06 Feb 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Family Formation

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Baby Beware

Sun, 13 Feb 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Deeper into the Brain

Mon, 24 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Common Ground?

Mon, 29 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Review of One Nation, Two Cultures: A Searching Examination of American Society in the Aftermath of Our Cultural Revolution, by Gertrude Himmelfarb.

Big Picture

Thu, 01 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Review of The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order, by Francis Fukuyama.

To Each His Own

Mon, 31 May 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Property and Freedom by Richard Pipes.

Statistical Jargon

Thu, 01 Apr 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Review of The Politics Of Large Numbers: A History Of Statistical Reasoning, by Alain Desrosieres.

Our Dreyfus Case

Mon, 22 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0100

And Now for the Bad News

Tue, 02 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Elated by falling crime rates and shrinking welfare rolls, we haven't had to acknowledge how far we have already traveled on the road to custodial democracy.

The Peace Corps' Wonder Years

Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Review of All You Need Is Love by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman.

Murray Replies

Mon, 22 Jun 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Charles Murray responds to Glenn Loury.

The Perils of GOP Activism

Fri, 20 Feb 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Liberal Scholar's Conservative Answers about Poverty, Kids

Sun, 08 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0100

Review of What Money Can't Buy by Susan Mayer.

IQ and Economic Success

Sun, 01 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0100

Colors of Illegitimacy

Mon, 09 Oct 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The Partial Restoration of Traditional Society

Fri, 01 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0100

Will the Republicans End Welfare As We Know It?

Mon, 01 May 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The Bell Curve and Its Critics

Mon, 01 May 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The Next British Revolution

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 +0100

What to Do about Welfare

Thu, 01 Dec 1994 00:00:00 +0100

The New Victorians . . .

Sun, 29 May 1994 00:00:00 +0100

Underclass

Sun, 22 May 1994 00:00:00 +0100

The Coming White Underclass

Fri, 29 Oct 1993 00:00:00 +0100

The new trend that threatens the U.S. is white illegitimacy.

Bad Lessons

Fri, 08 Jan 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Upon this Rock

Fri, 01 Jan 1993 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Upon this Rock: The Miracle of a Black Church.

Welfare and the Family

Fri, 01 Jan 1993 00:00:00 +0100

The Elephant in the Corner

Tue, 01 Dec 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Review of A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate in Americaby Daniel Seligman.

What Should the President Read?

Tue, 01 Dec 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Equal Treatment

Sun, 01 Nov 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Review of The End of Equality by Mickey Kaus.

The Pursuit of Happiness under Socialism and Capitalism

Tue, 01 Sep 1992 00:00:00 +0100

The Legacy of the 60s

Wed, 01 Jul 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Causes, Root Causes, and Cures

Mon, 08 Jun 1992 00:00:00 +0100

The Reality of Black America

Fri, 22 May 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Andrew Hacker's Two Nations.

Race

Mon, 11 May 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Thomas Jefferson Goes East

Mon, 30 Mar 1992 00:00:00 +0100

But We're Ignoring Gifted Kids

Sun, 02 Feb 1992 00:00:00 +0100

Stop Favoring Unwed Mothers

Thu, 16 Jan 1992 00:00:00 +0100

What's Really behind the SAT-Score Decline?

Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 +0100

The Shape of Things to Come

Mon, 08 Jul 1991 00:00:00 +0100

The Happiness of the People

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The political culture created by the Constitution has made Americans a people uniquely optimistic, lacking in class envy, and confident that that they are in charge of their own lives.

Real Education

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Charles Murray sweeps away the hypocrisy, wishful thinking, and upside-down priorities that grip America's educational establishment.

In Our Hands

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 23:00:00 +0100

This book reveals the ineffectiveness of government redistribution plans and offers a radical new approach to social policy.

Human Accomplishment

Sat, 01 Nov 2003 00:00:00 +0100

A unique account of human excellence, from the age of Homer to our own time.

The Underclass Revisited

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 +0100

This book examines statistics on illegitimacy, criminality, and the dropout rate from the labor force for four checkpoints from 1954 to 1997.

Income Inequality and IQ

Mon, 01 Jun 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Personal characteristics such as diligence, creativity, and enthusiasm can affect how much money people earn.

Does Prison Work?

Wed, 01 Oct 1997 00:00:00 +0100

This monograph challenges the prevailing view amongst the criminal justice establishment that locking up criminals solves nothing.

What It Means to Be a Libertarian

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 +0100

The author offers a radical blueprint for overhauling our dysfunctional government.

The Bell Curve

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 +0100

The seminal book about IQ and class that ignited one of the most explosive controversies in decades, now updated with a new Afterword by Charles Murray.

Losing Ground

Wed, 01 Feb 1995 00:00:00 +0100

The ambitious social programs of the Great Society to help the poor and disadvantaged not only did not accomplish what they set out to do but often made things worse.

In Pursuit

Sun, 01 Oct 1989 01:00:00 +0100

Using fascinating case studies and drawing upon advances in psychology and sociology,this book develops a strong argument for a return to Jeffersonian ideals of community, local government, and individualism.

Capitalism, Freedom, and Jewish Accomplishment: The Israel Test

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0100

Genes, Neuroscience, and Free Will

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:00:00 +0100

What Is Education For? Four Simple Truths for Bringing American Education Back to Reality

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:30:00 +0100

Abraham's Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0100

Women and Science

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:30:00 +0100

Is NCLB Leaving Children Behind?

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:30:00 +0100

Higher Education after the Spellings Commission: An Assessment

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:55:00 +0100

The Black-White IQ Gap: Is It Closing? Will It Ever Go Away?

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:00:00 +0100

Religion and the American Future

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:00:00 +0100

In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:00:00 +0100

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:00:00 +0100

The New Neuromorality

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 10:15:00 +0100

The Neocon Reader

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 17:30:00 +0100

The End of the "Assault" Weapons Ban

Mon, 13 Sep 2004 09:30:00 +0100

Should Conservatives Favor Same-Sex Marriage?

Thu, 15 Apr 2004 15:00:00 +0100

Human Accomplishment

Mon, 27 Oct 2003 17:30:00 +0100

Relaunching the Transatlantic Partnership

Thu, 02 Oct 2003 20:30:00 +0100

Family and Child Well-Being after Welfare Reform

Mon, 08 Sep 2003 13:30:00 +0100

Skepticism and Freedom

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 18:30:00 +0100

Diversity in America

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 11:00:00 +0100

Human Cloning and Human Dignity

Tue, 29 Oct 2002 16:00:00 +0100

Darwinian Politics

Mon, 21 Oct 2002 16:00:00 +0100

Life at the Bottom

Thu, 15 Nov 2001 16:00:00 +0100

Income Inequality and IQ

Fri, 01 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0100

The Happiness of the People

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It would be a mistake to continue down the path to European-style social democracy. The European model stifles human flourishing and erodes the institutions that make for a vibrant and sustainable civic life--as both experience and science show.

What Is Education For? Four Simple Truths for Bringing American Education Back to Reality

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

College is not for everyone, and guidance counselors and parents would do their charges a favor to tell them this.

Human Accomplishment

Mon, 09 Mar 1998 00:00:00 +0100

Charles Murray's Bradley Lecture on Human Accomplishment.

The Ideal of Equality, the Reality of Difference

Mon, 11 Apr 1994 00:00:00 +0100

It is time for America once again to try living with inequality, as life is lived.

The Underclass Revisited

Mon, 01 Jan 1990 00:00:00 +0100

Nothing has really changed yet with the American underclass; that is the thesis to which most of this article is devoted.

College Daze

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Instead of helping high school graduates grow up, colleges prolong childhood.

Education, Intelligence, and America's Future

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Hardly anyone will admit it, but education's role in causing or solving any problem cannot be evaluated without considering the underlying intellectual ability of the people being educated.

Where Preparation Meets Opportunity

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100

How have classical liberal ideas on policy affected society?

A Plan to Replace the Welfare State

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Instead of sending taxes to Washington and straining them through bureaucracies, just collect the taxes, divide them up, and send the money back in cash grants to all American adults.

Rediscovering the Underclass

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0100

The number of Americans unable to contribute productively either to society or to the well-being of themselves and their families continues to grow.

Sex Education at Harvard

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Examining cognitive differences between the sexes can help us understand the sources of human abilities and limitations.

Picture of Privilege?

Sat, 01 May 2004 00:00:00 +0100

The technology exists to create high-quality reproductions of artworks, but thus far it has not been widely utilized.

SAT Reform Fails the Needy

Mon, 01 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0100

The revamped SAT's focus on acquired skills gives an advantage to the usually affluent students who already attend the best schools.

The Fathers Are Still Missing

Sat, 01 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Single parenthood is declining but is being replaced by cohabitation, and the consequences are no better for children.

Prole Models

Thu, 01 Mar 2001 00:00:00 +0100

Many elites are trying to reinvoke old norms and reverse the process, but most are succumbing to "proletarianization."

Deeper into the Brain

Mon, 24 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Rapid advances in genetics and neuroscience will likely include a challenge to our notions of equality and a renewed temptation to engage in eugenics.

Virtue in a Free Society

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0100

Charles Murray argues that social conservatives and libertarians find themselves in increasing agreement about the importance of virtue to a free society.

Our Dreyfus Case

Mon, 22 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0100

Parallels between the Dreyfus Affair, the defining political event in France at the last turn of the century, and Clinton’s administration and impeachment will become clearer and stronger.

Three Broken Compacts

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0100

The violation of three tacit compacts between Washington and the American people may well be responsible for the drop in public trust in the federal government.