Some good points from a brilliant man.

Thomas Sowell is a brilliant economist, but he is able to explain his theories and philosophies so that even people as unschooled in economics as I can understand what he's talking about. He had a very informative column in today's paper, and I think he made some very good points.

1) There are many critics of our economy who say we should do things like Europe -- for example, nationalized health care. But they've not said anything about the fact that for the second quarter in a row, we've had no downturn in the economy.

2) Measured by purchasing power, output per capita in the U.S. is the highest of any large nation. New Jersey, alone, produces more than the entire nation of Egypt. California produces more than Canada or Mexico.

3) There are lots of statistics showing the U.S. to be monopolized by the rich, but those statistics chart income categories, not people. There are people moving in and out of those statistical categories all the time.

4) Most statistics are for households, not individuals, even though the average number in a household is declining. Therefore, income per household may show a decline when, in fact, income per individual is climbing.

5) Imitating Europeans when they are not doing as well as Americans makes no sense.

So when you read all those depressing statistics, take them with a grain of salt and remember what the old accountant said when the boss asked him what the company's net income for the quarter was: "What do you want it to be?"