Walter Williams

Walter Williams discussed his libertarian views. He described growing up in a housing project and the segregation he confronted in the Army in 1959. The John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, he shared the origins of his teaching endowment from the Olin Foundation and talked about his rigorous expectations for students. He argued that it is “academically dishonest” for professors such as himself to share personal political views in the classroom. He shared his views that Social Security has no “constitutional authority” and is also a bad deal for Americans because the rate of return is very low and it redistributes money form those who have less to those who have more. He also aruged that Americans should be allowed to sell their own organs as an issue of private property rights. He told how he came to be a substitute host for the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh radio show. Mr. Williams has written 10 books and has a syndicated weekly column. close