Free To Choose Network | Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools
Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools
Walter Williams (1936-2020)
Walter Williams

All of us at Free To Choose Network are saddened to learn of the passing of our friend, Dr. Walter E. Williams.

Walter once told me he tried to avoid using anything written within the last 40 years in his economics class. He wanted students to know that Coase, Hayek, and Friedman were right then, and they’re still right today.

Walter’s straight-faced irreverence masked his genuine compassion for the human condition; he’d often break the ice at our regular dinners in Wayne, PA by asking, “How many times have you been arrested?” to our stunned table guests, then proceed to tell stories that seemed nearly as tall as the man himself (about 6 feet, 6 inches), but were absolutely true.

We make our living taking concepts of personal, political, and economic freedom and turning those theories into stories that anyone might relate. Walter could spin a tale as well as anyone and be both prolific and persuasive.

Later in life, he reveled in a new form of storytelling. The thing that gave Walter the greatest pleasure was reading stories to his grandchild. To honor him, take time to share a story with a child. Then, pour a glass of your finest red and maybe read one of Walter’s old columns or watch an old video where Walter makes a case for free markets and a free society. You’ll likely find he was right then, and he is still right today.

Robert Chatfield
President and CEO
VIDEOS WITH WALTER WILLIAMS
2:30
Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World (trailer)
Walter Williams, a close friend of Thomas Sowell, shares some of his recollections in this new public television documentary scheduled to release January 2021.
36:04
Erosion of the Constitution
Dr. Walter Williams, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, and 1986 Nobel Economist Dr. James Buchanan assert that the present U.S. form of government bears little resemblance to the democracy established by its Constitution.
54:50
Suffer No Fools
This one-hour public television documentary traces Walter Williams' rise from a child of the Philadelphia housing projects to become one of America's most important and provocative authors and commentators.
27:45
Good Intentions
Walter Williams critiques the war on poverty, schooling, and more in this 1985 public television documentary based on Walter William's book The State Against Blacks.
56:37
Testing Milton Friedman
Walter Williams is a panelist for a lively public television discussion and debate over Milton Friedman's provocative ideas in the first episode, “Equality of Opportunity.”
57:42
FTC 80 Episode 8 – Who Protects the Worker?
“Labor unions protect their members often at the expense of disadvantaged people,” according to Walter Williams, during a discussion with Milton Friedman and others about the workings of the labor market and the role of labor unions in the original 1980 Free To Choose, Episode 8.
58:56
Star Spangled Spenders
Walter Williams appears in this public television program. It is a probing look at mismanagement and deficit spending by the federal government, based on the book Fat City: How Washington Wastes Your Taxes by Donald Lambro.
26:57
Tyranny of the Status Quo
“In one sense, we’ve won the war on poverty, but we’ve lost abysmally the war on independence,” said Walter Williams in the final part of Tyranny of the Status Quo, with Milton Friedman. They and a panel of students examine the government's potential to act as an agent for change.
1:04
Walter Williams Dunks a Basketball and Talks School
Walter Williams returns to his high school in Philadelphia to dunk a basketball, recall his time at school, and begin to speak on the greater issues facing underprivileged schools and communities.
24:43
Morality of the Free Market
This discussion features Dr. Karen Vaughn, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Dr. Walter Williams, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
60:00
PRC Forum: Walter Williams
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Walter E. Williams holds a B.A. degree in economics from California State University - Los Angeles, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA.
35:13
High Cost of Pseudo-Environmentalism
Dr. Walter Williams, John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Dr. Fred Singer, President of The Science & Environmental Policy Project, suggest that communism and socialism are being replaced by environmentalism as the latest threat to freedom and prosperity.
 
44:56
The Role of Government in a Free Society
Dr. Walter Williams, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Dr. William Stull, Chairman of the Economics Department at Temple University, and Dr. William Dunkelberg, Dean of the School of Business & Management at Temple University discuss the role of government in a free society.