Things that happened in 1981

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

According to sources, the lovely Beyoncé Knowles-Carter was born in 1981.  She recently authored an interesting policy study titled Gender Equality Is a Myth! The opening paragraph certainly follows the "bottom line up front" style of reporting:

We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect.

Interestingly enough, and also in 1981, Dr. Thomas Sowell blew this combination of statistical misrepresentation and utter rubbish right out of the water on public television:

He had been writing pretty much the same thing for over a decade before this broadcast.

Who to believe?  The talented singer or the brilliant Economist?

Ⓐ Steve Ⓐ