Walter E. Williams applies an economic analysis to the problems black Americans have faced in the past and still face in the present to show that that free-market resource allocation, as opposed to political allocation, is in the best interests of minorities. He debunks many common labor market myths and reveals how excessive government regulation and the minimum-wage law have imposed incalculable harm on the most disadvantaged members of our society.

Examining the crucial topic of race relations, this book explores the economic and social environments that play a significant role in determining economic outcomes and why racial disparities persist. With contributions from a range of international contributors including Edward Wolff and Catherine Weinberger, the book compares how various racial g

Noneconomists often think that economists' approach to race is almost exclusively one of laissez-faire. Racism, Liberalism, and Economics argues that economists' ideas are more complicated. The book considers economists' support of markets in relation to the challenge of race and race relations and argues that their support of laissez-faire has traditionally been based upon a broader philosophical foundation of liberalism and history: what markets have and have not achieved in the past, and how that past relates to the future. The book discusses the concepts of liberalism and racism, the history and use of these terms, and how that history relates to policy issues. It argues that liberalism is consistent with a wide variety of policies and that the broader philosophical issues are central in choosing policies. The contributors show how the evolution of racist ideas has been a subtle process that is woven into larger movements in the development of scientific thought; economic thinking is embedded in a larger social milieu. Previous discussions of policies toward race have been constrained by that social milieu, and, since World War II, have largely focused on ending legislated and state-sanctioned discrimination. In the past decade, the broader policy debate has moved on to questions about the existence and relative importance of intangible sources of inequality, including market structure, information asymmetries, cumulative processes, and cultural and/or social capital. This book is a product of, and a contribution to, this modern discussion. It is uniquely transdisciplinary, with contributions by and discussions among economists, philosophers, anthropologists, and literature scholars. The volume first examines the early history of work on race by economists and social scientists more generally. It continues by surveying American economists on race and featuring contributions that embody more modern approaches to race within economics. Finally it explores several important policy issues that follow from the discussion. ". . . adds new insights that contribute significantly to the debate on racial economic inequality in the U.S. The differing opinions of the contributors provide the broad perspective needed to examine this extremely complex issue." --James Peoples, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee "There is an immense economic literature on racial discrimination, employing a variety of models and decomposition methods. This volume makes a unique contribution by focusing on the philosophical assumptions at the root of this analysis and by presenting many sides of the very vigorous debate surrounding these controversial issues." --Thomas Maloney, University of Utah "By focusing upon the progress of analytical technique, historians of economic thought have grossly neglected the symbiotic relation of economics to public policy and ideology. This collection of essays offers a most welcome breach of disciplinary apartheid. Seizing upon recent research in the almost forgotten writings about race of Classical economists and their contemporaries, it relates nineteenth-century ideas to current debates about economic discrimination and other manifestations of racism. As the writing is both learned and lively, the book should appeal both to the generally educated reader and to teachers of courses in multiculturalism." --Melvin Reder, Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown Professor Emeritus of Urban and Labor Economics, University of Chicago

This text offers an international and comparative analysis of social division rooted in race, ethnicity and national identity. It provides an overview of the key issues underlying ethnic conflict which has now risen to the top of the international political agenda.; This book is intended for academics, postgraduates and senior undergraduates within sociology, race and ethnicity, social anthropology, as well as those involved in other areas such as politics, geography, development studies and international relations with an interest in ethnicity.

Brendan O’Flaherty brings the tools of economic analysis—incentives, equilibrium, optimization—to bear on racial issues. From health care, housing, and education, to employment, wealth, and crime, he shows how racial differences powerfully determine American lives, and how progress in one area is often constrained by diminishing returns in another.

The relationship between crime and the economy has received too little attention from researchers. This volume remedies that deficit, resurrecting several classic writings on this elusive topic by and about blacks, and presenting new contributions by researchers at the frontier of work on the subject. Among the landmark articles included are W.E.B. Dubois' famous examination of crime in Philadelphia, an analysis of black criminal behavior by Walter Willcox, who was chief statistician of the Census Bureau at the time he wrote this essay, and excerpts from the ninth Atlanta Conference on Negro Crime. The frontier articles use quality microdata to understand particular aspects of criminal justice processes. They address the relationship between employment and criminal behavior, trade-offs among education, employment, and crime, and the link between overall economic conditions and rates of incarceration. Among the authors represented in the landmark research articles are Harold Votey and Llad Phillips, Richard Freeman, David Good and Maureen Pirog-Good, Dario Melossi, and Samuel Meyers and William Sabol. Richard MaGahey concludes the volume with comments on the current status of research in the field. This volume captures the emerging tension within scholarship on race and crime, and provides both a reflective vision of work in this area as well as state-of-the-art research by leading scholars.

Economics has tended to be a very male, middle class, white discipline. Introducing Race and Gender into Economics is a ground-breaking book which generates ideas for integrating race and gender issues into introductory eocnomics courses. Each section gives an overview of how to modify standard courses, including macroeconomics, methodology, microeconomics as well as race and gender-sensitive issues. This up-to-date work will be of increasing importance to all teachers of introductory economics.

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Over the last several decades, academic discourse on racial inequality has focused primarily on political and social issues with significantly less attention on the complex interplay between race and economics. African Americans in the U.S. Economy represents a contribution to recent scholarship that seeks to lessen this imbalance. This book builds upon, and significantly extends, the principles, terminology, and methods of standard economics and black political economy. Influenced by path-breaking studies presented in several scholarly economic journals, this volume is designed to provide a political-economic analysis of the past and present economic status of African Americans. The chapters in this volume represent the work of some of the nation's most distinguished scholars on the various topics presented. The individual chapters cover several well-defined areas, including black employment and unemployment, labor market discrimination, black entrepreneurship, racial economic inequality, urban revitalization, and black economic development. The book is written in a style free of the technical jargon that characterizes most economics textbooks. While the book is methodologically sophisticated, it is accessible to a wide range of students and the general public and will appeal to academicians and practitioners alike.

Explores the concept of "race" The term "race," which originally denoted genealogical or class identity, has in the comparatively brief span of 300 years taken on an entirely new meaning. In the wake of the Enlightenment it came to be applied to social groups. This ideological transformation coupled with a dogmatic insistence that the groups so designated were natural, and not socially created, gave birth to the modern notion of "races" as genetically distinct entities. The results of this view were the encoding of "race" and "racial" hierarchies in law, literature, and culture. How "racial" categories facilitate social control The articles in the series demonstrate that the classification of humans according to selected physical characteristics was an arbitrary decision that was not based on valid scientific method. They also examine the impact of colonialism on the propagation of the concept and note that "racial" categorization is a powerful social force that is often used topromote the interests of dominant social groups. Finally, the collection surveys how laws based on "race" have been enacted around the world to deny power to minority groups. A multidisciplinary resource This collection of outstanding articles brings multiple perspectives to bear on race theory and draws on a wider ranger of periodicals than even the largest library usually holds. Even if all the articles were available on campus, chances are that a student would have to track them down in several libraries and microfilm collections. Providing, of course, that no journals were reserved for graduate students, out for binding, or simply missing. This convenient set saves students substantial time and effort by making available all the key articles in one reliable source. Authoritative commentary The series editor has put together a balanced selection of the most significant works, accompanied by expert commentary. A general introduction gives important background informationand outlines fundamental issues, current scholarship, and scholarly controversies. Introductions to individual volumes put the articles in context and draw attention to germinal ideas and major shifts in the field. After reading the material, even a beginning student will have an excellent grasp of the basics of the subject. Also available individually by volume, 1. The Concept of "Race" in Natural and Social Science (0-8153-2600-9) 288 pages. 2. Cultural and Literary Critiques of the Concepts of "Race" (0-8153-2601-7) 3. Racial Classification and History (0-8153-2602-5) 4. The Judicial Isolation of the "Racially" Oppressed (0-8153-2599-1)