What Has Economics to Say About Racial Discrimination? | Zendy

Kenneth J. Arrow | Zendy

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What Has Economics to Say About Racial Discrimination?

Author(s) -

Kenneth J. Arrow

Publication year - 1998

Publication title -

the journal of economic perspectives

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 9.614

H-Index - 196

eISSN - 1944-7965

pISSN - 0895-3309

DOI - 10.1257/jep.12.2.91

Subject(s) - phenomenon , scope (computer science) , economics , social phenomenon , economic analysis , racism , race (biology) , positive economics , labour economics , sociology , neoclassical economics , law and economics , political science , law , social science , gender studies , classical economics , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language

Racial discrimination pervades every aspect of a society in which it is found. It is found above all in attitudes of both races, but also in social relations, in intermarriage, in residential location, and, frequently, in legal barriers. It is also found in levels of economic accomplishment; that is, income, wages, prices paid, and credit extended. It is natural to suppose that economic analysis can cast light on the economic effects of racial discrimination. But the pervasiveness of the phenomenon must give us pause. Can a phenomenon manifest everywhere in the social world really be understood, even in only one aspect, by the tools of a single discipline? I want to explore here the scope and limits of ordinary economic analysis for understanding racial discrimination even in markets.

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