Race & Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?

Walter E. Williams

Sep 2013 · Hoover Press

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

I purchased this book for two reasons. First I found that Mr. Williams is a friend of Thomas Sowell. I have read a few of Mr. Sowell's books and find them very valuable. Second Mr. Williams has been been criticized to the extent of being called a racist. Mr. Williams is an accomplished black professor. Calling him a racist only shows me how important his work mush be in breaking down the Sacred Cows of “discrimination” we have in our culture today. This book was everything I wished for and more. Clearly written with compelling arguments and outstanding examples. The book starts pre-Civil War with a history of freeman, slave and a group called “Quasi-Free Negroes”. It is clear that our standard history books do not want to tell us the truth about the black men back in those days. The black leaders of the day were telling there people to work harder and freedom would come. This book does not cover the moral dilemma of the Civil War, but did give me even more perspective that the “war to end slavery” was not needed. Slavery, like everywhere else in civilized societies, was on its way out peacefully. The next eye opening facts were that blacks in America were on the rise in economic and social standing up until the Civil Rights movement. From the 60s there has been a marked reversal in forward upward mobility. I did not need Mr. Williams to convene me you cannot change men's hearts with law, but it was great to see the facts that prove this common sense. The most disturbing evidence presented in the book is the most rank examples of racist discrimination that is in the work unions. I have never liked unions, but to see how they have treated blacks and other minorities in the US is sick. People who think unions have every done good are ignorant of history. Unions are evil. A theme through the book is how economic freedom will bring about reduction in racism and how government trying to control racism only exacerbate the problems. The book does an incredible job explaining how harmful the minimum wage. Further price controls for such things as housing only hurt minorities. It is more clear to me now, more than before, that government has only caused racism to extend longer in America.

About the author

Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is the author of several books and more than sixty articles that have appeared in such scholarly journals such as Economic Inquiry, American Economic Review, and Social Science Quarterly and popular publications such as Reader's Digest, Regulation, Policy Review, and Newsweek.