Summary:This paper talks about the 7 myths of
Affirmative Action: Affirmative action can involve goals and timetables while
avoiding quotas, color-blind policies offer an efficient substitute for
color-sighted affirmative action, affirmative action undercuts investment
incentives, equal opportunity is enough to ensure racial equality, the earlier
in education or career development affirmative action is implemented, the
better, many non-minority citizens are directly affected by affirmative action,
and affirmative action always helps its beneficiaries.
Review: I did not care for this paper very much. The authors did not contribute any new research, they simply aggregated the research done by other economists, to no great effect.
Take Away:Empirical evidence has shown quite
consistently that wealth builds on itself.If you start out well-to-do you have a much greater chance of success
later in life.Likewise, minorities that
have faced poverty and discrimination have to overcome greater hurdles to reach
the same levels of success.Affirmative
action can be an effective tool in tearing down hurdles but it is not perfect
and needs to be tempered with common sense.
