Leading Issues in Black Political Economy

Leading Issues in Black Political Economy brings together the foremost experts on issues ranging from employment, training, and education of African Americans. It also emphasizes macro-economic concerns of business development with special emphasis on long-term trends of black-owned businesses. The work emphasizes welfare considerations in an anti-welfare epoch, and the role of affirmative action now that it is under attack. Attention is given to the role of race in the continuing disparity of income distribution in American society. The highlights of Leading Issues include "An Employment and Business Strategy for the Next Century: A Comment," by Thomas D. Boston; "Long Term Trends and Prospects for Black-owned Business," by Andrew F. Brimmer; "Is the U.S. Small Business Administration a Racist Institution?" by Timothy Bates; "Worker Re-Training and Labor Market Outcomes: A New Focus for Labor Research," by James B. Stewart; "Race, Cognitive Skills, Psychological Capital, and Wages," by Arthur H. Goldsmith, William Darity, Jr., and Jonathan R. Veum; and "Reparations and Public Policy," by Richard F. America. The overall findings suggest that empirical wage equation specifications do matter. The role of psychological capital is critical in the marketplace. Race is indeed an important determinant of wages-especially when the influence of both cognitive skills and psychological capital are included in the wage equation. This volume will be of crucial interest to economists, political scientists, sociologists, and policy analysts studying African-American life. Thomas D. Boston is editor of the Review of Black Political Economy and professor of economics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the co-editor, with Catherine L. Ross, of The Inner City: Urban Poverty and Economic Development in the Next Century, also available from Transaction.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction and Overview; Employment, Training and Education; 2: The Declining Social and Economic Fortunes of African American Males: A Critical Assessment of Four Perspectives; 3: Economics Research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities; 4: Worker Re-Training and Labor Market Outcomes; 5: Employment and Training Solutions for the Economically Disadvantaged; Minority Business Development; 6: Long-Term Trends and Prospects for Black-Owned Businesses; 7: Minority Business Formation and Survival; 8: What Determines Exports of Black-Owned Enterprises?; 9: Is The U.S. Small Business Administration a Racist Institution?; Income Inequality; 10: Race, Cognitive Skills, Psychological Capital and Wages; 11: Determinants Of Regional Income Distribution In The U.S. South, 1980-1990: Roles Of Net Migration And Human Capital Accumulation; 12: Assessing The Effect Of The Occupational Crowding Of Immigrants On The Real Wages Of African American Workers; 13: On The Permanence Or Impermanence Of Black-White Economic Inequality; 14: The Shadow Of The Future And The Complexity Of Cooperation; Economic History and Public Policy; 15: W.E.B. Dubois As Economic Analyst: Reflections On The 100Th Anniversary Of The Philadelphia Negro; 16: No More Servants In The House; 17: The Economics Of Racism; 18: Reparations And Public Policy; Health, Welfare and Development; 19: 21ST Century Pollination: Federal Housing and Health Policies; 20: Black Infant Health: Where to in the 21ST Century?; 21: Economic Community of West African States: From an Economic Union to a Peacekeeping Mission?; 22: Development Prospects and Policy for Africa: Structural Adjustment and Beyond; Discrimination, Affirmative Action and Public Policy; 23: How Does it Feel to be Free?: Reflections on Black-White Economic Inequality in the Era of “Color-Blind” Law; 24: Is There Discrimination in Mortgage Lending? What Does the Research Tell Us?; 25: Another Look at Mortgage Lending Discrimination: A Review of Findings; 26: Black Male Employment and Tight Labor Markets; 27: Cooperative Economics—A Community Revitalization Strategy; 28: Minority Procurement: Beyond Affirmative Action to Economic Empowerment; Profile of the Contributors

Review :
-The essays contained in this volume were written for the 25th anniversary issue of the Review of Black Political Economy. . . . They are a diverse lot, more so than one will find in almost any other edited volume of social science scholarship. . . . There is much in this volume to celebrate. . . . [The] contributions are genuinely outstanding. . . . [A] provocative analysis of a contemporary issue, written in a relatively jargon-free manner, and the analysis is tied to pressing public policy concerns.- --Timothy Bates, Contemporary Sociology "The essays contained in this volume were written for the 25th anniversary issue of the Review of Black Political Economy. . . . They are a diverse lot, more so than one will find in almost any other edited volume of social science scholarship. . . . There is much in this volume to celebrate. . . . [The] contributions are genuinely outstanding. . . . [A] provocative analysis of a contemporary issue, written in a relatively jargon-free manner, and the analysis is tied to pressing public policy concerns." --Timothy Bates, Contemporary Sociology "The essays contained in this volume were written for the 25th anniversary issue of the Review of Black Political Economy. . . . They are a diverse lot, more so than one will find in almost any other edited volume of social science scholarship. . . . There is much in this volume to celebrate. . . . [The] contributions are genuinely outstanding. . . . [A] provocative analysis of a contemporary issue, written in a relatively jargon-free manner, and the analysis is tied to pressing public policy concerns." --Timothy Bates, Contemporary Sociology