Back in the early 1980s at Auburn University, Roger Garrison (now retired from teaching there) had to give an undergraduate student an “A” grade for an answer to a test question about minimum-wage legislation. The student endorsed the legislation precisely because the legislation prices many blacks out of the labour market – and that southern-boy student believed that consequence to be just dandy. The kid, like Unz, has values that I (and Roger Garrison) abhor. But that kid, like Unz, got the economics right.
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Samizdata quote of the dayNovember 4th, 2013 |
 5 comments to Samizdata quote of the day |
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Didn’t von Mises say that Economics should be Wertfrei? (value-free).
And if a Marxist delighted in predicting mass starvation post-collectivisation, would not the Marxist understand the consequences on the basis of appreciating the ramifications of collectivisation and economic law whist rejecting civilisation?
For the student in question, the harmony of rightly-understood interests and the benefits of the division of labour were, it seems, not worth as much as Schadenfreude. His conclusions were rational, if repulsive.
Not just that, but in the long term, pricing blacks out of the labour market and de facto chasing them away may yet lead to an increase in social benefit. Just ask Mike Bloomberg and his stop-and-frisk policy in New York.
Again, totally rational. Whether it’s repulsive or not, well…
I note that Boudreaux’s post was in response to Caplan’s desperate post-debate justifications after his thrashing by Ron Unz during a recent debate. The open borders faction lost horribly.
http://isteve.blogspot.sg/2013/11/open-borders-debate-let-recriminations.html
The post is correct – and timely (there is a minimum wage vote today – in New Jersey).
Please note that while the evaluation of consequence of minimum wage is rational, the racist premise that sets it up is distinctly irrational. So it’s not “totally rational”. If it was it would be a way to turn people off rationality. “I don’t want blacks chased from the labour market, therefore rationality is not for me. I’ll vote Democrat!”
M4-10 I do not think anyone in this parish really needed that bit decoded 😉