Name: Anonymous 2006-11-23 23:13
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/reg18n3-x.html
The last paragraphs are particularly interesting. Quote:
" The most effective policy the government can pursue to promote economic equity and upward mobility is to provide incentives for growth in the private sector. Discrimination shrinks in a full-employment economy. Affirmative action programs were in place during both the Carter and Reagan terms, but it was the difference in economic policies and growth during those two administrations that had the greatest impact on the economic success of disadvantaged groups. The real median income of black families increased 17 percent during the Reagan administration, after falling 10 percent in the Carter years. By the end of Reagan's two terms, female entrepreneurs employed more people than all of the Fortune 500 companies combined. For the vast majority of those firms, federal set-asides and contract preferences had nothing to do with their business.
The unprecedented 91 months of growth in the 1980s produced 18 million new jobs, pulled 4 million people out of poverty, increased women's earnings 8 percent faster than men's, and doubled the number of black families earning over $50,000 in real terms. From 1981 to 1987, the number of black-owned businesses increased from 300,000 to 425,000. The Federal Reserve reports a 24 percent real increase in wealth among white families from 1983 to 1989. The increase in real wealth, adjusted for inflation, for African-American families and Hispanic families in the same period was 35 percent and 54 percent, respectively."
That's not the full article. For the full article, see link above.
The last paragraphs are particularly interesting. Quote:
" The most effective policy the government can pursue to promote economic equity and upward mobility is to provide incentives for growth in the private sector. Discrimination shrinks in a full-employment economy. Affirmative action programs were in place during both the Carter and Reagan terms, but it was the difference in economic policies and growth during those two administrations that had the greatest impact on the economic success of disadvantaged groups. The real median income of black families increased 17 percent during the Reagan administration, after falling 10 percent in the Carter years. By the end of Reagan's two terms, female entrepreneurs employed more people than all of the Fortune 500 companies combined. For the vast majority of those firms, federal set-asides and contract preferences had nothing to do with their business.
The unprecedented 91 months of growth in the 1980s produced 18 million new jobs, pulled 4 million people out of poverty, increased women's earnings 8 percent faster than men's, and doubled the number of black families earning over $50,000 in real terms. From 1981 to 1987, the number of black-owned businesses increased from 300,000 to 425,000. The Federal Reserve reports a 24 percent real increase in wealth among white families from 1983 to 1989. The increase in real wealth, adjusted for inflation, for African-American families and Hispanic families in the same period was 35 percent and 54 percent, respectively."
That's not the full article. For the full article, see link above.