Setting the Record Straight on Racial Wealth Inequality

Fenaba R. Addo, William Darity and Samuel L. Myers

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2024, vol. 114, 169-73

Abstract: The racial wealth gap in the United States is the object of much misrepresentation and misunderstanding. Our paper is intended to provide a corrective. We will address how the mainstream economic view of the drivers of racial disparities in wealth is a human capital view that promotes anti-Black and personal responsibility narratives while ignoring the significance of the racially uneven transmission of resources across generations. It also fails to acknowledge the cumulative impact of US racial history on present wealth gaps.

JEL-codes: D31 G51 J15 J24 N31 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20241102

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