The State Against Blacks

I have a copy of this stored somewhere and am looking for another ``loaner'' copy. This book had a huge impact on my thinking when I first read it in my mid-20s. Walter Williams has a gift for making economics clear and nonthreatening to the average reader. The video based on the book is also excellent if you can find it. Exposes the terrible toll America's myriad laws constraining working people, including the minimum wage, have taken on blacks among others. Raises important issues related to the unintented consequences of laws and regulations. Or, in many cases, intended but hidden consequences. Taxi medallions (licenses) benefit not riders or would-be drivers but the few who can get their hands on one, to cite one example. Find it, read it. You owe it to yourself to read this if you care at all about public policy, freedom, or society.

This book goes into meticulous detail how government programs, ostensibly meant to help the common American worker, actually exacts a tremendous toll on all of American society. However, as Williams so well documents, the costs of these programs fall disproportionately on blacks and other minorities. One example from the book is the taxi licensing in New York City. Licensing was implemented in the 1930's, and, due to the political pull of existing license holders, not one additional license (medallion) has been issued in more than 60 years. To handle the increased demand for taxi service (there are, after all, a few more people in NYC today than in the '30s) a black market fleet of thousands of illegal taxi drivers has "plagued" the city from almost the very beginning. These "Gypsy" taxis handle the perpetual overflow caused by too many passengers trying to catch too few taxis. They are often the only service to and from the poorer New York neighborhoods that the licensed taxis will not enter.No one knows exactly how many Gypsy taxis there are at any one time traveling the streets of New York. But the Gypsy taxi driver is almost invariably a poor black or Puerto Rican man who is just trying to eke out an honest living despite the best intentions of the city government.If you are of the opinion that government programs have aided minorities, and helped them on the way to realizing the American dream, you need to read this book.