AAE300

043242

In the United States, the average Black and Hispanic/Latino household earns about half as much as the average White household and owns only about 15-20% as much wealth. Homeownership rates for many racial minorities are also significantly lower than for Whites. Such large disparities have persisted stubbornly for the past half century, despite countless public and private-sector programs intended to narrow the gaps. This course uses economics to assess the underlying causes, as well as persistent obstacles to closing the gaps. We will discuss reasons to be concerned about persistent disparities and some historical events and institutional processes that have contributed. For programs intended to narrow racial wealth and income gaps, we'll try to determine what \"success\" looks like, and evaluate proposals based on how much is sacrificed to close the gap. Throughout the course, we'll utilize data from many sources, as well as published empirical research to identify solutions that have the greatest promise of closing the gaps.

GRD - Regular Grades A, B, C, D, E

Undergraduate

019409