June 16, 1998
 Journal_of_Economic_Perspectives<JEP@hhh.umn.edu>

To the Editor, 


 I found the tenor of the Spring 1998 Symposium on
Discrimination in Product, Credit, and  Labor Markets
rather pre-Stiglerian.  Professor Ladd, for example,
noted that the law  would penalize a lender for not making
less profit from black borrowers than white unless the
lender   made loans on equal terms to both types of
borrowers.   Her  interpretation:      

         ``While some economists may view the laws as unfair to
lenders, these laws reflect the societal judgement  that
the benefits  from increased social justice for
minorities are worth more than the costs of potentially
inefficient behavior by the lenders.'' 
  We could use this approach for   other  forms of government
redistribution   in the U.S. economy.  We have very tight
restrictions on imports of sugar. Why? Well---           ``While
some economists may view the laws as unfair to  consumers,
these laws reflect the societal judgement  that the
benefits  from increased social justice for sugar
producers are worth more than the costs of potentially
inefficient behavior by consumers.''

 Tax bills often have provisions inserted by congressmen
to help specific companies reduce their taxes. Why? 
Well-- 

       ``While some economists may view the laws as unfair to
other taxpayers, these laws reflect the societal
judgement  that the benefits  from increased social
justice for   certain corporations are worth more than the
costs of potentially inefficient behavior by the
taxpayers.''

  In explaining inequalities in tariffs or tax rates,
economists no longer talk just about social welfare and
avoid mention of politics.  Yet  none of the six authors in
the Symposium  discuss the political economy of    
discrimination  law, even though the government has been 
and  continues to be  a major  influence on    racial
discrimination.       I hope that  they and other scholars in
the field will  give it more thought in their future work.    

 Yours truly,

                    Eric Rasmusen
   Department of Business Economics and
Public Policy, Kelley  School of Business, Indiana
University,  1309 East 10th Street, Bloomington,
Indiana 47405-1701.   Erasmuse@Indiana.edu.   Phone:
(812)855-9219.  Direct: 812-855-3356.  Fax:
(812)855-3354.