Re: reparations

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lou,

Please do not accuse others here of being racist.

I had been thinking about reparations in the context of understanding what our
economy does.  The economy grows.  NASDAQ soars.  But I have a sneaking
suspicion that the negative side of the balance sheet may exceed the positive
side.

>From time to time, Brad has emphasized the positive side.  Averages improve in
terms of life expectancy, income, ....

I had been trying to argue that a small group, perhaps, suffers terrible
setbacks in the process than and that we have no way of adequately measuring
the social welfare function.

In the case of reparations, we have a debt being presented.  If this debt
exceeds the net worth of the system, then it is indeed bankrupt.

So much of what we enjoy is built upon destruction of other people and the
environment, I wonder what the concept of accumulation really means.  Mind
you, I'm writing this on a Pentium notebook computer.  I live a comfortable
life on land that this U.S. stole from Mexico, which was earlier stolen from
indigenous people.  And
--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901