If I ever get around to writing my epoch-making essay on Strange Nobel Laureates in Economics, University of Chicago professor Gary S. Becker will certainly take pride of place. His Theory of the Family is great fun to read.
In the European Edition of Business Week, August 4-11, Becker wrote a column entitled How to level the playing field for young black men (unfortunately subscribers only). While most of the article very sensibly emphasizes the need to improve schools and education his main conclusion is breathtaking: Since drug trafficking offers much better pay than legal alternatives, drug use and dealing should be decriminalized. Market forces would then rapidly drive down the price of drugs and make trafficking much less attractive. Becker doesn't say so but presumably drug dealers would then turn to those legal alternatives.
I do not know, really, why this upsets me. It is, of course, only another logical consequence of the leave-everything-to-the-market ideology, now universally embraced by political parties and movements of all colors, and with great consequence championed by Becker and his ilk. That's also why I was so surprised to see DARPA get such an unfair treatment recently. As the Pentagon agency truthfully, but somewhat naively stated, according to Washington Post (www page no longer available):
From the trading patterns, the Pentagon agency, known as DARPA, hoped to gain clues about possible terrorist attacks. In statements Monday and Tuesday, it said markets are often better than experts in making predictions
(emphasis added).
If we are happy to leave our children, sick and elderly to the 'market forces' why not also national security and drug abuse?
Note: Prof.em. Barbara R. Bergmann was kind enough to send me a paper on Becker's Theory of the Family, Preposterous Conclusions originally published by Rice University but apparently not available on www. I will come back to that paper. Bergman apostrophizes Becker:
Women will offer themselves as wives, provided they have an "income" within the marriage (an income broadly conceived as including nonpecuniary benefits, but not specified further) of at least Z, which is the income they would enjoy as single females. The supply curve becomes completely inelastic where the quantity supplied equals the number of marriageable females, Nf.
Bergmann, a leading feminist economist, would possibly enjoy Becker's statement in Business Week that, unless drugs are decriminalized:
too many black sons will have no dad at home
2003 08 21
Dead or alive or both?
Todays breaking news: Ali Hassan al-Majid, "Chemical Ali", captured in Iraq and in US custody. Good news. But wait:
We believe the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end," US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Washington, telling Iraqis: "He will never again terrorise you or your families."
This was on April 7, this year. Checking back, I see the press reporting at the time that the subject was "dead", "believed dead" and also "apparently dead." Also "his body" was found on several occasions, presumably dead at the time.
The difficult situation, so painful and distressing for many citizens, as recently reported in US and international media:
electricity is still a major hedache .
Though power stations in the north and south of the country are generating more electricity than their regions need, damage to the national power grid means it cannot be distributed to (other regions) There, only 50 percent of needs are being met, and some districts enjoy electricity for only two hours a day
(Christian Science Monitor)
We need water and electricity. At night, we have two hours of electricity on and four hours off.
(USA today)
Electricity remains the most troublesome, as temperatures climb
(Christian Science Monitor)
Without electricity, ... water purification plants had no means to operate
(International newspaper)
New York City Mayor, Mr. Bloomberg, has promised that everything will be back to normal by Sunday or Monday at the latest. But that is in NYC not in Baghdad as referred to in the quotes above where no normalization is yet in sight.
This is strictly for my European friends: anyone who has been queuing up at a US supermarket check-out (so much more efficient, friendly and interesting than the European ones, by the way) will know what I am talking about.
(I have just ordered Tom Tomorrow's new book so I hope he will forgive me for lifting this frame from his latest cartoon. If not, I am looking forward towards a "cease and desist" order, having in vain tried to be taken to court for repeatedly breaking the Swedish Act on Registering Personal Information by quoting foolish views of domestic politicians without being a licensed journalist).
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters yesterday, "It may be what you want to do is to stand back a little bit more and let Iraqis, local officials ... protect installations." He said that Iraqi police forces are being built up to secure facilities "and not tie up coalition forces doing that."
Has anyone been around long enough to remember the word "vietnamization"?
