This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Unexpected Economics taught by Professor Timothy Taylor. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to Wondrium.
Can economic data be used to track discrimination practices in the United States? As Professor Timothy Taylor demonstrates in this lecture for The Great Courses, the numbers sometimes do tell the tale. Using various data collected across standard U.S. government statistical sources, Taylor focuses on the plight of African Americans, demonstrating how small, racially biased decisions in the job market, hiring practices, and housing demographics reveals itself through statistical discrimination across the country. Even with measures taken on a policy level to even the playing field for minorities, Professor Taylor effectively notes how small discriminatory choices made on an institutional level can add up to a widespread phenomenon of racial bias.