February 10, 2004

It occurs to me that P6 is one of the best reasons you can give for using RSS aggregators. You do NOT want to download the whole page every time.

Anyway, Norbizness (whose twisted sense of humor should not make you underestimate him) explains why you should buy an remanufactured engine. Now. I already have my coveralls.

Calpundit is the one to watch, for a while anyway…at least until he gets this Bush AWOL burr from under his saddle. That'll be around November, hopefully.

Unlearned Hand has a post up about a lecture on Jim Crow and the Power of Law

Of particular note to the blogosphere, Klarman cited Volokh Conspirator David Bernstein as a leading libertarian advocate for the (paraphrased) position that law played a pivotal role, and that these positive discrimination laws AND the underlying legal complicity in the physical violence (i.e. refusal to prosecute whites for racial violence) can be blamed for the uniform discrimination and disparities. From what I gathered, the argument would be that without these laws (and with proper protection of blacks' rights of life, liberty, property, and contract) the marketplace would have worked out most of the problems itself. It would gradually become less and less economically feasible to exclude blacks (think of railroads that wouldn't have to have separate cars, or colleges that wouldn't have to have separate dorms) and the market would ensure much greater equality.

by an associate of David Bernstein's.

I should note however, that the dispute between Klarman and myself is relatively narrow: we both agree that government economic regulation was only one of a web of factors that created and sustained Jim Crow, and we both acknowledge that social prejudice and informal (extralegal violence) were important factors as well. My argument is that the role of economic regulation has been overlooked by mainstream historians, not that it was the sole cause of Jim Crow, and that social pressure by itself, unaccompanied by both regulation and government complicity in violence, would not have led to a draconian racial caste system. I do my best to disclaim any notion that my research directly impacts the debate over modern civil rights laws; some could argue that my research supports the view there is less need for them then is generally assumed,* but others coud argue that it shows the government has a special responsibility to make up for its past misdeeds.

And no I'm not trying to get the Volokhs' attention, they just happen to be referenced in places that caught my attention today.

Posted by P6 at February 10, 2004 06:09 PM
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