My work is all related, in one way or another, to critical social theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt School. The hallmark of this tradition is that of close engagement with the social sciences, but in a way that involves a rejection of value-neutrality, in favour of a style of inquiry governed by what Jürgen Habermas once called the “emancipatory interest” of human reason.
One of the most important themes in recent thinking about racial justice has been a shift in emph... more One of the most important themes in recent thinking about racial justice has been a shift in emphasis away from the traditional issue of racial discrimination, toward an exploration of the various forms of privilege that dominant groups enjoy. Many of the privileges that whites have been encouraged to explore, however, do not stem directly from their racial identity, but rather from the fact that they belong the majority demographic group. Describing these benefits as a “privilege” is often intended to suggest that there is something objectionable or unjust about them. On closer examination, that claim turns out to be extremely controversial. This paper examines some of the major arguments that have been made by egalitarian philosophers on this question, before concluding with a few take-away lessons for issues of pedagogy and racial justice.
A conspiracy theory, in the pejorative sense of the term, is an irrationally held belief that pur... more A conspiracy theory, in the pejorative sense of the term, is an irrationally held belief that purports to explain a series of worldly events by positing a hidden mechanism that promotes some nefarious purpose. In recent years, many critical theorists have been troubled by the suggestion that the “hermeneutics of suspicion” that they bring to bear upon various social phenomena encourages the formation of explanatory theories that have the same structure, and thus may exhibit the same flaws in reasoning. If one sets aside the requirement that the hidden mechanism posited must involve intentional pursuit of the nefarious purpose (i.e. a literal conspiracy), the question then becomes how the two can be distinguished. This paper argues that critical theorists should respond to this challenge, not by denying the concern, but rather by articulating a set of methodological best practices that “applied” critical theory should respect. This will involve the avoidance, or at least cautious employment, of a set of specific doctrines, often endorsed by critical theorists, that carry with them special epistemic risks. These include an insistence on “radical” diagnoses of social problems, widespread attributions of false consciousness, relativistic forms of standpoint epistemology, and finally, conflation of the causal and moral orders in explanation.
Robert Brandom a tenté de déplacer le concept de représentation de sa position de concept explica... more Robert Brandom a tenté de déplacer le concept de représentation de sa position de concept explicatif central en philosophie du langage et de le remplacer par un ensemble de concepts explicatifs dérivés de l'analyse de…
ABSTRACT: The use of agency theory remains highly controversial among business ethicists. While s... more ABSTRACT: The use of agency theory remains highly controversial among business ethicists. While some regard it as an essential tool for analyzing and understanding the recent spate of corporate ethics scandals, others argue that these scandals might not even have ...
They say that one should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stup... more They say that one should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. And while this is no doubt a sound heuristic, when it comes to navigating the shoals of human affairs, many commentators on the 2008 financial crisis seem to have been making overly generous use of it. My goal in this paper is to contribute to the construction of a somewhat charitable account of the financial crisis, one that acknowledges that genuine errors were made in the run-up to the crisis, but that stops short of attributing obvious or self-evident mistakes – much less outright stupidity – to the major players. In particular, I would like to focus on a widespread error in the understanding of markets – that arises even in some textbook treatments – which I have referred to elsewhere as “catallactic bias.” I will argue that this error played a role in informing some of the poor decisions taken by both bankers and regulators. The bias in question involves a tendency to account for the benefits of all economic transactions on the model of the gain from trade achieved in a classic exchange relation. This gives rise to a fundamental misunderstanding of how insurance systems work, which in turn can lead to a failure to appreciate the full threat that correlation risk poses to the value of certain financial instruments. Such an analysis is able to explain why many people – first and foremost, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan – could have believed, in good faith, that the proliferation of derivative contracts that occurred in the run-up to the crisis was increasing the stability of the financial system, when in fact it was making it more fragile.
Medical ethics has become an important and recognized component of physician training. There is o... more Medical ethics has become an important and recognized component of physician training. There is one area, however, in which medical students receive very little guidance. At most universities, the medical school curriculum contains no discussion of the financial side of medical practice at all. Specifically, students are given no guidance when it comes to thinking about how their professional obligations as doctors should govern their behaviour when charging for their services. My objective in this paper is to initiate a discussion about the moral dimension of physician billing practices. What I would like to suggest is that physicians should expand their conception of professional responsibility, in order to recognize that their moral obligations toward patients include a commitment to honest and forthright billing practices. I will argue that, as individuals, physicians should aspire to a standard of clinical accuracy – not legal adequacy – in describing their activities. More generally, physicians should think of themselves as exercising stewardship over health care resources. As a group, they should strive to promote an integrity-based culture, first and foremost by stigmatizing rather than celebrating creative billing practices, as well as condemning the misguided sense of solidarity that currently makes it taboo for physicians to criticize each other on this score. Beyond this, I will end with a set of modest proposals for institutional reform, all aimed at reinforcing an integrity-based approach to billing.
Alcohol intoxication is a major source of antisocial behaviour in our society, strongly implicat... more Alcohol intoxication is a major source of antisocial behaviour in our society, strongly implicated in various forms of interpersonal aggression. Yet moral philosophers have paid surprisingly little attention to the literature on alcohol and its effects. In part this is because philosophers who have adopted a more empirically-informed approach to moral psychology have gravitated toward moral sentimentalism, while the literature on alcohol intoxication fits very poorly with the sentimentalist account. Most contemporary research on the psychological effects of alcohol is focused upon variants of the “disinhibition” theory, which suggests that alcohol does not provoke any specific affect, it merely weakens executive control. This research, we argue, lends support to a deontic moral psychology, which identifies our ability to suppress behavioural impulses as a central feature of moral agency.
The past few decades have seen an expansion in the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool for pol... more The past few decades have seen an expansion in the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool for policy evaluation in the public sector. This slow, steady creep has been a source of consternation to many philosophers and political theorists, who are inclined to view cost-benefit analysis as simply a variant of utilitarianism, and consider utilitarianism to be completely unacceptable as a public philosophy. I attempt to show that this impression is misleading. Despite the fact that when construed narrowly, cost-benefit analysis does look a lot like utilitarianism, when seen in its broader context, in the way that it is applied, and the type of problems to which it is applied, it is better understood as an attempt by the state to avoid taking sides with respect to various controversial conceptions of the good.
One of the most important themes in recent thinking about racial justice has been a shift in emph... more One of the most important themes in recent thinking about racial justice has been a shift in emphasis away from the traditional issue of racial discrimination, toward an exploration of the various forms of privilege that dominant groups enjoy. Many of the privileges that whites have been encouraged to explore, however, do not stem directly from their racial identity, but rather from the fact that they belong the majority demographic group. Describing these benefits as a “privilege” is often intended to suggest that there is something objectionable or unjust about them. On closer examination, that claim turns out to be extremely controversial. This paper examines some of the major arguments that have been made by egalitarian philosophers on this question, before concluding with a few take-away lessons for issues of pedagogy and racial justice.
A conspiracy theory, in the pejorative sense of the term, is an irrationally held belief that pur... more A conspiracy theory, in the pejorative sense of the term, is an irrationally held belief that purports to explain a series of worldly events by positing a hidden mechanism that promotes some nefarious purpose. In recent years, many critical theorists have been troubled by the suggestion that the “hermeneutics of suspicion” that they bring to bear upon various social phenomena encourages the formation of explanatory theories that have the same structure, and thus may exhibit the same flaws in reasoning. If one sets aside the requirement that the hidden mechanism posited must involve intentional pursuit of the nefarious purpose (i.e. a literal conspiracy), the question then becomes how the two can be distinguished. This paper argues that critical theorists should respond to this challenge, not by denying the concern, but rather by articulating a set of methodological best practices that “applied” critical theory should respect. This will involve the avoidance, or at least cautious employment, of a set of specific doctrines, often endorsed by critical theorists, that carry with them special epistemic risks. These include an insistence on “radical” diagnoses of social problems, widespread attributions of false consciousness, relativistic forms of standpoint epistemology, and finally, conflation of the causal and moral orders in explanation.
Robert Brandom a tenté de déplacer le concept de représentation de sa position de concept explica... more Robert Brandom a tenté de déplacer le concept de représentation de sa position de concept explicatif central en philosophie du langage et de le remplacer par un ensemble de concepts explicatifs dérivés de l'analyse de…
ABSTRACT: The use of agency theory remains highly controversial among business ethicists. While s... more ABSTRACT: The use of agency theory remains highly controversial among business ethicists. While some regard it as an essential tool for analyzing and understanding the recent spate of corporate ethics scandals, others argue that these scandals might not even have ...
They say that one should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stup... more They say that one should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. And while this is no doubt a sound heuristic, when it comes to navigating the shoals of human affairs, many commentators on the 2008 financial crisis seem to have been making overly generous use of it. My goal in this paper is to contribute to the construction of a somewhat charitable account of the financial crisis, one that acknowledges that genuine errors were made in the run-up to the crisis, but that stops short of attributing obvious or self-evident mistakes – much less outright stupidity – to the major players. In particular, I would like to focus on a widespread error in the understanding of markets – that arises even in some textbook treatments – which I have referred to elsewhere as “catallactic bias.” I will argue that this error played a role in informing some of the poor decisions taken by both bankers and regulators. The bias in question involves a tendency to account for the benefits of all economic transactions on the model of the gain from trade achieved in a classic exchange relation. This gives rise to a fundamental misunderstanding of how insurance systems work, which in turn can lead to a failure to appreciate the full threat that correlation risk poses to the value of certain financial instruments. Such an analysis is able to explain why many people – first and foremost, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan – could have believed, in good faith, that the proliferation of derivative contracts that occurred in the run-up to the crisis was increasing the stability of the financial system, when in fact it was making it more fragile.
Medical ethics has become an important and recognized component of physician training. There is o... more Medical ethics has become an important and recognized component of physician training. There is one area, however, in which medical students receive very little guidance. At most universities, the medical school curriculum contains no discussion of the financial side of medical practice at all. Specifically, students are given no guidance when it comes to thinking about how their professional obligations as doctors should govern their behaviour when charging for their services. My objective in this paper is to initiate a discussion about the moral dimension of physician billing practices. What I would like to suggest is that physicians should expand their conception of professional responsibility, in order to recognize that their moral obligations toward patients include a commitment to honest and forthright billing practices. I will argue that, as individuals, physicians should aspire to a standard of clinical accuracy – not legal adequacy – in describing their activities. More generally, physicians should think of themselves as exercising stewardship over health care resources. As a group, they should strive to promote an integrity-based culture, first and foremost by stigmatizing rather than celebrating creative billing practices, as well as condemning the misguided sense of solidarity that currently makes it taboo for physicians to criticize each other on this score. Beyond this, I will end with a set of modest proposals for institutional reform, all aimed at reinforcing an integrity-based approach to billing.
Alcohol intoxication is a major source of antisocial behaviour in our society, strongly implicat... more Alcohol intoxication is a major source of antisocial behaviour in our society, strongly implicated in various forms of interpersonal aggression. Yet moral philosophers have paid surprisingly little attention to the literature on alcohol and its effects. In part this is because philosophers who have adopted a more empirically-informed approach to moral psychology have gravitated toward moral sentimentalism, while the literature on alcohol intoxication fits very poorly with the sentimentalist account. Most contemporary research on the psychological effects of alcohol is focused upon variants of the “disinhibition” theory, which suggests that alcohol does not provoke any specific affect, it merely weakens executive control. This research, we argue, lends support to a deontic moral psychology, which identifies our ability to suppress behavioural impulses as a central feature of moral agency.
The past few decades have seen an expansion in the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool for pol... more The past few decades have seen an expansion in the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool for policy evaluation in the public sector. This slow, steady creep has been a source of consternation to many philosophers and political theorists, who are inclined to view cost-benefit analysis as simply a variant of utilitarianism, and consider utilitarianism to be completely unacceptable as a public philosophy. I attempt to show that this impression is misleading. Despite the fact that when construed narrowly, cost-benefit analysis does look a lot like utilitarianism, when seen in its broader context, in the way that it is applied, and the type of problems to which it is applied, it is better understood as an attempt by the state to avoid taking sides with respect to various controversial conceptions of the good.
The harm-reduction approach to policy is most familiar from debates over public health and drug a... more The harm-reduction approach to policy is most familiar from debates over public health and drug abuse, but as Daniel Weinstock and Shannon Dea have recently argued, it provides a perfectly general framework for thinking about normative aspects of policy in non-ideal contexts. This paper seeks to apply a generalized harm reduction approach to the problem of attitudinal racism. The emerging consensus among social psychologists is that racism is potentiated by a set of ubiquitous, enduring psychological dispositions. This suggests that, while its incidence and impact can be significantly reduced, it is unlikely to be completely eradicated, as a result of which a zero-tolerance approach risks becoming both counterproductive and overly punitive. The appropriate policy objective, I will argue, is one of harm reduction, which involves minimization of prevalence with respect to the primary phenomenon combined with attenuation of impact for the ineliminable portion. After describing the basic principles of the approach, I will outline the specific policy implications it has for minimizing the harms caused by attitudinal racism.
A historical account detailing the emergence of critical theory in the work of Marx, the influenc... more A historical account detailing the emergence of critical theory in the work of Marx, the influence of Freud, the Frankfurt School synthesis, and the subsequent development of the intellectual tradition. This the first chapter of a book that I am writing called How to Criticize Society.
While schemes for universal basic income (UBI) are sometimes presented as a way to reduce overall... more While schemes for universal basic income (UBI) are sometimes presented as a way to reduce overall economic inequality, because a UBI would lower the marginal taxation rate of individuals entering the workforce it would have the effect of increasing economic inequality between those who opt out of the workforce and those who choose to participate. The question is what effect an increase in this income gap would have on the perceived adequacy of the UBI payment level. It is well understood that what counts as an income sufficient to ensure a “decent” quality of life is relative, and tends to ratchet up over time. Thus the first question involves the extent to which individuals living on UBI payments will assess the adequacy of their condition by comparing themselves to those who are adjacent to them in the income distribution. If this looms large in their assessment, then the UBI, by increasing inequality within this segment of the income distribution, will tend to increase the perception of its own inadequacy. The second question involves the importance of status effects, and the consumption of positional goods, in determining the adequacy of the UBI. If these are significant, as I believe they are, then again the UBI will be perceived as inadequate, whatever level it is provided at, because those in paid employment will always enjoy a great deal more than those who opt out.
Although an important topic in law and empirical political science, administrative discretion has... more Although an important topic in law and empirical political science, administrative discretion has been relatively neglected in normative political theory. To the extent that it has been discussed, the overall assessment has usually been negative, based on the concern that anything less that direct statutory control of the exercise of state power subverts liberalism (by abolishing the division of powers) or democracy (by undermining democratic accountability). Although acknowledging the force of these concerns, I argue that in most cases the proposed cure is worse than the disease. I defend administrative discretion on two grounds. First, I argue that it is inevitable, not least because attempts to eliminate de jure discretion often just transform it into de facto discretion. Second, I argue that it is often desirable, on a variety of grounds, including the fact that it allows state officials to elicit more cooperative behavior from citizens and organizations. The latter point is illustrated with reference to “responsive regulation,” which is an inherently discretionary approach to regulatory enforcement. I conclude by showing how a non-statutory approach to controlling discretion, one that focuses on the informal workplace culture of the civil service, can control many of the risks associated with administrative discretion, while preserving the benefits.
A major problem for race relations in the U.S., I will suggest, is a lack of agreement among Amer... more A major problem for race relations in the U.S., I will suggest, is a lack of agreement among Americans about what the appropriate end-point of racial integration would be, as a result of which different groups are pursuing incompatible models of integration. This aspect of the problem can be fruitfully analyzed by comparing U.S. integration policies with more successful approaches that have been employed in other nations. First, there are two well-established models of successful minority integration, which we can refer to following Will Kymlicka as the “polyethnic” and the “multinational” models. With respect to the African-American population, the U.S. has been attempting to pursue elements of both strategies simultaneously, something that is, if not strictly inconsistent, then at least lacking any track record of success. Second, the goal of racial harmony can be specified at either a “macro” or a “micro” level. Some countries, such as Singapore, have focused exclusively on the macro level, while others, such as Canada, have focused on the micro level. The U.S. by contrast has attempted to achieve racial harmony at both macro and micro levels simultaneously. Again, this produces policies that are inconsistent, in that the gains achieved at one level often crowd out achievements on the other.
There is a common fallacy, among critics of capitalism, that because firms are licensed to pursue... more There is a common fallacy, among critics of capitalism, that because firms are licensed to pursue profits, the purpose of the economic system as a whole must be to facilitate the realization of such profits. This is manifestly not the case, since design of markets, including the insistence on competition between firms, is intended to bid profits down to zero. The lure of profit is what leads firms to compete with one another, which creates an institutionally enforced collective action problem that drives prices toward the level that allows for a more efficient allocation of labour, resources, goods and services. The achievement of these " market clearing " prices is the actual purpose of the system. This explains why many people find the profit orientation of firms to be morally counterintuitive. Most of everyday morality is aimed at getting people to act more cooperatively, whereas profit-maximization is essentially a free-rider strategy. Many critics of capitalism consider it self-evident that the system is unethical, because it allows, and indeed, relies upon, the organization of economic activity based on the pursuit of profit. Unfortunately, because these critics regard the proposition as self-evident, they seldom take the time to specify in much detail why they think the pursuit of profit is so problematic. In some cases the animus seems to be based on an elementary confusion, between the self-interest of individuals and the profit orientation of firms. If moral rules constitute impartial constraints on the pursuit of self-interest, and profit-maximization is just another way of describing the pursuit of self-interest, then it follows that morality must stand in some sort of antagonistic relation to the pursuit of profit. This confusion, it should be noted, has not been confined to critics of capitalism. The undergraduate economics textbook that I studied, back in the 1980s, started out with the assumption that individuals are self-interested, and introduced utility functions in order to represent this (Lipsey, Purvis & Steiner 1988). All of a sudden these individual utility functions were " aggregated " into joint utility functions, to represent
The profit orientation of firms, or “corporate greed,” is often held responsible for everything f... more The profit orientation of firms, or “corporate greed,” is often held responsible for everything from environmental damage and workplace accidents to income inequality and global poverty. Since a great deal of corporate misconduct is aimed at enhancing profitability, it is sometime suggested that eliminating the profit orientation of firms and replacing it with something else would reduce the incidence of such behavior. In a sense, this view is an optimistic one, in that it suggests that many large-scale problems in our society admit of structural solutions. Unfortunately, this optimistic view is not well supported, either by theory or by evidence. Indeed, many people who are not particularly enthusiastic about the structure of the standard business corporation nevertheless think that there is no organizational form that is likely to do better. My goal is this paper is to work through, systematically, the alternatives to the profit-oriented capitalist firm, showing how they have failed to provide a viable alternative. I begin with cooperatives, which are, I will argue, not an alternative at all, since they are also profit-oriented (it is just that the profits are disbursed to a different class of owners, and are often not called “profits”). I turn then to public ownership, and observe that the dominant trend in Western welfare states has been toward “corporatization” of state owned enterprises, which includes, inter alia, the imposition of a profit-maximization objective on managers. Finally, I will discuss the non-profit firm, which represents the only organizational form that completely breaks with the profit-maximization imperative. Although appropriate in some sectors, non-profits do not represent a general solution to the problem of corporate misconduct. This analysis may seem pessimistic, but rather than serving as a source of despair, I argue that it should serve the basis of a defence of business ethics. Since there is little to be said for restructuring the firm, we should focus our energies rather on encouraging better behavior from the firms that we have, structured as they are.
published in Joseph Heath, Cooperation and Social Justice (Toronto: UTP, 2022), 2022
The term “stigmatization,” when used in contemporary social science, almost always has a negative... more The term “stigmatization,” when used in contemporary social science, almost always has a negative connotation. Particularly when applied to behavior that is primarily self-regarding, such as drug addiction, the existence of a social stigma is widely regarded as adding “insult to injury,” although the normative basis of this assessment is seldom made explicit. My objective in this paper is to develop a more careful analysis, and qualified defence of, stigmatization in these cases. I will argue that, with instances of potential self-control failure, stigmatization can serve as an important piece of social scaffolding, allowing individuals to externalize a portion of their willpower. As a result, destigmatization strategies may have the perverse effect of exacerbating the self-destructive behaviour among the individuals they are purporting to help.
One of the most common reasons given for the refusal on the part of many firms to accept " beyond... more One of the most common reasons given for the refusal on the part of many firms to accept " beyond compliance " moral obligations is that it would put them at a competitive disadvantage. Even if they acknowledge that it would be better if all firms respected a particular constraint, as long as their competitors are not, then it would put them at too much of a disadvantage to begin respecting it unilaterally. There has been a great deal of confusion in the business ethics literature about the validity of this argument. In this paper, I will argue that it is valid in some circumstances, but that it provides at best an excuse for violation of the moral constraint, not a justification. Furthermore, the availability of the excuse is conditional upon the firm being willing to take action aimed at bringing other firms into compliance. This means that, in many cases, firms can be relieved of their obligation to respect " beyond compliance " norms only if they manifest positive support for regulatory initiatives aimed at transforming these into ordinary " compliance " obligations.
In this paper, I point out a tension between two commitments that are often held jointly by envir... more In this paper, I point out a tension between two commitments that are often held jointly by environmental ethicists. First, many are concerned about the effects of global warming, and believe that we should be engaged in resolute action to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Second, many believe that continuing the growth trajectory of the global economy is both undesirable and non-obligatory. Formulated in terms of an obligation to future generations, the view is that we owe it to future generations to prevent significant anthropogenic climate change, and yet we do not owe it to future generations to ensure that they receive the benefits of a growing economy. The problem with these two positions, held jointly, is that under all of the most probable scenarios, the benefits that we could be providing to future generations through ongoing economic growth are enormous, relative to the costs that will be imposed upon them by climate change. As a result, if we are under no obligation to maximize growth – indeed, if we are permitted to pass along to future generations an economy that will permit them to achieve a standard of living no greater than what we enjoy now, then by far the least costly course of action for us is to let climate change occur, then compensate future generations for the impact by making resources available to them to cover the costs of adaptation.
Every system of cooperation is sustained by a particular “institutional toolkit” – devices used t... more Every system of cooperation is sustained by a particular “institutional toolkit” – devices used to promote cooperative behaviour and to discourage defection. A particular toolkit is scalable to the extent that it can incorporate an increase in the number of individuals participating, while maintaining roughly constant levels of cooperative behavior. My central contention in this paper will be that our evolved psychology provides us with a set of pro-social psychological dispositions that can be used rather effortlessly to establish small-scale systems of cooperation, but that the fundamental architecture of these systems is such that they lack scalability. This is what accounts for many of the phenomena associated with our “unsocial sociability.” Various behavioral dispositions we have, that are pro-social in small groups, start to become increasingly anti-social as the size of the group increases. This puts an upper bound on the level of social complexity that can be sustained using those resources. Thus it is only when cooperation is reorganized, and placed on a different footing, that it can be further expanded. In order to motivate the discussion, I start by showing how this issue of scalability matters to political philosophy, by discussing some recent work that neglects it. I then go on to show how it is important to recent discussions about the rise of the state. I argue that in complex societies we should regard major elements of social structure as essentially a set of kluges, designed to overcome the limitations of our natural sociability.
Ethics for Capitalists offers an accessible, comprehensive statement of the Market Failures Appro... more Ethics for Capitalists offers an accessible, comprehensive statement of the Market Failures Approach to business ethics. While the competitive context of the market economy provides economic actors greater freedom to pursue their interests, it also imposes moral constraints on the range of strategies they may employ. The pursuit of profit must be consistent with the overall objective of market institutions, which is to promote efficiency in the production and allocation of goods and services. Ethics for Capitalists draws out the implications of this view for business strategy, corporate governance, managerial authority, and shareholder primacy.
It is generally acknowledged that a certain amount of state intervention in health and health car... more It is generally acknowledged that a certain amount of state intervention in health and health care is needed to address the significant market failures in these sectors; however, it is also thought that the primary rationale for state involvement in health must lie elsewhere, for example in an egalitarian commitment to equalizing access to health care for all citizens. This paper argues that a complete theory of justice in health can be derived from a commitment to correcting market failure, or in other words promoting Pareto-efficiency, in the domain of health. This approach can address familiar problems around access to care, as well as problems related to resource allocation and rationing (including resource allocation between generations), the control of health care costs, and the foundations of public health. Egalitarian theories of justice in health cannot make sense of the depth and pervasiveness of state involvement in health and health care; only a theory rooted in the need to correct market failure can.
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Papers by Joseph Heath
First, there are two well-established models of successful minority integration, which we can refer to following Will Kymlicka as the “polyethnic” and the “multinational” models. With respect to the African-American population, the U.S. has been attempting to pursue elements of both strategies simultaneously, something that is, if not strictly inconsistent, then at least lacking any track record of success. Second, the goal of racial harmony can be specified at either a “macro” or a “micro” level. Some countries, such as Singapore, have focused exclusively on the macro level, while others, such as Canada, have focused on the micro level. The U.S. by contrast has attempted to achieve racial harmony at both macro and micro levels simultaneously. Again, this produces policies that are inconsistent, in that the gains achieved at one level often crowd out achievements on the other.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-machinery-of-government-9780197509616