Read on Twitter
Thread. This report represents everything wrong with how economists approach social problems and especially racial justice. I have tweeted before about the general problem with technocracy. But this report really highlights how hostile mainstream econ is to bold policy change. https://twitter.com/NiskanenCenter/status/1281657942672961537
The underlying assumption throughout this report is that the police force is an institution worth saving and that police themselves can be part of the solution. This is, of course, totally at odds with what many protestors have actually been calling for.
The demands have been for defunding and abolishing police. The spirit of the protests is to completely reimagine the criminal justice system and the balance of power between Black citizens and law enforcement. Not to incrementally reform police
And of course, there is obligatory language put in about being open to new ideas and listening to the policy ideas of protestors. But I'm gonna call bullshit on that if the actual ideas you discuss are all totally at odds with what protestors are pushing for!
That's just patronization and condescension. “We are willing to listen to you as long as you don't go beyond what we dictate as the reasonable bounds for experimentation.”
So, what are some of the problems listed here: 1) a crisis of legitimacy for our police officers, 2) a rush by people to push for policy change in "the heat of the moment", 3) a need to improve trust between police and communities
Rather than being oppressors terrorizing Black Americans, police are recast as victims in all this too. Protestors are chided for rushing to policy judgements without really understanding the implications. Both-sides-ing police brutality.
What are the solutions offered? 1) Increased diversity of police, 2) better training, and 3) accountability for bad apples. Every single one of these solutions assumes that the fundamental nature of police as an institution remains the same; we just need to reform it.
In this vision, police are part of the solution! This is, of course, totally ahistorical. Modern-day policing as an institution was designed to exert political and social control over Black people. Racism is totally ingrained in the institution from top to bottom.
Given this, protestors are exactly right to demand a radical reimagining of police. Black people cannot rely on police to fix themselves. They cannot rely on goodwill of police. They can only rely on a legitimate redistribution of power away from police to Black citizens.
I was told that economic theory and applied methods were not inherently incrementalist or moderate. They are open to any ideas. They would listen to Black people. Well then what is this? The proof is in the pudding. Push the technocrats aside and work toward genuine Black power.
