Prof. Morse: Here's What a Forensic Economics Approach to the Issue of Reparations Could Look Like
January 8, 2018
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In an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun, Joel N. Morse, professor of finance in the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business, says the issue of reparations as a way to address the nation's history of racial injustice could benefit from the perspective of an economic analysis.
"Given the current climate of racial tension in America, with Baltimore and the nation as a whole grappling with issues of race and institutional racism, now seems as good a time as any to revive the discussion" of reparations, Morse and his co-author Jetaime Ross write.
"We propose a very preliminary conceptual model that may be useful in addressing the reparations issue. The model relies on a standard forensic economics framework used in U.S. courts. In a typical personal injury litigation situation, a wrong (known as a tort) is brought to a trier-of-fact for analysis and possible recompense or 'making the victim whole.'"
Morse and Ross unpack the process of forensic economics analysis, which takes into account lost earnings due to injury, death or some debilitating circumstance.
"If reparations can be thought of as a lost profits metaphor from a litigation context, it may contribute to our understanding to append a political or cultural viewpoint," the article says.
Read the op-ed in The Baltimore Sun.
Learn more about Prof. Morse and the Merrick School of Business.