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The Racial and Ethnic Implications of Policy in the Trump ERA

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 309
Hosted By: National Economic Association & American Society of Hispanic Economists
  • Chair: Sue K. Stockly, Eastern New Mexico University

The Outlook of Black, Educated Women in the Political Economy of President Donald J. Trump

Miesha Williams
,
Morehouse College

Abstract

Schreft and Smith (1998) develop the theoretical banking model whose double steady state equilibria are indicative of: (1) high capital and low investment as well as (2) low capital and high investment. This paper conjectures and explains the modifications necessary for the Schreft and Smith model to describe the political economy associated with low skilled human capital and high job creation investment as well as high skilled human capital and low job creation investment. This distinction is important, as it is likely the double steady state currently encouraged in both the United States and the United Kingdom as result from choosing President Donald J. Trump and BREXIT to enhance job prospects for the rural working class. The outlook resulting from this double steady state equilibria, however, is that high skilled human capital, such as has been identified to exist primarily in black women as the most educated group in the United States, may be hindered due to present policies surrounding job creation.

Explaining the Racial Wealth Gap: Cultural Differences or Racial Stratification?

Robert Williams
,
Guilford College

Abstract

The racial wealth gaps offer an ideal test case of the validity of the emerging subfield of stratification economics. Past efforts to explain the wealth gaps have oscillated between explanations that focus on cultural differences and those that reflect both past and contemporary disparities. This paper looks to evaluate this debate by examining whether cultural differences in household saving and asset portfolio decisions may explain the widening racial wealth gaps. It does so by including some new evidence and techniques.

Unequal Recovery, Labor Market Polarization, Race, and 2016 United States Presidential Election

Maoyong Fan
,
Ball State University
Anita Alves Pena
,
Colorado State University

Abstract

How was Donald Trump’s unprecedented presidential victory as a businessman with little political experience related to growing income inequality and labor polarization in the U.S.? Academic literatures and stories in the popular press have documented an increasing spread in the income distribution and a dilution of the middle class. Further articles on labor markets have described worker substitutions and changing skill needs in industries sensitive to mechanization of production processes. In this paper, we quantify the effect of income, income growth, and changes in income distribution on county level election outcomes particularly vote switching between election cycles.

The Affordable Care Act and Children of Immigrants: Has Anything Changed?

Monica Garcia-Perez
,
St. Cloud State University

Abstract

In the Affordable Care Act (ACA), although immigrant parents can apply for their eligible kids without having to offer information about their own immigration status, the family still needs to provide either their SSN or proof that the minor is eligible, and proof of income. This indirect limitation faced by immigrant parents impacts the likelihood that their child, even if eligible, acquires health insurance coverage. Using the Integrated Health Interview Series 2011-2014, I analyze the hypothesis that children of immigrants’ healthcare insurance coverage and healthcare usage have been affected differently from the implementation of the ACA. The source of this differentiation would have its roots from the degree to which their parents would be eligible for healthcare coverage. Eligibility criteria also varies across states, which would allow me to estimate the variation across diverse groups. The premise is that we would expect a negligible impact or no change across children identified within undocumented immigrant population, regardless of their own immigration status. Furthermore, we would expect that given the complexity of the system, ACA has not been able to reverse the trend of recent immigrant populations, unless stronger efforts have been taken in place to directly address the informational gap that exist among them. Given recent attacks on the law, we would expect that the preventive care and educational emphasis needed in the current law would lose priority, resulting in probably worse outcomes than the ones I would documented in this paper.
Discussant(s)
Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe
,
Women's Institute for Science, Equity, and Race (WISER)
Linda Loubert
,
Morgan State University
Trevon Logan
,
Ohio State University
Alfonso Flores-Lagunes
,
Syracuse University
JEL Classifications
  • H3 - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
  • J1 - Demographic Economics