Sunday Jul 6 2008
All times are London time
About Tim Harford
I write leaders for the FT and two columns for FT Magazine: "The Undercover Economist", about economics in everyday life, and "Dear Economist", in which readers' questions are answered, tongue-in-cheek, with the latest economic theory. To find out about my books, "The Undercover Economist" and my new book "The Logic of Life", or about my radio series, More or Less, see timharford.com.-
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I am reading Logic of Life and enjoying it tremendously. Although I have a Master’s in Economics, I had never considered the possibility of an incentive to discriminate. It is obviously there, however depressing that fact is to us.
But I wondered, in addition to the peer pressure of minorities to not “act white”, why didn’t you mention the obvious incentive to students to under perform because it is so much easier to be lazy and do nothing than it is to work to try to make something of yourself. I can see how the peer pressure would provide the initial motivation but I believe the opportunity to just lay back and do nothing is the real incentive to mediocrity or failure.
What say you?
Posted by: Jon Kelly | March 25th, 2008 at 3:23 pm | Report this comment