A lesson in ghetto economics

Michelle Castile
The article provides a detailed explanation to the ghetto communities as to why there stores have higher prices and lower quality of products and service. The premise that some residents have in the ghetto community is that the reason for this unfair treatment has to do with exploitation or racism by the Jews, Koreans and Arabs running the stores. Sowell begins to explain how this is an incorrect assumption by explaining how economics work. It is fact that stores located in low-income neighborhoods tend to have higher prices. Some reasons for these higher prices are: crime, shoplifting, vandalism and riots. The store owners are forced into spending more money on security and insurance for their stores, while consequently raising their prices.
I fully praise Sowell’s article because not only does it inform the ignorant but it provides possibly ways to improve the situation as well. One of my biggest problems with this situation is that a person voiced their opinion with no previous knowledge on the subject and therefore caused others to agree with them, only exacerbating the current situation. Now that the true reasons have been made available to the ghetto communities, it is possible that either the communities will stop blaming the store owners, do their part to help lower the costs by reducing the crime, or even both. I am aware that this would be considered a long shot for a ghetto community in Harlem for example. However, those that have the knowledge are just as much to blame if they do not share it with the uninformed. This is exactly what Sowell has done and I think it is a small step towards improving at least the false premises that the residents in these communities share.
News & Record, Greensboro, NC Thomas Sowell Thursday, August 31, 2006