Comment on Profiling--Posner

At one level, “profiling” is unexceptionable. If witnesses report a theft by a young black male, it would be absurd for the police to look for suspects among other groups in the population. Profiling becomes interesting only when the differential probability of “guilt” is much smaller. Even then, it is unproblematic, as Becker notes, when the disfavored group is not a sensitive minority. No one objects when smokers are charged a higher price for life insurance than nonsmokers, even though many smokers outlive many nonsmokers. Even when the condition that puts one in the disfavored class is involuntary, such as having a family history of cancer or heart disease, “discrimination” on this basis (what economists call “statistical discrimination”) is generally considered permissible because it is not exploitive or based on hostility or contempt and it does promote a more efficient allocation of resources. Profiling based on race, sex, or national origin, however, is intensely controversial. It is helpful in discussing it to make two distinctions: between ordinary crimes and Islamist terrorism (e.g., al Qaeda), and in the terrorist case between profiling U.S. citizens and profiling foreigners. I will be discussing these issues purely as issues of policy rather than of law. In the case of ordinary crimes, where for example profiling might take the form of disproportionately frequent searches of vehicles driven by Hispanics because Hispanics are disproportionately represented in illegal drug trafficking, I would expect profiling to have little effect on the crime rate. The reason is the positive elasticity of supply of persons who commit victimless crimes, which is to say crimes resulting from the outlawing of products or services for which there is a demand. If one class of suppliers is driven out of business, this makes room for others. Given the fixed budget for law enforcement assumed by Becker, the increased apprehension of Hispanic drug couriers would be offset by a reduced risk to non-Hispanics of being apprehended for transporting drugs, and so the non-Hispanics would flock to replace the Hispanics as couriers. The ethnic composition of the illegal work force would be altered by profiling, but the crime rate would be affected only to the extent that Hispanics are more efficient drug couriers because of language and other ties to major drug supply countries; the net effect on the crime rate would probably be small. In the case of terrorism, a similar replacement effect can be anticipated, although it would probably be smaller. Assume a fixed budget for screening airline passengers and a reallocation of funds within the budget limit to enable more young male airline passengers who appear to be Muslim (or of Middle Eastern origin, but for simplicity I’ll assume that Muslim-appearing is the screening criterion) to be subjected to intensive screening, as distinguished from the limited screening to which all passengers are subjected. Then fewer passengers who do not fit the profile will be screened (this is implied by the fixed budget), which will induce terrorist groups to make greater use of female Muslims (as happened in suicide attacks in Israel), older Muslims, and young Muslims who do not appear to be Muslim, for members of these groups will now be less likely to be apprehended than before the adoption of profiling. The elasticity of supply of terrorists is probably not as great as that of drug couriers, but it is positive and will reduce the effect of profiling. A parallel analysis recommends against concentrating too many of our antiterrorist resources on the protection of New York and Washington, since terrorists can substitute other targets. The benefits of airline passenger profiling are thus likely to be modest, and the costs may be great in the case of Muslims who are U.S. citizens. Being singled out on the basis of race, religion, or ethnic origin is intensely resented by the people who are discriminated against and could undermine their loyalty to the United States if they have strong ethnic and religious ties with the nation’s enemies. A paramount goal of U.S. antiterrorist policy should be to prevent the disaffection of U.S. citizens of the Muslim faith and Middle Eastern ethnicity. That goal would be undermined by profiling. I do not think compensating them financially for the additional inconvenience would rectify the problem; indeed, it would underscore their differentness from their fellow citizens. (This is also an argument against reparations for blacks and American Indians.) The argument for the efficiency of profiling is further undermined by relaxing Becker’s assumption of a fixed security budget. By increasing the budget for airline security, it would become possible to screen everybody carefully. I suspect that the optimal policy is to subject more U.S. citizens of apparent Middle Eastern origin or Muslim religious identity to intensive screening than other citizens, but to subject enough of the other citizens to the same intensive screening so that the (lightly) profiled group does not feel markedly discriminated against--and so that substitution of terrorists who do not fit the profile is held in check. My view with regard to profiling noncitizens is different. Noncitizens are not expected to be loyal to the United States and so the concern with alienating them by profiling is less acute. No foreigner expects to be treated identically to a citizen.

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I don t think affirmative aoctin necessarily lowers the quality of workers. I think companies typically make sure a potential worker is qualified for the position. For example, if it comes down to a man and a woman of equal credentials, they might pick the woman to meet the quota. Even then though, the woman will probably work harder than the man would have because in the work force, especially in a field dominated by men such as engineering, women need to prove themselves so they are taken seriously, whereas a man who is hired will be more likely to slack off because he wouldn t worry as much about what others thought. Unfortunately though, there are other cases where employers just pick a minority to meet the quota. In this instance problems can definitely occur if the new worker s qualifications are not up to par. I know this from experience because my dad works for the government and in his job if he interviews people of all types of races and backgrounds and does not end up picking a person of the minority then he has to fill out a large stack of papers saying why the white person was more qualified than the black person. And his argument had better be convincing or else he could be fired. My dad was actually put on trial at his job because a black woman accused him of being racist .for choosing a black man over her. This is absolutely ridiculous. I don t think there is any way to justify this. Sometimes affirmative aoctin can be a good thing because it keeps diversity in the workplace, but anytime the quality of the company or product is neglected, affirmative aoctin can have very negative effects.In regards to Nepotism, I think quality is often compromised. Usually when people help their family or friends, they are doing so because the person in need of assistance cannot find work or does not have the skills to get a job on their own. This means that the person will be given a position for which they probably do not qualify. This is not fair to other people trying to get the same position who are qualified, and it is also not fair to the employer or company. The new worker will probably do a below average quality level of work, and this will hurt the business. I definitely agree with the guy on this video that industries like healthcare can suffer. Nepotism should be used lightly, because if you help someone who is struggling to get into medical school and he/she becomes a doctor then eventually makes a big mistake such as killing someone during a surgery, you are somewhat to blame for helping them get to that position. I know this sounds extreme but there are instances where dramatic things like this can occur, and it s not worth taking the risk. If someone isn t qualified for a position, they shouldn t be accepted into it. A big problem with nepotism is that it is like lying because it often involves writing fabricated recommendations for people who do not deserve them. Doing this can have a chain negative effect and hurt many people including consumers or patients.

[Denise]

"I can look at it as racial pirlifong - I can look at it however I wanna look at it". Well there you have it folks. It's just that simple. Shame on KSLA for even questioning the BCPD on this ridiculous and all too convenient claim. When you entertain the concept (inquire)... you indirectly further the injustice behind it. Stop giving the floor to every black person who (allegedly in this case) commits a crime and can't scream "racism" fast enough. That's one of the biggest problems of our neighbor across the bridge - and one of the reasons why the living conditions and quality of life differs between here and there like night and day. The BCPD has NEVER entertained these "convenience claims" and the media shouldn't either. A fire can't grow without fuel. Love the covert ops with the giant plant leaf by the way - now thats spontaneous ingenuity at it's finest.