The bell curse

Journal of Value Inquiry

Volumn 31, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 109-125

  Haslett, D W ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0011046250     PISSN: 00225363     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1004282312923     Document Type: Article

References (23)

1. Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (New York: The Free Press, 1994). All subsequent references to The Bell Curve will appear in parentheses within the text.
2. Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (New York: The Free Press, 1994). All subsequent references to The Bell Curve will appear in parentheses within the text.
3. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
4. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
5. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
6. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
7. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
8. For a discussion of whether IQ tests actually succeed in measuring intelligence as we ordinarily conceive of it, see N.R. Block and Q. Dworkin, "IQ, Heritability and Inequality," Part I, in The IQ Controversy, edited by N.R. Block and G. Dworkin (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). And for works that call into question Murray and Herrnstein's conclusions about the inability to raise IQs and differences in intelligence between races see, for example, R. Lewontin, S. Rose, and L. Kumin, Not in Our Genes (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984); J.R. Mercer, "What is a racially and culturally nondiscriminatory test? A sociological and pluralistic perspective," in Perspective on "Bias and Mental Testing," edited by C.R. Reynolds and R.T. Brown (New York: Plenum Press, 1984); J.U. Ogbu, "The consequences of the American caste system," in The School Achievement of Minority Children, edited by U. Neisser (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1986), pp. 19-56; J.R. Flynn, "The ontology of intelligence," in Measurement, Realism, and Objectivity, edited by J. Forge (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1987), pp. 1-40. The latter three are discussed by Murray and Herrnstein in ch. 13. Finally, for a critical look at some of the alleged scholarship upon which Murray and Herrnstein rely for their conclusions about racial differences see, for example, Leon J. Kamin, "Behind the curve," Scientific American (February 1995), pp. 99-103.
9. See, for example, M.A. Paludi and L.A. Strayer, "What's in an author's name? Differential evaluations of performance as a function of author's name," Sex Roles 12 (1984), pp. 353-361.
10. "Race, genes and I.Q - an apologia," in The New Republic 31 (October 1994), p. 33.
11. This, along with other statistical differences between blacks and whites with respect to income and wealth, is set out in Moral Issues in Business, 6th edn, edited by William H. Shaw and Vincent Barry (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1994), pp. 420-421.
12. The elimination of poverty puts more purchasing power in the hands of the bottom ten percent and, most important, increases their opportunities, and those of their children, for realizing their full potential, all of which should, in the long run, increase productivity. This assumes, as I argue in Capitalism with Morality (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), ch. 5, that poverty can be eliminated without undermining the economy in any way, such as by decreasing incentives to work.
13. For an expanded earned income tax credit program to succeed in eliminating most poverty for all those willing to work, there must, of course, be jobs available for all those willing to work. But this is possible. Decent unemployment insurance will keep those without a job out of poverty in the short term. In the long term, many job opportunities can be made available through abolishing minimum wages, making affordable occupational training available to everyone, and making affordable, high-quality day care available to those with young children. For a brief discussion of still other job-opportunity measures that are possible for the long term, see Capitalism with Morality, sec. 5.7.
14. For a quick inventory of the deficiencies of current welfare or antipoverty programs in the USA, see Capitalism with Morality, pp. 194-199.
15. To be more exact, to make minimum wages unnecessary the EIC has to be combined with an exemption from all federal taxes for incomes below the poverty line. And, of course, all the taxes to which this exemption applies must include abominations such as FICA. Since the poverty line for a single individual without any children is currently somewhere around US$ 6,000, an expanded EIC combined with this exemption will be sufficient to ensure that all working people with up to two or three children, or without any children, will have post-credit income above the poverty line, provided only that they are able to earn merely around US$ 6,000 per year. Of course there will always be some who, even though working full-time, earn less than US$ 6,000 given that there is no minimum wage, others who, although they do earn more than US$ 6,000, will nevertheless not be above the poverty line because they have so many children, and others still who simply do not want to work. So not even this expanded EIC program, along with the tax exemption, will eliminate absolutely all poverty, but, if properly formulated, it will eliminate far more poverty than does the current system that relies upon minimum wages, AFDC, and so on. The relatively small amount of poverty that remained would have to be addressed by local programs and private charities. For details, see, once again. Capitalism with Morality.
16. Since tax revenue comes, in part, from corporate profits, financing aid to the poor through tax revenue will, in part come indirectly from business revenue. But the burden on business will be less than if financed directly from business revenue. And it is doubtful that the socalled double taxation to which corporate profits are subject should be retained anyway. See Capitalism with Morality, pp. 231-232. Abolishing double taxation will eliminate entirely any such burden from corporations.
17. For more detail, see Capitalism with Morality, ch. 5.
18. Although estate and gift taxes in the USA are supposed to redistribute wealth more evenly, they do not. Before 1981, estates were taxed, on the average, at a rate of only 0.2%. See Lester Thurow, The Impact of Taxes on the American Economy (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971). The Economic Recovery Act of 1981 actually lowered estate and gift taxes. Of course the alleged rates of estate and gift taxes are much higher than this, but because of complications, exceptions, and qualifications built into the law, George Cooper has shown that, with the help of a good attorney, they amount to little more than voluntary taxes. See George Cooper, 4 voluntary Tax? New Perspectives on Sophisticated Estate Tax Avoidance (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute, 1979).
19. Although estate and gift taxes in the USA are supposed to redistribute wealth more evenly, they do not. Before 1981, estates were taxed, on the average, at a rate of only 0.2%. See Lester Thurow, The Impact of Taxes on the American Economy (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971). The Economic Recovery Act of 1981 actually lowered estate and gift taxes. Of course the alleged rates of estate and gift taxes are much higher than this, but because of complications, exceptions, and qualifications built into the law, George Cooper has shown that, with the help of a good attorney, they amount to little more than voluntary taxes. See George Cooper, 4 voluntary Tax? New Perspectives on Sophisticated Estate Tax Avoidance (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute, 1979).
20. The US Government does not regularly collect information on the distribution of wealth in the USA, but according to a recent government survey, 1-2% of American families own from around 20-30% of the net family wealth in the USA, and 5-10% own from around 40-60%. See R. Avery et al., Survey of Consumer Finances, Second Report, Federal Reserve Bulletin 70 (December 1984).
21. There arc, in other words, excellent reasons for thinking that a strict inheritance quota will not decrease people's motivations to work hard, need not decrease overall savings and investment, and will not, in any other way, significantly decrease productivity. I go into these reasons, and try to answer other, more philosophical objections to this quota, such as whether it violates basic human rights, in Capitalism with Morality, ch 6.
22. William H. Shaw and Vincent Barry, Op. cit., pp. 420-421.
23. Some idea of the extent to which capital gains are unevenly distributed in the USA today can be gained by considering that, according to one study at least, the richest one percent in the USA owns about sixty percent of all wealth in the form of corporate stock. See Daphne Greenwood, "An estimation of U.S. family wealth and its distribution from micro data, 1973," Review of Income and Wealth (1973), pp. 26-66.