Reparations and the Competitive Advantage of Inner Cities

Michael Porter adds weight to disparate attempts to stimulate and accelerate investment, business development, and job creation in chronically distressed urban areas. But his discussion of the problems and his proposed alternative policy have two important defects. First, the paper fails to appreciate the powerful role of nationalism in promoting economic development as a collective enterprise with overarching goals. Second, it fails to acknowledge the full thrust of economic history in white-black relations. Hence, it misunderstands the fundamental problem that gives rise to the economic stagnation described. That means the paper avoids the issue of reparations. And it shows no grasp of the restitution principle. Without that, public policy on race-related distributive justice issues will continue to stumble.