A few things, in a bit of different sequence:
1. It MAY be "systemtic racism". It is one person, not peer reviewed (I believe), not an economist (I believe) and who also has a clear incentive to find racism (i.e. the person is not getting air time on MSNBC without this finding, not getting DEI linked funding, etc.) then to debunk it.
You need to do better than just making up excuses grandhaven...
- Its NOT one person
- It is "peer reviewed"
- It is supported by economists
- The story has been covered by multiple media outlets & the subject of scholarly publication
I'm not sure how you could be more wrong
https://www.brookings.edu/research/...-discrimination-in-municipal-borrowing-costs/
Black tax: Evidence of racial discrimination in municipal borrowing costs
Ashleigh Eldemire, Kimberly Luchtenberg, and Matthew Wynter Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Municipalities with higher proportions of Black residents pay higher borrowing costs to issue bonds rated by credit rating agencies compared to other cities and counties that issue within the same state and year. These higher costs are unexplained by credit risk, more pronounced in states with higher levels of racial resentment, and robust to state-tax incentives to hold municipal bonds. The findings illustrate that racial bias can increase borrowing costs, particularly in states where racial resentment is severe. In time-series tests using presidential and gubernatorial election periods during which racial resentment has been shown to intensify, we find that the differences in borrowing costs also increase. Collectively, the findings illustrate that racial bias can increase borrowing costs, especially where racial resentment is severe.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Ashleigh-et-al_Black-Tax_27-May-2022.pdf
BLACK TAX: EVIDENCE OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN MUNICIPAL BORROWING COSTS*
Ashleigh Eldemire University of Tennessee
Kimberly F. Luchtenberg American University
Matthew M. Wynter Stony Brook University
May 27, 2022
ABSTRACT Municipalities with higher proportions of Black residents pay higher borrowing costs to issue rated bonds compared to other cities and counties that issue within the same state and year. These higher costs are unexplained by credit risk, more pronounced in states with higher levels of racial resentment, and robust to state-tax incentives to hold municipal bonds. In time-series tests using political election periods during which racial resentment has been shown to intensify, we find that the differences in borrowing costs also increase. Collectively, the findings illustrate that racial bias can increase borrowing costs, especially where racial resentment is severe.
EXAMINING THE ROLE OF MUNICIPAL BOND MARKETS IN ADVANCING--AND UNDERMINING--ECONOMIC, RACIAL,. AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
117th Congress (2021-2022)
https://journalistsresource.org/pol...s-racism-climate-change-aging-credit-ratings/
Municipal bonds: 5 studies on racism, climate change, aging populations and credit ratings
Covering municipal bonds may seem fun as chewing cardboard. But they can affect the social and cultural character of places people live. These five studies explore the intersection of munis, racism, climate change and more.
by Clark Merrefield | August 21, 2020
Racism
The Violence of Municipal Debt: From Interest Rate Swaps to Racialized Harm in the Detroit Water Crisis
C.S. Ponder and Mikael Omstedt.
Geoforum, July 2019.
C.S. Ponder and
Mikael Omstedt argue that glaring examples of racial physical violence in cities,
such as police killings of Black men, “are often underwritten by more abstract forms of financial violence.”
They explore municipal debt as “a condition of financialized racial capitalism” by investigating the massive debt the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department had taken on by 2014. Ponder is an assistant professor of geography at Florida State University and Omstedt is a doctoral candidate at The University of British Columbia.
Financialized racial capitalism refers to financial situations or instruments, like municipal debt and bonds, with seemingly neutral elements — such as bond ratings and interest rates — that end up negatively affecting members of a particular racial group, through actions like water shut-offs.
