New York Times economics reporter Annie Lowrey's story on the front of Monday's Business section has a headline that just begs for the old joke ("World Ends: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit") on the Times's traditional knee-jerk liberalism: "Recession Worsened Wealth Gap For Races."
Millions of Americans suffered a loss of wealth during the recession and the sluggish recovery that followed. But the last half-decade has proved far worse for black and Hispanic families than for white families, starkly widening the already large gulf in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups, according to a new study from the Urban Institute.
“It was already dismal,” Darrick Hamilton, a professor at the New School in New York, said of the wealth gap between black and white households. “It got even worse.”
Given the dynamics of the housing recovery and the rebound in the stock market, the wealth gap might still be growing, experts said, further dimming the prospects for economic advancement for current and future generations of Americans from minority groups.
So "the rebound in the stock market" is bad for minorities? Really?
This part sounded ominous for small-government conservatives:
Even if blacks and Hispanics make progress in the years ahead as the economy improves, the persistence of the wealth gap has pushed many public policy scholars to recommend the adoption of more ambitious programs to help reduce worsening inequality.
It's just the latest in a long string of Times articles focusing specifically on the race of suffering citizens.
A July 26, 2001 headline: "Recession Study Finds Hispanics Are Hit Hardest – Sharp Wealth Decline -- Group's Median Level Fell 66% in 4 Years -- Blacks Hit, Too."
A July 4, 2003 front-page headline stack: "U.S. Jobless Rate Increases To 6.4%, Highest in 9 Years -- 30,000 Jobs Lost In June -- Figures Defy Some Predictions of an Economic Revival - Blacks Fare Worst."
A May 13, 2009 headline: "Homeownership Losses Are Greatest Among Minorities, Report Finds."
