Focuses on various aspects of the economic status of African Americans. The essays in this book present two related themes: first, when it comes to economics, race matters; and second, racial economic discrimination and inequality persist despite the predictions that racial discrimination cannot thrive in a free-market economy.

The forty-three chapters in "African Americans in the U.S. Economy" focus on various aspects of the economic status of African Americans, past and present. Taken together, these essays present two related themes first, when it comes to economics, race matters; and second, racial economic discrimination and inequality persist despite the optimistic predictions of standard economic analysis that racial discrimination cannot thrive in a free-market economy.