{"124691":{"#nid":"124691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Boston Proposes National Commission on Black Employment during White House Policy Meeting","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobust economic recovery and job training programs won\u2019t solve the employment problems of African Americans said School of Economics Professor Thomas \u201cDanny\u201d Boston during a meeting held by President Obama\u2019s Council of Economic Advisers at a White House meeting April 11. Boston recommended that, to truly resolve the issues, the White House establish a National Commission on Black Employment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe challenges are deep-seated and multifaceted. Therefore, incremental policy changes such as job training programs are important, but are not likely to make any significant difference,\u201d said Boston during the Council meeting. \u201cAs such, I propose that the Administration create a National Commission on Black Employment in the same manner in which national commissions were created to address the \u0027great recession\u0027 and the bankruptcy of the auto industry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoston was one of a key group of economists and academics invited to the White House Council of Economic Advisers meeting, \u201cAfrican Americans, Jobs, and the Economy,\u201d to provide input on the uniqueness of the recent financial crisis, how African Americans are faring in the recovery, and immediate- and long-run policy recommendations, especially with respect to the labor and housing market.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoston cited research indicating that blacks have been heavily burdened by the economic crisis. \u0026nbsp;For example: unemployment rates reached their highest post-recession levels in October 2010 at 16.7% for blacks compared to 9.3% for whites. During the current economic recovery, the general unemployment rate is 8.2%, but the rate among blacks is 14.0% compared to 7 .3% among whites. Worse still, he said, black teenage unemployment is 40.5%. Blacks are about twice as likely to be unemployed as are whites, but the most onerous burden, said Boston, is that blacks make up 11.9% of the workforce but constitute 20.4% of all unemployed workers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoston pushed the discussion beyond the nation\u2019s current economic struggles showing that, even when the economy is doing well, black unemployment is still very high. As an example, Boston cited the December 2007 peak in the business cycle when the unemployment rate for whites was 4.4%, but the rate for blacks was more than double that at 9.0%. In fact, the best quarter of economic performance in the last decade occurred in the fourth quarter of 2003 during which GDP grew at 6.7%. However, the unemployment rate for blacks averaged 10.6% during that quarter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cClearly, economic growth alone is not sufficient to reduce the disproportionately high rate of black unemployment to levels that are experienced by whites,\u201d said Boston. \u201cIn fact, there is no scenario wherein the economy can grow robustly enough to reduce black unemployment to reasonable levels. Therefore, growth is important but it is not enough.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Multifaceted, Concerted Effort is needed to Address Black Unemployment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn calling for the White House to establish a National Commission on Black Employment, Boston said that such a commission could identify the most appropriate policy solutions \u201cfor dealing with the multifaceted problems that have contributed to the large racial disparity in employment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe challenges of unemployment experienced by blacks are deep-seated,\u201d he said. \u201cSome causes are rooted in the country\u2019s history of racial discrimination, while others have to do with the contemporary effects of globalization and de-industrialization.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis quick summary of factors contributing to high black unemployment included:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDisadvantages in the occupational distribution of jobs among blacks (maximal concentrated in low-paying occupations that are sensitive to changes in business cycle activity)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA greater concentration of blacks in urban areas where unemployment is higher\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELower rates of educational attainment\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EExtreme wealth inequality (inequality exists between blacks and whites and it is growing within the black community)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHigh rates of black incarceration (the criminal records of males and, increasingly, females lowers the probability of becoming employed)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA poorly functioning and unresponsive public educational system especially in large urban areas\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA spatial mismatch between the location of jobs in metropolitan areas in the communities where blacks are concentrated\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA professor of Economics in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Economics, \u003Cstrong\u003EThomas \u201cDanny\u201d Boston\u003C\/strong\u003E publishes the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gazelleindex.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGazelle Index\u003C\/a\u003E, the first-ever national quarterly survey of the current conditions, level of optimism, and hiring plans of small businesses that also focuses on minority and women-owned businesses. He is also founder and CEO of EuQuant.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERobust economic recovery and job training programs won\u2019t solve the employment problems of African Americans said School of Economics Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EThomas \u201cDanny\u201d Boston\u003C\/strong\u003E during a meeting held by President Obama\u2019s Council of Economic Advisers at a White House meeting April 11. Boston recommended that, to truly resolve the issues, the White House establish a National Commission on Black Employment.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27418","created_gmt":"2012-04-18 11:27:12","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:00","author":"Lauren Langley","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"124661":{"id":"124661","type":"image","title":"Thomas \u0022Danny\u0022 Boston","body":null,"created":"1449178593","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:33","changed":"1475894746","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:46","alt":"Thomas \u0022Danny\u0022 Boston","file":{"fid":"194472","name":"danny_boston_200x300.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/danny_boston_200x300_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/danny_boston_200x300_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":39814,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/danny_boston_200x300_2.jpg?itok=xgnKB6yC"}}},"media_ids":["124661"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/boston","title":"Thomas \u0022Danny\u0022 Boston bio"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"155","name":"Congressional Testimony"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"26841","name":"black businesses"},{"id":"167037","name":"school of economics"},{"id":"1871","name":"thomas"},{"id":"817","name":"White House"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}