The Review of Black Political Economy

Robert S. Browne decided on creating The Review of Black Political Economy at the first meeting of black economists with the AEA Executive Committee in December, 1969. The beginning of The Review was not planned in advance, but it resulted in a platform for people to publish writings about the conditions of black people in the United States from an economic and sociological standpoint. Since that meeting in 1969, the journal has been the official journal of the National Economic Association. [3]

Robert S. Browne believed that calling The Review ‘The Journal of Black Political Economy’ would make the content seem much more narrow and formal so he went with the name ‘The Review of Black Political Economy’. The initial aim of The Review was to provide a mixture of scholarly and non-scholarly articles which would appeal to a wide range of readers - but Robert S. Browne did admit that this was a far-fetched goal. The Review now aims to act as a platform on which people can express their ideas about improving the economic conditions of black people and getting rid of the economic gap between black people and white people. The Review tries to enable people with these great ideas to reach as wide of an audience as possible. Those putting forth ideas are not always scholars by trade, so the idea of creating content that is accessible not only to a wide range of readers, but also a wide range of writers is very important to The Review. The first publication of The Review had eleven writings in total: seven articles and four book reviews. Of the seven articles, three of them looked at the problems arising from black capitalism and the urban racial crisis in America. Over the many years The Review has been the official journal of the National Economic Association, having focused on including many different standpoints on common issues. [4]

The Review of Black Political Economy frequently features book reviews from its readership, majority of whom are professors of economics. The books being reviewed center around aspects of economics and the reviews published in the journal are typically no more than 10 pages long. Several notable books that were reviewed include African Americans in the U.S. Economy by Cecilia Conrad, John Whitehead, Patrick Mason, and James Stewart, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, and Liberating Economics: Feminist Perspectives on Families, Work, and Globalization by Drucilla K. Barker and Susan F. Feiner. [5] [6] [7] The reviewer includes their full name and credentials at the end of the book review.

The Review of Black Political Economy also publishes responses from its readership in response to articles written by other members of the journal to foster diversity of thought. These published responses range from first person to third person perspectives and are no more than 10 pages in length. An abstract and keywords are provided at the beginning of every response for easier text readability and a section for references is included at the end of every response. The Review of Black Political Economy has also historically published multiple responses to the same article. For example, in response to The Subprime Crisis and African Americans by Sandra Phillips, both Gregory Price’s and Lucy Reuben’s responses were published.[8] [9] [10]

The Review of Black Political Economy also publishes commentaries from its reviewers. These commentaries are formatted similar to the responses and approximately 5 pages in length and written in the first person. A list of references supporting the author’s comments is provided at the end of every commentary. Examples of commentaries include Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe's Cautiously Optimistic Comments on Black Americans in the 21st Century: Should we be Optimistic or Concerned? and Rodney J. Andrews’ Comments on “Black Americans in the 21st Century: Should We Be Optimistic or Concerned?. [11] [12]

The Review of Black Political Economy also occasionally publishes presidential addresses from the National Economic Association. These written articles constitute the presidential addresses presented by the National Economic Association’s president at the time to a live audience. The most notable presidential addresses published by The Review of Black Political Economy were Gender Inequality and Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa by Juliet U. Elu, the 2011 National Economic Association president, in Volume 40 Issue 2 and Black Economists of the World You Cite!! by Gregory Price, the 2007 National Economic Association president, in Volume 35 Issue 1.[13] [14]

The Review of Black Political Economy publishes a variety of writings including research notes, editorials, and articles. The journal runs on a blinded peer review process to uphold the quality of the work. Anyone who made any contribution to the writing must be listed as one of the authors of the writing. The Review of Black Political Economy makes it mandatory for authors to mention their funding provided for their work. It is also required that the writing submitted for publication in The Review is not being considered to be published in any other journal. [15]

There is a Statement of Editorial Policy provided in one of the issues of the journal that gives an updated outline of the journal’s aims. The Review is focused on discussing the economic conditions of black and Third World people. There is an emphasis on policies to get rid of racial inequalities from an economic standpoint. The Review is based on the idea that understanding how current policies allow racial inequality to occur is important in eradicating the oppression of black people with respect to economic opportunity. The Review does not focus on theoretical or ideological backgrounds of policies. In this Statement of Editorial Policy, ‘serious scholars’ that desire to strive for racial equality are encouraged to submit writings in The Review. [16]

Many extremely significant economic findings throughout many years have been published in The Review of Black Political Economy. The following list is a selection of economic publications published in The Review of Black Political Economy, all of which were heavily cited due to their impact, and the citation for the article in which they were published.

• Race and the dynamics of men's mobility into management from working class jobs (2017) - Wilson, George; Lagae, Bryan (January 2017). "Race and the Dynamics of Men's Mobility into Management from Working Class Jobs". The Review of Black Political Economy. 44 (3–4): 233–249. doi:10.1007/s12114-017-9252-2.

• Black-white disparities in test scores (2016) - Fernandes, Ronald; Ha, Inhyuck Steve; McElroy, Susan Williams; Myers, Samuel L. (January 2016). "Black-White Disparities in Test Scores: Distributional Characteristics". The Review of Black Political Economy. 43 (2): 209–232. doi:10.1007/s12114-015-9230-5.

• Skin shade stratification and the psychological cost of unemployment (2015) — Diette, Timothy M.; Goldsmith, Arthur H.; Hamilton, Darrick; Darity, William (January 2015). "Skin Shade Stratification and the Psychological Cost of Unemployment: Is there a Gradient for Black Females?". The Review of Black Political Economy. 42 (1–2): 155–177. doi:10.1007/s12114-014-9192-z.

• Community-based asset building and community wealth (2014) Nembhard, Jessica Gordon (January 2014). "Community-Based Asset Building and Community Wealth". The Review of Black Political Economy. 41 (2): 101–117. doi:10.1007/s12114-014-9184-z.

• The effect of a high school diploma (2013) — McDaniel, Marla; Kuehn, Daniel (January 2013). "What Does a High School Diploma Get You? Employment, Race, and the Transition to Adulthood". The Review of Black Political Economy. 40 (4): 371–399. doi:10.1007/s12114-012-9147-1.

• Policies for economic justice (2012) - Darity, William; Hamilton, Darrick (January 2012). "Bold Policies for Economic Justice". The Review of Black Political Economy. 39 (1): 79–85. doi:10.1007/s12114-011-9129-8.

• The relative returns to graduating from a Hbcu (2011) Price, Gregory N.; Spriggs, William; Swinton, Omari H. (January 2011). "The Relative Returns to Graduating from a Historically Black College/University: Propensity Score Matching Estimates from the National Survey of Black Americans". The Review of Black Political Economy. 38 (2): 103–130. doi:10.1007/s12114-011-9088-0.

• Baby bonds (2010) - Hamilton, Darrick; Darity, William (January 2010). "Can 'Baby Bonds' Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America?". The Review of Black Political Economy. 37 (3–4): 207–216. doi:10.1007/s12114-010-9063-1.

• Costs of credit and credit market discrimination (2009) — Weller, Christian E. (January 2009). "Credit Access, the Costs of Credit and Credit Market Discrimination". The Review of Black Political Economy. 36 (1): 7–28. doi:10.1007/s12114-009-9034-6.</ref>

• Improving schools with finance (2008) — Loubert, Linda (January 2008). "Increasing Finance, Improving Schools". The Review of Black Political Economy. 35 (1): 31–41. doi:10.1007/s12114-008-9019-x.

• The effect of attending an Hbcu on persistence and graduation outcomes of African-American college students (2007) Wilson, Valerie Rawlston (March 2007). "The Effect of Attending an Hbcu on Persistence and Graduation Outcomes of African-American College Students". The Review of Black Political Economy. 34 (1–2): 11–52. doi:10.1007/s12114-007-9006-7.

• Marriages ratios of young black women (2006) — Brown, Christopher; Kesselring, Randall (March 2006). "Declining Marriage Ratios of Young Black Women: Testing Alternative Economic Hypotheses". The Review of Black Political Economy. 33 (4): 27–48. doi:10.1007/BF02915421.

• The research productivity of black economists (2005) — Fosu, Augustin Kwasi (December 2005). "The Research Productivity of Black Economists: Ranking by Individuals and Doctoral Alma Mater—Comment". The Review of Black Political Economy. 33 (3): 45–49. doi:10.1007/s12114-006-1003-8.