Jackie Robinson Day, A triumph for market economics

OK what does Jackie Robinson have to do with Economics?

Plenty.

In the forties when Jackie Robinson played America was segregated. Horrible people did horrible things to African Americans. Society had not yet seen the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.

Sometimes sports mirrors society, in this case Baseball was ahead of the curve. Why is that? Did the people who ran baseball have a societal goal to fix the racism that plagued the game? I'm sure there were some people who felt that way, but I don't think they were in the majority. The plain truth is that when the Dodgers broke the color barrier and other teams followed, it was not a social statement as much as it was an organization trying to get a competitive advantage over their competitors. As much as I would like to believe we all have a social conscience, people doing what is in their self interest is not necessarily a bad thing.

By excluding a talent pool as large as African Americans are, baseball owners were acting against their own self interest. Breaking the color barrier was a self serving action, and the correct one at the same time. In Memphis TN in those days a radio station put talent such as BB King on the radio in regular time slots. I don't know the history of the person, but I would venture to believe it was done to satisfy a market demand.

How does self interest compare in results to the government sponsored activities? The actions the government have undertaken have resulted in disaster and failure. Tensions between the races, and outright hatred is what government actions have brought. On the contrary private industry while never perfect, and never fast enough have brought much better results. Jackie Robinson was a gallant and brave man and his generation of players such as Larry Doby, Sachael Paige etc. Deserve all the credit they get and more. They had to endure horrible indignities to break the color barrier. Maybe we can credit self serving Market economics with an assist though.

I also think today's Civil Rights Crowd could learn a thing or two. Instead of spreading a culture of victimhood, maybe they could teach the young in their community to act in their own self interest. Think about it.