A ffirmative action in the United States, the former communist regimes of Eastern Europe and the ancient caste system in India all have something in common, according to economist Timur Kuran. If the situation lasts long enough, Kuran contends, people lose sight of better alternatives.
Preference falsification distorts human knowledge and hides political possibilities.
For example, Kuran blames Americans' reluctance to seriously question affirmative action's effectiveness for the dramatic rise in poverty among African Americans during the 25 years since the approach was introduced. Between 1973 and 1987, families in the top fifth of the black income distribution became 33 percent richer, versus a 25 percent gain for families in the top white fifth, according to the book. During the same period, families in the bottom fifth of the black distribution suffered a loss of 18 percent, as against a smaller loss of 7 percent for the poorest white families. K uran's theory of public insincerity departs from a canon of economics that treats public actions as reliable indicators of an individual's underlying preferences. In totalitarian regimes, such pressures are the greatest, Kuran said - pointing to Soviet communism's tendency to imprison dissidents in gulags for voicing their opinions.