To the degree that that cocaine business (like any honest business) creates value, there’s some truth in that. But most of the value is in the high that the customers get when they consume it—it doesn’t create much *economic* value. Except to whatever extent the cocaine makes users more productive (it’s a stimulant, as is caffeine).
But the “subsidy” mostly comes from other inner-city residents—for the most part, they’re the customers (obviously some outsiders come into town to buy, but I suspect that’s a small fraction of the business). So it’s a zero-sum transaction within the inner city, except (as said) for the hedons of pleasure experienced by the end-users.
I think the costs of the drug war (fear, crime, overdoses, toxic side-effects of adulterants, incarceration, destroyed families, etc. - all of which overwhelmingly fall on inner-city poor people) far exceed any “subsidy” to the inner city.
I suspect that “outsiders” form a bigger part of the overall demand than you think, and that the business transfers considerable(1) amounts of currency to the inner cities from places like Wall Street and Hollywood (and other more affluent areas). Which isn’t to say that it’s not part of the structures keeping the underclass down(2); it’s possible to be dependent for one’s livelihood on things that are bad for you.
(1) considerable by inner city standards, much less so by Wall Street standards
(2) I’m not sure to what extent we should view society as “keeping the underclass down” vs. “trying, and mostly failing, to lift the underclass up”. Your points about the Nixon-era policies are taken, but that was 50 years ago and only part of the story.
To the degree that that cocaine business (like any honest business) creates value, there’s some truth in that. But most of the value is in the high that the customers get when they consume it—it doesn’t create much *economic* value. Except to whatever extent the cocaine makes users more productive (it’s a stimulant, as is caffeine).
But the “subsidy” mostly comes from other inner-city residents—for the most part, they’re the customers (obviously some outsiders come into town to buy, but I suspect that’s a small fraction of the business). So it’s a zero-sum transaction within the inner city, except (as said) for the hedons of pleasure experienced by the end-users.
I think the costs of the drug war (fear, crime, overdoses, toxic side-effects of adulterants, incarceration, destroyed families, etc. - all of which overwhelmingly fall on inner-city poor people) far exceed any “subsidy” to the inner city.
I suspect a stronger argument could be made that the drug war is a key element of the institutional structures that keep the underclass down. Supposedly (from those who were there) Nixon’s War on Drugs was intended to make life harder for blacks: https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2016/03/23/nixons-drug-war-an-excuse-to-lock-up-blacks-and-protesters-continues/#5feee3f542c8 https://www.drugpolicy.org/press-release/2016/03/top-adviser-richard-nixon-admitted-war-drugs-was-policy-tool-go-after-anti https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11325750/nixon-war-on-drugs https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html
I suspect that “outsiders” form a bigger part of the overall demand than you think, and that the business transfers considerable(1) amounts of currency to the inner cities from places like Wall Street and Hollywood (and other more affluent areas). Which isn’t to say that it’s not part of the structures keeping the underclass down(2); it’s possible to be dependent for one’s livelihood on things that are bad for you.
(1) considerable by inner city standards, much less so by Wall Street standards
(2) I’m not sure to what extent we should view society as “keeping the underclass down” vs. “trying, and mostly failing, to lift the underclass up”. Your points about the Nixon-era policies are taken, but that was 50 years ago and only part of the story.