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Estimating Slavery Reparations: Present Value Comparisons of Historical Multigenerational Reparations Policies

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  • Thomas Craemer

Abstract

type="main"> I investigate two problems regarding multigenerational reparations: legal obstacles caused by the passage of time and economic difficulties in obtaining realistic present value estimates. To investigate legal precedents, I trace the French spoliation claims, which were paid over a period of 123 years, and Haiti's independence debt, which was paid over 156 years. To investigate present value estimation, I compare existing slavery reparations estimates based on slave prices as expected future income to alternative estimates based on the number of unremunerated work hours multiplied with historical free labor market wages. I estimate the present value of U.S. slave labor in 2009 dollars to range from $5.9 to $14.2 trillion. Historical precedents suggest that political rather than narrowly legal processes will determine any ultimate claims. Neither problems nor solutions associated with multigenerational reparations are new. New is the estimation method and the resulting upward correction of reparations estimates.

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  • Thomas Craemer, 2015. "Estimating Slavery Reparations: Present Value Comparisons of Historical Multigenerational Reparations Policies," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 639-655, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:96:y:2015:i:2:p:639-655
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ssqu.12151
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mr. Manik L. Shrestha & Mr. Adriaan M. Bloem, 2000. "Comprehensive Measures of GDP and the Unrecorded Economy," IMF Working Papers 2000/204, International Monetary Fund.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jenny Bourne, 2022. "Double take: Abolition and the size of transferred property rights," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(7), pages 1706-1718, December.
    2. Anaïs E. A. Goubert, 2022. "Slavery, Colonialism, and Ecological Imperialism: Insights from Stratification Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 81(3), pages 537-579, May.
    3. Justin Curtis, 2022. "The effect of the 2020 racial justice protests on attitudes and preferences in rural and urban America," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(1), pages 90-107, January.

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