A yet-to-be-published article in an upcoming issue of the prestigious American Economic Review by two economics professors, peer reviewed by economists and biologists, argues that a country’s poverty could be the result of its citizens’ genetic make-up. It has already sparked charges of genetic determinism and racism–in some cases from critics who had not read the article–and has led to troubling calls to censor discussion of such issues on the grounds that such data “has the potential to be misused with frightening consequences to justify indefensible practices such as ethnic cleansing or genocide.”
Additional Resources:
- The “out of Africa” hypothesis, human genetic diversity, and comparative economic development, Ideas
- Genetic diversity and economic development, Evolving Economics
View the original article here: Genoeconomics: To uproar, researches say genetic diversity can predict economic success