BLACK-MALE UNEMPLOYMENT

Public policies intended to raise the wages of unskilled workers, equa lize educational opportunity, stabilize employment, and increase impor ts were sources of the growth of unskilled and, therefore, of black un employment since 1950. The wartime wage-equalization policy and postwa r minimum-wage policies raised the cost of unskilled labor relative to that of capital and of skilled labor. The Fed's inflationary full-emp loyment policy between 1950 and 1970 reduced real interest rates relat ive to unskilled wages. Subsidies for higher education increased the s upply of skilled labor, reducing its cost relative to that of unskille d labor. Trade liberalization increased imports of manufactured goods from developing countries, which displaced U.S. unskilled labor.