An 8th grade teacher in Alabama was recently suspending for asking students to answer some rather unorthodox word problems on a math quiz. Among them:
“Leroy has 2 ounces of cocaine. If he sells an eight ball to Antonio for $320 and 2 grams to Juan for $85 per gram, what is the street value of the rest of his hold?”
As far as I’m concerned, any teacher who asks this question OUGHT to be suspended … until s/he completes some remedial education in the field of applied economics. That’s because besides being racist and overly-simplistic, this particular formulation reflects a grossly incorrect understanding of market realities in the recreational drug industry of Gulf Coast Alabama. It assumes a market structure in which African-American mid-level dealers (“Leroy“) are supplying retail customer Latinos (“Antonio” and “Juan“) with what is basically a South American agricultural product. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Who’s really furnishing the cocaine supply in Alabama? Enterprising free-market Mexican entrepreneurs operating as logistics specialists on behalf of Colombian manufacturers. And who’s buying? As usual, the 18-to-34-year-old demographic: white, black, brown and yellow. In pretty much that order. So here’s a more realistic phrasing of the math quiz question:
“Tyler scored 2 oz of coke from Bubba the shrimper, who brought in a load from the Gulf for Don Arturo. If Tyler sells an eight ball to Bryce for $320 and 2 grams to Muffy for $85 per gram, what is the street value of everything left besides his head stash?”
And some follow-up questions:
- How much cash did Tyler have to front Bubba for the 2 oz?
- Why does Muffy get a better unit price than Bryce? (As if you didn’t know.)
- Will Tyler, Bryce and Muffy graduate from high school this year?
Waking the Dragon 