Rachel Zellie, Chapter 5, Question #2

Chapter five had a lot of examples and evidence for the necessity of information in economics but Wheelan also brought to light the issue regarding profiling based on ethnicity or race. Wheelan makes the claim that profiling is simply an information problem, because if employers or just a regular person don't have a criminal background check at hand they try to make a judgement about someone based on the limited information they do have. Unfortunately the limited information they do have most often are limited to race and gender. This is not an issue that has directly affected my life but is very prevelant in the lives of many people of different ethnicities, races, and genders. Although I have not personally felt discriminated against due to my race, I do worry that in the future I may be discriminated against due to my gender. I believe that this issue, although a hot topic, could be addressed and possibly solved through more access to information. As Wheelan said in the beginning of the chapter, "What we don't know can hurt us."