Brad DeLong wrote an eloquent response to Andrew Sullivan’s suggestion that an all-white elite university would be perfectly OK. My thoughts on affirmative action are relatively complicated and in reality probably somewhat muddled. On one hand, I am a big believer in rewarding people based on their deeds rather than on their identity, but on the other hand, the fact that the corridors of power in this country are prowled by white men to the near exclusion of both minorities and women is the product of long term systemic unfairness. The question that I can’t answer is whether this problem will correct itself during the natural course of things and if so, how long it will take?