During South Africa's apartheid era, it had laws similar to the Davis-Bacon in its quest to protect white workers from competition with lower-skilled, lower-paid black workers.

One naturally asks how such a law can remain on the books today. Davis-Bacon survives because of the powerful interest-group support it receives, namely labor unions who lobby congressmen, both Democrats and Republicans. What's sad is the support the Davis-Bacon Act receives from black congressmen. Black congressmen have made a deal with the devil because unions represent their strongest supporters in terms of campaign contributions and their legislative agenda.

Of course, today's Davis-Bacon Act supporters don't have the same intentions and don't use the racist language of their predecessors. That shouldn't make any difference to us. Our concern should be the law's effects, not its intentions.

After all, if someone is pushed off a building it's not the intentions of the pusher that determines how he falls, it's the law of gravity. It's the same with economic laws. Intentions behind price-fixing are not necessarily the same as its effects.