Designed to provide an introduction to primary data on ghetto economics, this comprehensive study is, in effect, a do-it-yourself guide to understanding economic realities. Professor Bell notes that it is impossible for one book to deal with hundreds of communities where ghettos might exist: she uses illustrative material about three cities in the United States, and three neighborhoods within each. Each chapter shows how to analyze a problem, interpret data, and draw conclusions from the material available. The reader can follow these examples and duplicate this type of investigation for his own community. After the first half of the book states the conditions that exist and explains their implications, the second half offers the logical follow-up of discussing what can be done about these conditions. Here, economics implies not the analysis of empirical data or theoretical reasoning, but specifically the appraisal of suggested programs or policies. (CB)