We bring together scholars across disciplines to discuss the causes and consequences of inequality and strategies to promote economic mobility. Listen and discover novel insights and strategies to address today’s most pressing issues in inequality.
Adam Smith is often remembered for championing free markets, but his moral philosophy on inequality and power is less known. Eric Schliesser joins Steven Durlauf to discuss this side of Smith and the decline of the economist as moral philosopher.
Even in high-tax states, most millionaires stay put. Cristobal Young joins Steven Durlauf and Geoff Wodtke to explain why the wealthy remain rooted, and what tax return and census data reveal about mobility, local ties, and the myth of tax flight.
Education policy sparks intense debate, from school choice to testing. Caterina Calsamiglia joins Steven Durlauf to explore how evidence-based research can improve decision-making, equity, and outcomes in education.
Whatever a country's level of income inequality, its level of wealth inequality is even worse—and the two aren't always linked. Fabian Pfeffer joins Steven Durlauf to uncover what drives the wealth gap and how it shapes opportunity across generations.
In standard economics, people seek utility. But what if identity—who we think we are—shapes what we should want? Rachel Kranton joins Steven Durlauf and Ariel Kalil to explore how identity transforms how economists understand schools, gender, work, and choice.
Why don’t more qualified young people pursue college? Today’s episode explores this question with economists Salvador Navarro and Stephen Trejo, in conversations with host Steven Durlauf on the barriers to college and the persistent gaps facing Hispanic Americans.
Harvard Professor Deirdre Bloome joins host Steven Durlauf to discuss her work measuring the historical evolution of racial inequalities in the family and the economy, and their lasting impact on mobility.
Steven Durlauf talks with Dionissi Aliprantis about neighborhood effects, the racial wealth gap, and 21st-century segregation.
Scott Page, John Seely Brown Distinguished University Professor at Michigan, joins host Steven Durlauf to explore the rise of complex systems thinking in the social sciences and how diversity can strengthen systems.
Sociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen joins Geoff Wodtke to explore the overlap between the housing and climate crises, highlighting retrofitting, policy solutions, and the risks of "green gentrification.”
