Economists, I think, often tend to have a different way of looking at things. They ask particular sorts of questions and often arrive at different kinds of answers than us non-economists. For us, economic work often can seem to take place in a world unto itself. Sometimes, though, what economists argue and and call out…
Tag: inequality
American Dream, American Nightmare
The “American Dream” may be difficult to define, but it rests on well-recognized and shared assumptions: that everyone is created equal (per the Declaration of Independence), that freedom allows for personal choice, that opportunity should be available to all, that hard work and playing fair will result in good outcomes, and that our children’s lives…
The Unfortunate Durability of Good Inequality Scholarship
Dalton Conley’s Being Black, Living in the Red is an important book about race, wealth and social policy. Published in the late 1990s, a version with a new afterword came out in 2010. It was important then and it remains relevant today. Many believe that rising inequality is one of the most pressing problems facing American today.…