The Great Polarization
Economics, Institutions and Policies in the Age of Inequality

Thursday, September 27, 2018

5:30-6:45 PM
Alumni House
Grand Ballroom

Reception (by invitation)

Opening Remarks:
Daniel Reed | Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Utah

7:00-8:30 PM
Gardner Commons
Siciliano Auditorium

Keynote Lecture: America’s growing inequality: Causes and remedies
Joseph E. Stiglitz | Nobel Memorial Prize Winner; Professor, Columbia University

View Presentation Here

View Video Presentation Here 

Friday, September 28, 2018

8:00-9:00 AM

Breakfast
Please note that breakfast will be provided for conference participants only

Session 1: Taking stock: The trajectory of inequality along multiple dimensions

9:00-10:40 AM
Gardner Commons
Eccles Auditorium

Session Chair: 
Günseli Berik | Professor of Economics, University of Utah

Presenters:
Timothy M. Smeeding | Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abstract ViewPresentation Here

Response: Thomas Maloney

Susan Dynarski | Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics, University of Michigan
What have we learned about inequality in education in the US?

Abstract View Presentation Here
Response: Eunice Han

Ellis Scharfenaker | Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Utah
Labor market segmentation and the distribution of income: New evidence from US Census Bureau data

Abstract
Response: Timothy M. Smeeding

Stephanie Seguino | Professor of Economics, University of Vermont
The costs of exclusion: Gender job segregation, structural change, and the labor share of income in developing countries

Abstract View Presentation Here
Response: Nilufer Cagatay

Session 2: Generating inequality: The critical factors

11:10 AM-12:30 PM
Gardner Commons
Eccles Auditorium

Session Chair: 
Tabitha Benney | Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Utah

Presenters: 
Korkut Erturk | Professor of Economics, University of Utah
Labor share, technology and falling demand for high skill workers: Marx and Acemoglu on induced innovations
Abstract

 
Response: Lawrence Mishel

Lawrence Mishel | Distinguished Fellow, Economic Policy Institute, DC
Wages and inequality: How resetting rules of labor market generated wage stagnation and inequality in the US
Abstract View Presentation Here

Response: Marion Crain

Dean Baker | Co-Founder, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Intellectual property and inequality in the US
Abstract View Presentation Here

Response: Mark Glick

12:30-1:30 PM

Lunch
Please note that lunch will be provided for conference participants only

Session 3: Consequences of polarization: Economic, social and political implications

1:30-3:10 PM
Gardner Commons
Eccles Auditorium

Session Chair: 
Ella Myers | Associate Professor of Political Theory, University of Utah

Presenters: 
Thomas N. Maloney | Professor of Economics, University of Utah
Teachers' collective bargaining rights and race/class inequality in student performance
Abstract View Presentation Here

Response: Susan Dynarski

Julia Ott | Associate Professor in the History of Capitalism, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, NY
Tax preference as white privilege: Historical perspective on the racial wealth gap
Abstract View Presentation Here
Response: Darrick Hamilton

Codrina Rada | Associate Professor of Economics, University of Utah
Sectoral dynamics of income distribution in the US economy
Abstract View Presentation Here
Response: Thomas Ferguson

Marcel Paret | Assistant Professor of Sociology
From Crisis to Redistribution? Global Attitudes Towards Equality, Welfare, and State Ownership
Abstract View Presentation Here
Response: Stephanie Seguino

Session 4: What do we do? An agenda for the next decade

Session Chair: 
Erika George | Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, College Of Law, University of Utah

Presenters: 
Gérard Duménil | (Retired) Research Director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
At the roots of varying patterns of income inequalities (US, 1915-2015): Relations of production and power configurations
Abstract View Presentation Here

Response: Julia Ott

Thomas Ferguson | Director of Research Projects, Institute for New Economic Thinking
Why are party systems collapsing in the most developed countries on earth?
Abstract View Presentation Here

Response: Dean Baker

Darrick Hamilton | Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, Milano School of International Affairs, NY
The moral burden of economists: Universal race and gender conscious policies to promote human capability and economic inclusion
Abstract

Response: Joseph Stiglitz

Dinner (by invitation)

Opening Remarks:
Cynthia Berg | Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah

Keynote Lecture: Law and the collective struggle for economic justice
Marion Crain | Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law, Washington University in St. Louis
Abstract View Presentation Here

Responses:
Peter Philips | Professor of Economics, University of Utah

Erika George | Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, College Of Law, University of Utah

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Breakfast
Please note that breakfast will be provided for conference participants only

Round Table: Injecting critical resources: Funding an agenda that translates research to policy

Moderator: 
Norman Waitzman | Professor and Chair of Economics, University of Utah

Panelists: 
Thomas Ferguson | Director of Research Projects, Institute for New Economic Thinking
James R. Holbrook | Clinical Professor of Law, University of Utah
Timothy M. Smeeding | Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Round Table: Rubber meets the road: Academics, activists and policymakers having an impact

Moderator: 
James Curry | Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Utah

Panelists: 
Mark Button | Professor and Chair of Political Science, University of Utah
Gina Cornia | Executive Director, Utahns Against Hunger
Becky Edwards | Representative, District 20, Utah House of Representatives
Luz Escamilla | Senator, District 1 Assistant Minority Whip, Utah Senate
Josh Kanter | Founder and Board President, Alliance for a Better Utah