UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Economics expert Gary Hoover will visit Penn State's University Park campus to deliver the lecture, "Ladder or Lottery? The Economics of the Social Contract," from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the Lewis Katz Building's Greg Sutliff Auditorium.
This event is hosted by the Penn State School of International Affairs and is open to the public. Registration is required.
Hoover is the executive director of The Murphy Institute and professor of economics at Tulane University. His research focuses on the intersection of economics, race and public policy. Since 2012, he has served as co-chair of the American Economic Association Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession. He also is the current and founding editor of the Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy; past vice president of the Southern Economic Association; and a fellow of CESifo Group Munich.
"Ladder or Lottery?" asks the question: "Are people positioned on the economic spectrum by their own choice?" Scholars have argued that with the creation of the market-based economy, starting position matters little given that society has created a social contract that assures upward mobility if certain actions are taken.
Hoover discusses what the “social contract” requires of its citizens and what is promised in return. He then explores what happens when individuals who feel that they have done the required actions do not get their promised results, and considers case studies such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and student debt forgiveness.
Hoover makes predictions about where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered, and tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and the coming challenges brought by artificial intelligence.
In the end, Hoover answers the question of whether the data and case studies should lead us to believe that our social contract is a ladder to higher standings or simply a lottery, which most will attempt but not be successful.