Robert Margo on Race and Economic Inequality in the US
“Obama, Katrina, and the Persistence of Racial Inequality”
Robert A. Margo
Professor Margo (Dept. of Economics) will survey what economic historians know about the evolution of racial (black/white) differences in economic status (income, wealth, education) from the end of the Civil War to the present. He will argue that, while there has been a narrowing of racial differences in the long run—what economists call “convergence”—the extent of convergence is considerably less than that predicted by the standard economic model of the transmission of inequality across generations. In addition, convergence has been episodic—occurring during specific periods of time—rather than continuous, as the standard model predicts. He will argue that the long-run evolution of racial economic differences is better described empirically by a model in which African-Americans constitute a separate economic “nation,” implying an important role for racial segregation and discrimination in the historical narrative.
November 13, 2014 at 7 pm
Florence and Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University
(213 Bay State Road, Fourth Floor)