Leading scholars examine the conflicting paradigms of affluence and destitution in the United States—as well as other free societies—and discuss the influence of education, race, and status on economic mobility. While recent catastrophic events in New Orleans and Haiti may have magnified issues of social inequity, leaders have debated over poverty and discrimination for decades. Are the poor disadvantaged by the institutions of society or by the choices they make? Through two insightful volumes, the author examines differing academic and political perspectives to help shed light on the causes of poverty and inequality; the role that gender, race, age, or sexual preference plays in determining opportunity; and the effectiveness of current social and economic policies in balancing the inequity among disparate groups. The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination in the 21st Century consists of 2 volumes containing 32 papers divided into 5 categories: measurement, inequality and mobility, institutions and choices, demographic groups and discrimination, and policy. The papers—written by economists, sociologists, philosophers and lawyers—deal with the extent of inequality in the United States and how it compares to other countries, and the newly emerging evidence on the relationship between inequality and mobility within a society.

If there was any question before, there is no longer a question today: inequality, discrimination, poverty, and mobility are prominent national issues. The notion of "The American Dream" has been sold to generations of young Americans as the idea that working hard and following your dreams will allow you to break through any barriers in your path and inevitably lead to success. However, recent findings on inequality, discrimination, poverty, and mobility show that "The American Reality" is very different. The second edition of this introductory-level text brings together the essential materials on what economists have to say about these findings and brings students up to date with current thinking. It covers several ground-shattering events, such as: the election of Barack Obama followed by Donald Trump; the passage of the Affordable Care Act and attempts to repeal it; and the publication of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century, among many others. With an emphasis on data, theory, and policy, this book tackles these issues by exploring three key questions in each chapter: What do the data tell us about what has been happening to the American economy? What are the economic theories needed to understand what has been happening? What are the policy ideas and controversies associated with these economic problems? Key controversies are highlighted in each chapter to drive classroom discussion, and end-of-chapter questions develop student understanding. This clearly written text is ideally suited to a wide variety of courses on contemporary economic conditions, inequality, and social economics in the United States.

Synopsis: Thoroughly classroom tested, this introductory text provides a balanced, up-to-date, non-mathematical examination of the economic theory underlying the analysis of inequality, poverty, mobility, and income distribution in the United States.

Succinct, accessible, and authoritative, Thomas Piketty’s The Economics of Inequality is the ideal place to start for those who want to understand the fundamental issues at the heart of one the most pressing concerns in contemporary economics and politics. This work now appears in English for the first time.

Why are so many types of inequality suddenly increasing' Should we be worried that we're moving into a "second gilded age" with unprecedented levels of income inequality' In this new collection, David B. Grusky and Jasmine Hill present readings that lay bare the main changes in play, what's driving these changes, and what might be done to reverse them. This reader delivers the latest and most influential contributions on economic inequality, social mobility, educational inequality, racial and ethnic relations, and gender inequality. Readers will encounter pieces from top scholars in a variety of fields, including Emmanuel Saez (Economist, UC Berkeley), Kathryn Edin (Sociologist, Johns Hopkins), Raj Chetty (Economist, Harvard), Florencia Torche (Sociologist, NYU), and Lucien Bebchuk (Law, Harvard). The readings spanning these fields are expertly excerpted to get readers quickly and immediately to the heart of the scholarship. In each area, Grusky and Hill also provide a concise introduction to the key questions, allowing readers to quickly understand the main forces at work, the debates still in play, and what's still unknown. The resulting collection is pitch-perfect introduction for undergraduates or anyone interested in learning why we're entering a new era of inequality and what can be done to change the tide.

Why are so many types of inequality suddenly increasing? Should we be worried that we're moving into a "second gilded age" with unprecedented levels of income inequality? In this new collection, David B. Grusky and Jasmine Hill present readings that lay bare the main changes in play, what's driving these changes, and what might be done to reverse them. This reader delivers the latest and most influential contributions on economic inequality, social mobility, educational inequality, racial and ethnic relations, and gender inequality. Readers will encounter pieces from top scholars in a variety of fields, including Emmanuel Saez (Economist, UC Berkeley), Kathryn Edin (Sociologist, Johns Hopkins), Raj Chetty (Economist, Harvard), Florencia Torche (Sociologist, NYU), and Lucien Bebchuk (Law, Harvard). The readings spanning these fields are expertly excerpted to get readers quickly and immediately to the heart of the scholarship. In each area, Grusky and Hill also provide a concise introduction to the key questions, allowing readers to quickly understand the main forces at work, the debates still in play, and what's still unknown. The resulting collection is pitch-perfect introduction for undergraduates or anyone interested in learning why we're entering a new era of inequality and what can be done to change the tide.

Many ideas about poverty and discrimination are nothing more than politically driven assertions unsupported by evidence. And even politically neutral studies that do try to assess evidence are often simply unreliable. In Poverty and Discrimination, economist Kevin Lang cuts through the vast literature on poverty and discrimination to determine what we actually know and how we know it. Using rigorous statistical analysis and economic thinking to judge what the best research is and which theories match the evidence, this book clears the ground for students, social scientists, and policymakers who want to understand--and help reduce--poverty and discrimination. It evaluates how well antipoverty and antidiscrimination policies and programs have worked--and whether they have sometimes actually made the problems worse. And it provides new insights about the causes of, and possible solutions to, poverty and discrimination. The book begins by asking, "Who is poor?" and by giving a brief history of poverty and poverty policy in the United States in the twentieth century, including the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Among the topics covered are the changing definition of poverty, the relation between economic growth and poverty, and the effects of labor markets, education, family composition, and concentrated poverty. The book then evaluates the evidence on racial discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and criminal justice, as well as sex discrimination in the labor market, and assesses the effectiveness of antidiscrimination policies. Throughout, the book is grounded in the conviction that we must have much better empirical knowledge of poverty and discrimination if we hope to reduce them.