The Disparate Impact of Unemployment

Macroeconomic Policy as a Tool for Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination
Monday November 25, 2013

This seminar will explore the relationship between macroeconomic policy and the systemic perpetuation of involuntary unemployment, with a particular emphasis on the discriminatory effect of involuntary unemployment on age, race and gender minorities.

Overview

In Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin said “[i]f the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” In the spirit of that observation, this seminar will explore the relationship between macroeconomic policy and the systemic perpetuation of involuntary unemployment, with a particular emphasis on the discriminatory effect of involuntary unemployment on age, race and gender minorities. Questions to be addressed include:

What causes involuntary unemployment?

What is the effect of involuntary unemployment on individuals, communities and the economy?

How are particular age, gender and racial groups affected by involuntary unemployment, relative to the broader population?

How can macroeconomic policy be used to address involuntary unemployment?

Participants

Speakers:

William A. "Sandy" Darity, Jr.

Arts and Sciences Professor of Public Policy
The Sanford School at Duke University

William A. “Sandy” Darity, Jr. is currently the Arts and Sciences Professor of Public Policy in the Sanford School at Duke University and was the Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of North Carolina. Darity was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in 1984, and from 1989 to 1990 was a fellow at the National Humanities Center.

@SandyDarity

Robert E. Prasch (deceased)

Professor of Economics
Middlebury College

Robert E. Prasch (deceased) was Professor of Economics at Middlebury College where he taught Monetary Theory and Policy, Macroeconomics, and American Economic History. He published over 80 articles, book chapters, and reviewed on sundry topics in a variety of scholarly journals.

Rania Antonopoulos

Alternate Minister for Combatting Unemployment & MP (SYRIZA)
Greek Hellenic Parliament

Rania Antonopoulos, MP is the Alternate Minister for Combatting Unemployment (SYRIZA) in the Greek Hellenic Parliament. She is also a senior scholar and director of the Gender Equality and the Economy program at the Levy Institute.

Moderator: 

Olatunde Johnson

Professor of Law
Columbia Law School

Olatunde Johnson is a Professor of Law at Columbia University. She began her career as a law clerk for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, before working for Justice John Paul Stevens at the U.S. Supreme Court and Senator Edward M. Kennedy at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Resources

Core Resources