The Other America: Then and Now - One nation, (in)divisible: The future of inequality in America

How big is the current cultural, economic, and social divide? How does it differ from the divide Michael Harrington brought to light 50 years ago in his book, The Other America? What is the role of government as inequality rises? What can be done to close the gap? Syndicated columnist, Clarence Page, will moderate this debate between Jared Bernstein and Charles Murray on the future of inequality in America.

Presented by the National Poverty Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan with funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Join the conversation on Twitter: #OtherAmericaUM
 

Jared Bernstein

Jared Bernstein
Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Jared Bernstein joined the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 2011 as a Senior Fellow. From 2009 to 2011, Bernstein was the Chief Economist and Economic Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, and a member of President Obama's economic team. Prior to joining the Obama administration, he was the director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute and the deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books including Crunch: Why do I Feel So Squeezed (2008) and nine editions of The State of Working America. He is a regular on-air commentator and hosts http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/.

Charles Murray

Charles Murray
W. H. Brady Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and libertarian. He first came to national attention in 1984 with the publication of Losing Ground, which has been credited as the intellectual foundation for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. His New York Times bestseller, The Bell Curve (1994), coauthored with the late Richard J. Herrnstein, sparked heated controversy for its analysis of the role of IQ in shaping America's class structure. Murray's other books include What It Means to Be a Libertarian (1997), Human Accomplishment (2003), In Our Hands (2006), and Real Education (2008). His most recent book, Coming Apart (2012), describes an unprecedented divergence in American classes over the last half century. He hosts www.aei-ideas.org/author/cmurray.

Clarence Page

Clarence Page
Syndicated Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Chicago Tribune

Clarence Page is the winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He is a regular contributor of essays to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and regularly appears on The McLaughlin Group, NBC's The Chris Matthews Show, ABC's Nightline and BET's Lead Story news panel programs. He is the recipient of numerous awards for community service and reporting, including lifetime achievement awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the Chicago Headline Club, and the National Association of Black Journalists. He is an inductee to the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame and the author of Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity (1996). He currently serves as a board member of the Knight Wallace Fellows at the University of Michigan.

The Other America: Then and Now will examine the legacy of Michael Harrington's 1962 book, The Other America, today – the causes of poverty and its effects, and new ideas for policies and interventions for workers, families, and children.

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