Drivers of Inequality: Global and Domestic
Module, second half, fall semester HS 324 F
Mondays, 9:00 to 11:50, Room 053
Robert Kuttner
What are the several sources of widening inequality within nations and between nations?
This course will sort out the relative role of such factors as wage and salary income; increasing returns to capital; wealth inequality; inter-generational inequality; race, gender, taxes and transfer income; public provision versus privatization; and globalization.
We will look at changing rules of the global economy, and the question of whether increasing incomes in developing countries must come at the expense of incomes in the “advanced” countries--or whether a different model of global trade and production might produce more equal income distributions in both the global north and global south.
The class will take a political economy perspective. It will address the role of political power in different models of how to structure economies, and the cumulative dynamics of how economic inequality translates into political inequality to structure laws and rules, as well as the role of race and gender.
There will be one short paper and one take-home final exam. Students will meet with the instructor to discuss paper topics.
Readings will be available on LATTE October 1.
Unit I. Monday, October 30. Theories of Increasing Inequality.
An introduction to the debate about why the economy has become so much more unequal.What actually happened: a review of the trajectory of increasing inequality.
Readings:
Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall, 1-26
Anthony Atkinson, Inequality,1-45, 241-280
EPI, Charting Wage Stagnation
There are several stories of what why the economy has become more unequal.
For example:
Skills.Shifts in the demand for highly skilled workers has left routine workers behind, as those with more advanced skills are paid according to their productivity.
Globalization.Following free-market logic, globalization puts routine American workers into competition with lower-paid foreign workers.
Reading: Thomas Friedman, “It’s a Flat World, After All” /2005/04/03/magazine/its-a-flat-world-after-all.html?mcubz=3
Robots are taking jobs!
Reading:
None of these accounts is very persuasive. We need more of a political economy story. So Let’s go back to the era when US was more equal:
Unit II. Monday, November 6.
A. What happened to the postwar social contract?
Readings:
Jefferson Cowie, The Great Exception, 1-34
Robert Kuttner,Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?, Preface and Chapter 4
B. Race and Inequality.
Richard Rothstein, “The Making of Ferguson,”
Unit III. Monday, November 13. The Suppression and Empowerment of Capital. Readings:
Simon Johnson and James Kwak13 Bankers, 57-87
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Report, read Part II, Skim Part III
Unit IV. Monday, November 20. The Empowerment and Suppression of Labor.
Readings:
Robert Kuttner, “Why Did Work Become So Bad for So Many?” New York Review of Books.
Jan Cremers, “In Search of Cheap Labor in Europe.”
Unit V. Monday, November 27.
A. The rent-seeking economy, and the political economy of influence (to make the rules)
Reading, Robert Reich, Saving Capitalism, Part I.
Reading, Martin Gilens, Affluence and Influence, Chapter 1.
Reading, Robert Kuttner, “Tocqueville for Toffs”
B. Intergenerational Inequality, and the hardening of class lines. Raj Chetty et al, Reading to be posted.
Unit VI. December 4.Globalization and Global Inequality.
Readings:
BrankoMilanovic, Global Inequality, 1-45, 155-211.
Jeff Faux, The Global Class War, 1-48
SHORT PAPER DUE
Unit VII. December 11. The Politics and Policies of Remedy.
A. Is this reversible?
B. Weak and Strong Remedies – education; redistribution after the fact; trade adjustment assistance; asset policies; regulation of labor; regulation of capital
Christopher Jencks, Inequality, Chapter One
Other readings to be assigned
Housekeeping Details
Presentation and Discussion of Readings. To facilitate class discussion, each student will do one 15-minute oral presentation of one of the readings, as well as three (3)two-to-three-paragraphwritten responsesto a sample of weekly readings. You may choose the readings you find most interesting. Please space them over the seven weeks, and please email them to the instructor by midnight the day before they are to be covered in class. Written comments should cover the following questions:
- What are the key arguments or debates in the readings?
- What are the most persuasive points or promising strategies?
- What are your critiques of the readings?
Take-Home Exam. A take-home final exam will be distributed at the last class. The point of the exam is to demonstrate that you have mastered the material. There are no “gotcha” questions.
Grades will be based on
a. Paper 35 percent
b. Take-home final exam: 35 percent
c. In-class presentations and general participation: 30 percent
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not okay to use the words of another person -- whether a world-class scholar or a fellow student – without proper acknowledgement of that source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the sources of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs or concepts found in published work, on the internet, or created by another student. Minor variations in wording are not sufficient – borrowed ideas require footnotes as well as attribution in your text. Remember: footnotes make you look really good -- like the diligent researcher that you are -- while plagiarism makes you look larcenous. Please also refrain from plagiarizing from yourself. Papers need to be original work, not adaptations of work done for other classes. If you have any questions about standards of academic integrity, please ask the instructor.
Violations of university policies on academic integrity, described in Section 3 of Rights and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, and could end in suspension from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, please ask for clarification.
Readings:Please do not be put off by the extent of the readings. My expectation is that you skim-read all materials, slow down and read more carefully when you come to something that is really interesting, and we will discuss key points in class. Try to skim-read the following week’s material in preparation for each class (before rather than after class), and focus on those that you find compelling.
Multi-Tasking Courtesy: If you would like to have laptops or tablets in class, for purposes of taking notes, that is great. Emailing, texting, checking Facebook, surfing the web, etc., during class, are not permitted.The instructor works hard on this course, and expects full student attention and participation. If you feel that you cannot concentrate enough to stay focused, please don’t bring laptops or tablets to class.
Disability Notice: If you have a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and require accommodations, please bring it to the instructor’s attention prior to the second meeting of the class. If you have any questions about this process, contact Mary Brooks, Disabilities Coordinator for The Heller School at x 62816, or at .