Renowned economist, academic, and social commentator Glenn Loury will present his lecture, “Why Racial Inequality Persists,” on Wednesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. in Wallenberg Auditorium, as part of the Lindau Residency in Conservative Thought. The event is free and open to the public.
Loury is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University. He also hosts The Glenn Show (@GlennLouryShow), which features discussions about economics, diversity, current events, and other topics from a conservative and libertarian perspective. Loury’s academic research focuses on inequality, social stratification, and discrimination.
In an email exchange prior to the event, Loury responded to several questions, including what accounts for racial disparities in income in the U.S. (Loury says this is mainly due to differences in skills, and that discrimination is a minor factor); whether meritocracy is dying within U.S. higher education (no, but it’s under assault); what the benefits and costs of Affirmative Action policies for Black Americans have been (admitting Blacks with a lower academic standard gives them access to elite venues, but at the cost of patronizing them); and how the GOP can attract and nurture more Black conservatives (by staying true to their convictions while addressing themselves to the economic, educational, and public safety concerns of Black communities).
During the Lindau lecture, Loury will discuss the complex interplay of cultural, structural, and individual factors that contribute to racial inequality in the U.S. He will highlight the importance of understanding and addressing these factors to promote greater social and economic equality. He has argued that social and economic inequality cannot be fully explained by structural factors alone, such as discrimination or historical injustices, but it must also be understood in terms of cultural dynamics and individual agency.
Loury suggests that addressing cultural factors will require a concerted effort at individual and societal levels, and he advocates for the values of hard work, personal responsibility, and education, along with policies that support these values. He emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing the complex interplay of cultural, structural, and individual factors that contribute to racial inequality, and he’s called for a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to addressing this persistent issue.
For more information on the lecture, visit gustavus.edu/events/lindau. Economics students are encouraged (and all are welcome) to study Loury’s research ahead of the lecture. For a summary of his findings and the conceptual framework he suggests for studying racial inequality, click here.