It takes only a cursory look at the numbers to reveal the staggering wealth disparities that are very clearly marked by race/ethnicity in this country. The net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family in the United States, a ratio that persists through booms and busts. While this is certainly bad for Black families, it is equally bad for white people. If we were to work on closing this gap we would actually increase economic prosperity for everyone, a fact that often gets lost in the discussion. Given this clear convergence of economic interests, how do we make this happen? Join us for a conversation between writer/director/actor Ahmed Best and Gary Hoover, a nationally renowned economist, who directs the Murphy Institute at Tulane University where he and his colleagues dig into the most challenging economic, moral, and political problems of our time.
Speakers:
Dr. Gary A. Hoover is the Executive Director of the Murphy Institute at Tulane University and a professor of economics. He has published numerous scholarly research papers, book chapters, and reviews on the areas of public policy of income redistribution/poverty, political economy, and ethics in the economics profession. He is the co-chair of the American Economic Association Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession. He has also served as the Vice President of the Southern Economic Association. He is the founding and current editor of the Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy.
Ahmed Best is an Adjunct Lecturer at the USC School of Dramatic Arts and senior fellow at USC Annenberg Innovation Lab. He’s the Assistant Artistic Director of the Echo theater Company, host of Star Wars Jedi Temple Challenge on Star Wars Kids and the Afrofuturist Podcast; CEO of BISN Media; and a writer, director, producer, actor, musician, and futurist. He starred in the Broadway musical Stomp and as the first CGI lead character in a motion picture, as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars Prequel trilogy.
