Inequality and coronavirus (with Heather Boushey and Michelle Holder)

The burdens of this pandemic are not borne equally. Economists Heather Boushey and Michelle Holder join the show this week to expose how the coronavirus is exacerbating the already-deep inequalities in our society. 

Heather Boushey is the President & CEO and co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She is one of the nation’s most influential voices on economic policy and a leading economist who focuses on the intersection between economic inequality, growth, and public policy. Her latest book is Unbound: How Economic Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It. 

Twitter: @HBoushey

Michelle Holder is an Assistant Professor of Economics at John Jay College, City University of New York. Prior to joining the John Jay faculty, she worked professionally as an economist for over a decade in both the nonprofit and government sectors. Her research focuses on blacks and women in the American labor market, and her economic policy reports have been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Amsterdam News, and El Diario. Her first book African American Men and the Labor Market during the Great Recession was released from Palgrave Macmillan in 2017. Michelle’s educational background includes master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from the New School for Social Research in NYC, and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham University.

Twitter: @mlholder999

Further reading: 

Unbound: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674919310

The coronavirus recession and economic inequality: a roadmap to recovery and long-term structural change: https://equitablegrowth.org/the-coronavirus-recession-and-economic-inequality-a-roadmap-to-recovery-and-long-term-structural-change/

The “Double Gap” and the Bottom Line: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RI_DoubleGap_Report_202003.pdf

Before COVID-19, corporate America shortchanged black women $50 billion annually: Why all women should care: https://msmagazine.com/2020/04/07/before-covid-19-corporate-america-shortchanged-black-women-50-billion-annually-why-all-women-should-care/

Inequality and poverty were destroying America well before Covid-19: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/inequality-and-poverty-were-destroying-america-well-before-covid-19/

Our uniquely American virus: 

https://prospect.org/coronavirus/our-uniquely-american-virus/

Black Americans face alarming rates of coronavirus infection in some states: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/coronavirus-race.html

The coronavirus pandemic and the racial wealth gap: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2020/03/19/481962/coronavirus-pandemic-racial-wealth-gap/

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer