Economy Insight (Audio)

Across the United States, homelessness has been on the rise. In California, there have been over 181,000 people without a stable place to call home—about 30 percent of the nation’s homeless population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers continued to rise as earnings dropped and the housing affordability crisis worsened. What interventions have prevented people from becoming homeless? What lessons have we learned from local, regional, and statewide efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness in the Bay Area and beyond? The Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and a diverse panel of cross-sector experts and advocates collaborated for a discussion on reducing poverty and addressing homelessness in California. Series: "The Goldman School - Berkeley Public Policy" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39849]

What's the root cause of poverty in America? And how do we fix it? In this discussion, Matthew Desmond, renowned Princeton sociologist and author of "Poverty, by America," talks about why poverty persists in the U.S. with Marc-Andreas Muendler, economic professor at UC San Diego. Desmond argues we can end poverty through grassroots activism and a willingness to target systems that perpetuate it, like local zoning laws. Desmond was catapulted into the national spotlight as a leading authority on modern American poverty when his Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” made its debut in 2016. His work has been supported by the Gates, Horowitz, Ford, JBP, MacArthur, and National Science, Russell Sage, and W.T. Grant Foundations, as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39385]

Where did the American Dream of hard work equals upward mobility go? And what will it take to bring it back? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, focuses on three policy levers to increase upward mobility: reducing racial and economic segregation through more effective affordable housing programs, investing in place-based policies, and strengthening higher education. Chetty gives specific examples of pilot studies and interventions that help inform the design of policy and practice from the federal to state to local levels, including at institutions of higher education such as UC Berkeley. He offers illustrations that can be scaled nationally, providing a pathway to expand opportunities for all. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39239]

Children’s chances of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half century in America. How can we restore the American Dream of upward mobility for all children? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, shows how big data from varied sources ranging from anonymized tax records to Facebook social network data is helping us uncover the science of economic opportunity. Among other topics, Chetty discusses how and why children’s chances of climbing the income ladder vary across neighborhoods, the drivers of racial disparities in economic mobility, and the role of social capital as a driver of upward mobility. He presents data on the state of economic opportunity in California in particular to provide a local context to these national patterns. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39238]

A hallmark of every developed nation is the provision of a social safety net – a collection of public programs that deliver aid to the poor. Because of their higher rates of poverty, children are often a major beneficiary of safety net programs. Compared to other countries, the U.S. spends less on antipoverty programs and, consequently, has higher child poverty rates. Professor Hilary Hoynes discusses the emerging research that examines how the social safety net affects children’s life trajectories. The long run benefits are significant for the families, but also show that many programs prove to be excellent public investments. This has implications for current policy discussions such as the expanded Child Tax Credit. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 38275]

The county of San Diego has instituted inclusionary hiring practices to recruit neurodivergent individuals to the workforce and ensure departments have the proper skills to interview, train, and work with these members of the San Diego community. Garret Hoff, Brandy Winterbottom, Brian Lafferty, and Megan Elledge-LeVota discuss how this initiative came to be and what it means for the future.

Series: "Autism Tree Project Annual Neuroscience Conference" [Public Affairs] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 38394]

The U.S. is blessed with stable neighbors to the south and north. Despite the polarization of immigration issues along the southern border, Mexico is the indispensable ally of the U.S., according to Rafael Fernandez de Castro,

director of UC San Diego's Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. Mexico is the top U.S. trading partner with over 6 million American jobs dependent on trade in goods and services with our neighbor to the south. Mexico also plays a substantive role in migration and border affairs. Series: "Triton Talks" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 38070]

This program looks at education and how the brain of adolescents primes them for learning. Caroline Hoxby, professor of economics at Stanford University and one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of education economics, says investing in education in early adolescents can have profound impacts on the continuation of learning through teenage years and beyond. She says that more education leads to social cohesion, advancing economic opportunity, reducing inequality and decreasing geographic and political polarization. This discussion includes commentary by Jan-Werner Müller, Erik Hurst, and Silvia Bunge. Series: "Tanner Lectures on Human Values" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 37733]

One of the world’s leading scholars in the field of education economics, Caroline Hoxby’s lectures draw upon economics, neuroscience, and education. She shows that early adolescence is the point at which most people either join the path towards advanced cognitive skills or not. Hoxby argues that it is imperative to invest in early education. Series: "Tanner Lectures on Human Values" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 38061]

One of the world’s leading scholars in the field of education economics, Caroline Hoxby’s lectures draw upon economics, neuroscience, and education. She shows that early adolescence is the point at which most people either join the path towards advanced cognitive skills or not. Hoxby argues that, in a highly industrialized economy like that of the United States, it is not unreasonable for people on the non-advanced-cognitive-skills path to exhibit “economic fatalism” — despair at their long-term economic prospects. This may explain patterns in persons’ susceptibility to populism and political movements that promise to insulate them from the world economy. Series: "Tanner Lectures on Human Values" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 37731]