Robert Frank addresses “How Growing Inequality Hurts the Middle Class” at Clemens Lecture

Robert Frank, professor of management and economics at Cornell University, presents the 19th Clemens Lecture Monday, Oct. 29 at Saint John’s University, Collegeville.

Frank speaks on “How Growing Inequality Hurts the Middle Class” at 8 p.m. at the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater. His speech, which will explain how middle class citizens face more costly options (such as the cost of housing or education) simply due to a growing gap between middle income Americans and the wealthy, is open to the public.

He will also speak to College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University economic students and faculty members during selected classes Oct. 30.

At Cornell, Frank is the Henrietta Johnson Louis professor of management and professor of economics, Johnson Graduate School of Management. Since January 2005, he has been a monthly contributor to the “Economic Scene” column in the New York Times newspaper.

He wrote two books released earlier this year: The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas (2007, Basic Books) and Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class (2007, University of California Press). Frank’s insights in The Economic Naturalist were the focus of an Oct. 3 NPR interview. He is known for his creative use of economics to explain daily occurrences, such as why the keypad on drive-up ATM’s have Braille dots, and why upscale clothing stores have fewer dresses displayed.

Frank has also authored or co-authored What Price the Moral Ground? (2004, Princeton University Press); Principles of Economics, with Ben Bernanke (2001, McGraw-Hill); Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess (1999, The Free Press); The Winner-Take-All Society, with Philip Cook (1995, Martin Kessler Books at The Free Press); Microeconomics and Behavior (1991, McGraw-Hill); Passions Within Reason: The Strategic Role of Emotions (1988, W.W. Norton); Choosing the Right Pond: Human Behavior and the Quest for Status (1985, Oxford University Press) and The Distributional Consequences of Direct Foreign Investment, with Richard Freeman (1978, Academic Press). Winner-Take-All Society was named a “Notable Book of the Year” by the New York Times, and was included on Business Week’s list of top 10 books for 1995.

Frank has also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Nepal, chief economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board, fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, Calif., and was professor of American civilization at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

The Clemens Lecture Series was founded in 1987 to further conversation on the ways economics can speak to the larger problems of our society and culture. It brings to Saint John’s outstanding economists noted for their abilities to address the economic dimensions of social issues and to sustain dialogue with the other fields of the liberal arts.

The Clemens Chair in Economics and the Liberal Arts and the Clemens Lecture Series have been made possible by the generosity of William and Virginia Clemens.