Clemens Lecture Series speaker to talk on economic inequality

David H. Autor will present the lecture "Rising Inequality Among the 'Other 99 Percent' " at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John's University.

Autor will be speaking on the rise of earnings inequality in the U.S. labor market and in developed countries. His discussion will include the central role of both the supply and demand for skills in shaping inequality, why skills demands have consistently risen in industrialized countries and considers the economic value of inequality alongside its potential social costs.

Autor currently serves as Ford Professor of Economics and associate head at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Economics. While he has contributed to a variety of fields in economics, his research generally focuses on topics from labor economics. His work has been published in several journals including the National Bureau of Economic Research, IDEAS, American Economic Association and Science Magazine.

Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Autor spent three years directing efforts in San Francisco and South Africa to teach computer skills to economically disadvantaged children and adults. Autor received a B.A. in psychology from Tufts University in 1989, and his master's and Ph.D. in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Autor is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research on labor market intermediation; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship; and the Sherwin Rosen Prize in 2008 for outstanding contributions in the field of labor economics. In 2012, Autor was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Science.

The Clemens Lecture Series brings an expert in economics to SJU each year to enlighten the audience on how economics speaks to larger problems in society. The lecture series is designed to be practically useful in understanding daily life and is intended for a wide audience.

Past Clemens lecturers have included Carol Graham (2015), Benjamin M. Friedman (2011), Rebecca Blank (1997) and Jeffrey Sachs (1991).

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