Increasing inequality in income and wealth is driving economic dissatisfaction and contributing to rising social polarization and conflict in the US and many other countries. How exactly has economic inequality changed over the last 40 years, and why is inequality growing?
In this Iowa City Foreign Relations Council presentation, speakers Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros and Dr. Todd A. Knoop will provide some brief answers to these questions to set the stage for a discussion about economic policy. The variety of experiences across countries suggest that growing inequality is a political choice — it is not an inexorable outcome of modern capitalism.
The presenters also will explore several ways in which inequality could be mitigated over the medium term, all of them within the grasp of governments everywhere — particularly in the developing world, where inequality has especially undesirable consequences. None of these possible remedies to the problem of inequality are currently getting the attention they deserve.
Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros is an international economist and the Executive Director of the Global Governance Forum. He has published several books on global governance reform and is currently spearheading the Global Governance Forum’s drafting of a Second United Nations Charter. He brings more than 30 years of experience in international organizations, including most recently as director of the Global Indicators Group at the World Bank, one of the departments within the Bank’s research Vice Presidency. Previously he was chief economist at the World Economic Forum, where he directed the Global Competitiveness Program and edited the Global Competitiveness Report, the Forum’s flagship publication.
Before joining the Forum, Dr. Lopez-Claros worked for several years in the financial sector in London, with a special focus on emerging markets. He was the International Monetary Fund’s Resident Representative in Russia during the 1990s. He has also been a Senior Fellow at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Educated in England and the United States, Dr. Lopez-Claros received a diploma in Mathematical Statistics from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University. Recent publications include Removing Impediments to Sustainable Economic Development: The Case of Corruption (2015), Equality for Women = Prosperity for All (2018, St. Martin’s Press) and Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century (2020, Cambridge University Press). His book Global Governance and International Cooperation: Managing Global Catastrophic Risks in the 21st Century, coedited with Richard Falk, has just been published by Routledge (2024). He has lectured at some of the world's leading universities, think tanks and international organizations; a list of recent lectures can be found at: www.augustolopezclaros.com.
Dr. Todd A. Knoop is Associate Professor of Economics and Business at Cornell College, where his primary research and teaching interests include macroeconomic theory, tax reform, and monetary policy. He has published many articles in such journals as Economic Inquiry and the Southern Economic Journal. Knoop's most recent book is entitled Bigger Pies and Just Deserts: Understanding Economic Inequality. He holds a PhD in Economics from Purdue University as well as an MA in Economics and a BA in Economics and Finance from Miami University.