Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist and leading expert in social mobility, reveals compelling insights into the American dream. He discusses the profound impact of great teachers on students' future earnings and emphasizes that addressing poverty could significantly enhance life expectancy. Chetty argues for strategic public investments in children, exploring how early childhood programs can rewrite the narrative of inequality. He also highlights the alarming parallels between maps of American slavery and current social mobility, prompting a critical reassessment of long-standing societal barriers.
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Creating Moves to Opportunity
The Creating Moves to Opportunity project helps low-income families move to better areas.
Offering search assistance and modest financial aid greatly increased moves to high-opportunity areas.
insights INSIGHT
Small Changes, Big Impact
A modest intervention significantly changed housing choices for low-income families.
This was achieved through search assistance and a small amount of financial aid.
In this book, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir reveal that scarcity, whether of time, money, or social connections, creates a similar psychology for everyone struggling to manage with less than they need. The authors discuss how scarcity leads to tunnel vision, reduces cognitive bandwidth, and affects decision-making. They provide examples such as why busy people mismanage their time, why dieters struggle with temptation, and why poverty persists. The book also offers insights into how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Matthew Desmond
In 'Evicted', Matthew Desmond explores the lives of eight families in Milwaukee, highlighting the struggles of eviction and poverty. The book delves into the economic and social costs of housing insecurity, revealing how eviction exacerbates poverty and affects communities across racial lines. Desmond argues for policy changes, such as universal housing vouchers, to address these issues.
How to Catch a Heffalump
Walt Disney Company
A. A. Milne
This book tells the tale of Pooh and Piglet as they embark on an adventure to catch a Heffalump. The story is a delightful way to introduce young readers to the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood. There are different adaptations, including one by Disney and another based on the original text by A.A. Milne.
I don’t ordinarily find myself scrambling to write down article ideas during these conversations, but almost everything Raj Chetty says is worth a feature unto itself. For instance:
- Great Kindergarten teachers generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in future earnings for their students
- Solving poverty would increase life expectancy by more — far more — than curing cancer
- Public investment focused on children often pays for itself
- The American dream is more alive in Canada than in America
- Maps of American slavery look eerily like maps of American social mobility — but not for the reason you’d think
Chetty is a Harvard economist who has been called “the most influential economist alive today.” He’s considered by his peers to be a shoo-in for the Nobel prize. He specializes in bringing massive amounts of data to bear on the question of social mobility: which communities have it, how they got it, and what we can learn from them.
What Chetty says in this conversation could power a decade of American social policy. It probably should.
The Gray Area with Sean Illing 
