The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed an area known as “Black Wall Street,” but its effects were felt more widely than in just Oklahoma. In this episode of EconoFact Chats, Lisa D. Cook of Michigan State University joins Michael Klein to discuss her original research on how the Tulsa Massacre raised questions among African Americans about their equal protection under the law and, as a consequence, how this led to a nationwide falloff in patents awarded to Black inventors. This represented a loss to these inventors, of course, but also to the economy as a whole. Lisa also discusses her other work on the historical effects of racism.
Lisa serves as the Director of the American Economic Association’s summer program to prepare talented undergraduates from underrepresented minorities for doctoral programs in economics. She is member of the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association, and has served on the Council of Economic Advisors in the Obama Administration.