Economist Edmund Phelps, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in economics, wants people to have rewarding work, not only with reasonable compensation, but, more importantly, work that is also meaningful, respected and creative.
Phelps is one of the most influential economists alive. Over his long tenure he has developed a new approach to how wealth is generated and distributed. And he’s concerned that in the United States not enough wealth is being distributed to single mothers and families with children. Phelps has gone on the record saying there is historic inequity in the American economy.
With the publication of his 2013 book “ Mass Flourishing” in 2013, Phelps offered that periods of extraordinary economic growth are not the result of monetary or fiscal policy. Instead, exceptional growth stems from the willingness of the whole of society to adopt innovation, take risks, and embrace uncertainty— which he calls dynamism.
At almost 90, Phelps continues to direct Columbia University’s Center for Capitalism and Society and has published a professional memoir, My Journeys in Economic Theory.
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*This interview will be recorded on Thursday May 4.
