Ladder or Lottery? The Economics of the Social Contract
Date & Time: February 19, 2025 | 04:00 PM – 05:15 PM
Location: Greg Sutliff Auditorium, Lewis Katz Building
Special guest speaker Dr. Gary (Hoov) Hoover will deliver a Lecture, "Ladder or Lottery? The Economics of the Social Contract," at the Penn State School of International Affairs.
This lecture is open to the public. Registration is required.
Register for Ladder or Lottery
About the Lecture
Ladder or lottery? asks the reader a simple question: are people positioned on the economic spectrum by their own choice? Scholars have argued that with the creation of the market-based economy, starting position matters little given that society has created a social contract which assures upward mobility if certain actions are taken.
Hoover discusses what the “social contract” requires of its citizens and what is promised in return. The book then explores what happens when individuals who feel that they have done the required actions do not get their promised results. The author explores protests such as Occupy Wall Street, The Tea Party, the Arab Spring, and Student Debt Forgiveness as case studies.
The book then makes predictions about where future protests can be expected if results promised are not results delivered. The book tackles challenging issues around income inequality, health care, and the coming challenges brought by artificial intelligence.
In the end, the author answers the question of whether the data and case studies should lead us to believe that our social contract is a ladder to higher standings or simply a lottery which most will attempt but not be successful.
About the Speaker
Dr. Hoover is the Executive Director of The Murphy Institute and Professor of Economics at Tulane University. His research focuses on the intersection of economics, race, and public policy. Since 2012, he has served as co-chair of the American Economic Association Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession. He is also the current and founding editor of the Journal of Economics, Race and Policy, past Vice-President of the Southern Economic Association, and a fellow of CESifo Group Munich. Previously, he was appointed a President's Associates Presidential Professor at the University of Oklahoma and chair of the university's Department of Economics. Prior to that, he was the William White McDonald Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow at the University of Alabama and Assistant Dean for Faculty and Graduate Student Development in the Culverhouse College of Business Administration.