The Aspen Institute

Our Society Reimagined is a four-week series that provides an opportunity to explore the domestic issues that have shaped our modern society, as well as a chance to gain perspective on the underlying values and ideas that we hold as individuals and as a society, and how these tenets shape our lives.

Wednesday, October 23: Is Our Economic System Working to Improve the Lives of all Americans?

We are living though one of the longest economic expansions in history. Yet, many of our citizens are dissatisfied with our progress in meeting the economic needs of all citizens and challenging the fundamental economic assumptions of the past 70 years. Is America still the land of equal opportunity? Can Americans still expect to earn a dollar’s pay for a dollar’s work, or should there be a focus on a more even distribution of wealth?  The statistics of unequal economic distribution fill our airwaves and screens daily, as politicians and groups seek to leverage the data to make their political points. While proving unequal distribution is easy, the underlying drivers of that inequality are in dispute. Even more contentious is what should be done, if anything, to improve the lives of our citizens. Is government the answer or is it the problem? Is self-interest a driver of economic growth or is it the cause of inequality? Are the limitations to one’s economic future a matter of personal effort or the result of structural barriers?

Tom Morrison and Clint Kinney will moderate the series.

*NOTE: This session will take place in the Hines Room, Kresge Building on the Aspen Institute Campus.

Fee: $99, includes all sessions, reading materials, and refreshments. Scholarships available. Register here.