Rebecca M. Blank is the Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and co-director of the National Poverty Center. Dr. Blanks research has focused on the interaction between the macroeconomy, government anti-poverty programs, and the behavior and well-being of low-income families.

Economic inequality in the United States is large by any measure. In part this reflects the structure of U.S. labor markets, but inequities in individual labor market outcomes are magnified by family formation and by patterns of wealth-holding. Can existing patterns of inequality be altered? This talk will discuss a conceptual framework for thinking about mechanisms to alter inequality, and the evidence to support different approaches.