Robert B. Reich is currently the Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He has served in three national administrations, including as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written eighteen books, including the bestsellers The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, The Common Good, Saving Capitalism, Aftershock, Supercapitalism, and The Work of Nations, which has been translated into twenty-two languages. He is co-creator of the 2017 Netflix original documentary Saving Capitalism and of the award-winning 2013 film Inequality for All. He is co-founder of Inequality Media, co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute, and co-founding editor of The American Prospect. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. .
In 2003, Reich was awarded the prestigious Vaclav Havel Vision Foundation Prize, by the former Czech president, for his pioneering work in economic and social thought. In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the ten most successful cabinet secretaries of the century. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.A. from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
About
Areas of Expertise
- Industrial Policy
- Labor and Employment
- Leadership and Management
- Politics
- Poverty & Inequality
- Democracy Policy
- Leadership and Social Change
- Macroeconomic Policy
- Social and Economic Policy
Curriculum Vitae
Research
Working Papers
The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility
Working Paper: GSPP08-003 (August 2008)
This paper argues that the new interest in so-called "corporate social responsibility" is founded on a false notion of how much discretion a modern public corporation has to sacrifice profits for the sake of certain social goods, and that the promotion of corporate social responsibility by both the private and public sectors misleads the public into believing that more is being done by the private sector to meet certain public goals than is in fact the case.
Selected Publications
Beyond Outrage: What Has Gone Wrong With Our Economy and Our Democracy and How to Fix It
Reich, Robert B. Beyond Outrage: What Has Gone Wrong with Our Economy and Our Democracy, and How to Fix It. New York: Vintage, 2012.
Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future
Reich, Robert B. Aftershock: The next Economy and America's Future. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
Reich, Robert B. Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America
Reich, Robert B. Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
I’ll Be Short: Essentials for a Decent Working Society
Reich, Robert B. I'll Be Short: Essentials for a Decent Working Society. Boston: Beacon, 2002.
In the News
Articles and Op-Eds
Loophole Lets Money Pour Into CEOs' Wallets
San Francisco Chronicle, August 2, 2013
There's No 'I' in 'We the People'
San Francisco Chronicle, July 12, 2013
Why Republicans Want to Tax Students and Not Polluters
California Progress Report, July 7, 2013
A Revolutionary Strategy for Reviving the Economy
San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 2013
The Truth About Immigration Reform and the Economy
Huffington Post, June 26, 2013
2 Reasons Americans Should Worry
San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 2013
Robert Reich Explains America's Inequality Problem In 150 Seconds (VIDEO)
Huffington Post, June 19, 2013
Inequality is Real, It's Personal, It's Expensive and It Was Created
June 18, 2013
Answer Sheet Blog: A New "Education Declaration" for Genuine School Reform
Washington Post Online, June 9, 2013
Economic Storms Brewing
San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 2013
Congress Paralyzed by Conservatives
San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2013
Change is Never Easy, But It's Possible
San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2013
Delamaide: Economists Thrash Banks for Their Excesses
USA Today, April 21, 2013
Bi-Partisanship We Don't Need: The President Offers to Cut Social Security and Republicans Agree
Huffington Post, April 8, 2013
Is the Tougher Workplace Slowing Down the Economic Recovery?
Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2013
The Morality Brigade
Baltimore Sun, March 25, 2013
"It's Still a Bear Market for Workers"
San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 2013
Why There's a Bull Market for Stocks and a Bear Market for Workers
Huffington Post, March 3, 2013
What Obama Should Do Now
Huffington Post, March 2, 2013
Professor Robert Reich discusses the Minimum Wage
NPR's Talk of the Nation, February 23, 2013
Immigrants May Be The Best Hope For Desperate Baby Boomers
Business Insider, February 19, 2013
The Minimum Wage and the Meaning of a Decent Society
Baltimore Sun, February 18, 2013
Labor Unions Raise Prosperity for All
San Francisco Chronicle, February 6, 2013
America Faces Catastrophic Levels Of Inequality
Business Insider, January 27, 2013
Obama's Debt-Ceiling Strategy Unclear
San Francisco Chronicle, January 23, 2013
The Washington Connection
Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2013
Entitlement Cuts Won't Solve Deficit
San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 2013
Debt Ceiling and Guns: Using Presidential Authority to the Fullest
Huffington Post, January 8, 2013
From Hurricanes to Health Care: What's Government For?
KQED Radio, October 31, 2012
Economic Recovery Hinges on Election
San Francisco Chronicle, October 10, 2012
Analyzing Presidential Candidates' Economic Plans
Wall Street Journal Live, October 1, 2012
Mitt Romney Down But Not Necessarily Out
San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 2012
Republicans Alienating Majority of Voters
San Francisco Chronicle, September 19, 2012
How Republicans Reinforce Campaign of Lies
San Francisco Chronicle, September 6, 2012
Paul Ryan Represents Political Dark Age
San Francisco Chronicle, August 16, 2012
The Problem: Big Business Doesn't Care About American Well-Being
Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2012
Recovery Depends on Middle-Class Spending Power
San Francisco Chronicle, June 20, 2012
Reich: Super PACs Must Face Accountability
San Francisco Chronicle, June 15, 2012
Looking Beyond Election Day
New York Times, November 22, 2011
We the People, and the New American Civil War
Huffington Post, November 3, 2011
The Limping Middle Class
New York Times, September 1, 2011
Vicious Cycles: Why Washington Is About to Make the Jobs Crisis Worse
Huffington Post, July 23, 2011
Once the Stimulus Kicks In, the Real Fight Begins
Washington Post, January 30, 2009
Media Citations
Health Care Law Raises Pressure on Public Unions
New York Times, August 2, 2013
Webcasts
What’s Next for Democracy: Social Safety Net in America with Robert Reich
Robert Reich,
Date: December 4, 2020 Duration: 18 minutes
The Coming Wave?
Henry E. Brady, Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy, Janet Napolitano, President, University of California, Robert B. Reich, Professor of Public Policy,
Date: October 30, 2018 Duration: 53 minutes
Taxes, Trade, Tariffs and Trump with Robert Reich and Stephen Moore—Point/Counterpoint
Henry E. Brady, Stephen Moore, Robert B. Reich,
Date: March 20, 2018 Duration: 73 minutes
Truth as a Common Good with Robert Reich
Robert Reich,
Event: Spring 2017 Board of Advisors Meeting
Date: March 29, 2017 Duration: 51 minutes
Into the World of Work
Date: May 15, 2016 Duration: 23 minutes
Last updated on 04/04/2024