Wage Inequality Discussed at Henry George Lecture

“Human Capital, Inequality and Growth” will be discussed at The University of Scranton’s 34th Henry George Lecture on Friday, Oct. 18. The lecture, presented by Kevin M. Murphy, Ph.D., George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center.

The lecture is free of charge and open to the public.

Dr. Murphy is the first professor at a business school to be chosen as a MacArthur Fellow for “revealing economic forces shaping vital social phenomena such as wage inequality, unemployment, addiction, medical research, and economic growth.” The MacArthur Foundation stated that his work “challenges preconceived notions and attacks seemingly intractable economic questions, placing them on a sound empirical and theoretical footing.” In addition to his position at the University of Chicago, Dr. Murphy works as a faculty research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. He primarily studies the empirical analysis of inequality, unemployment and relative wages as well as the economics of growth and development and the economic value of improvements in health and longevity.

A fellow of the Econometric Society and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Murphy was a John Bates Clark Medalist in 1997. He has received fellowships from the Earhart Foundation, the Sloan Foundation and the Friedman Fund.

Dr. Murphy is the author of two books and many academic articles. His writing also has been published in numerous mainstream publications including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and two Wall Street Journal articles coauthored by Nobel laureate Gary Becker.

Dr. Murphy earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago after graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1984.

Considered the preeminent public lecture series on economics in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Henry George Lecture Series is presented by the University’s Economics and Finance Department and the campus chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honor society for economics. Among the distinguished list of speakers who have spoken at previous lectures are ten winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics: Paul Romer (2018), Robert Shiller (2013), Tom Sargent (2011), Peter Diamond (2010), Paul Krugman (2008), Joseph Stiglitz (2001), George Akerlof (2001), Amartya Sen (1998), Robert Lucas (1995) and Robert Solow (1987). The lecture series is named in honor of the 19th century American economist and social reformer and is supported financially by a grant from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.

For more information about the Henry George Lecture, call 570-941-4048 or email janice.mecadon@scranton.edu.