WHAT:
Robert D. Putnam, Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, will examine why fewer American families from all backgrounds now have the opportunity for upward mobility — a topic explored in his most recent book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.
Putnam has been consulted by Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, as well as leaders from around the world. The Sunday Times called him “the most influential academic in the world.” President Obama awarded Putnam the 2012 National Humanities Medal for “deepening our understanding of community in America.”
WHEN:
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday, March 28, 2016
WHERE:
Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium, 450 Reuther Mall, Detroit
MORE INFO:
In Putnam’s book, he points out:
• That Americans should brace themselves for growing inequality of opportunity in the coming decades.
• Today’s measures of economic mobility refer to a generation born 30 to 40 years ago; in that sense, society is viewed through a “rearview mirror.”
• The staggering cost to society as the opportunity gap widens: In terms of crime and law enforcement, public health and lower labor productivity, estimates of the aggregate economic costs are $500 billion per year — roughly $6 trillion in present value over the lifetimes of the current cohort of disadvantages kids.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:
Putnam will be available for media interviews from 10 to 10:20 a.m. Monday, March 28.
To arrange an interview, please contact Tom Reynolds at 313-577-8093 or treynolds@wayne.edu.