Race & Well-Being Lecture Series: Carol Graham, "Race and Resilience in America"

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The Happiness & Well-Being Project is pleased to announce the second lecture in the Race & Well-Being Lecture Series as part of the Diversity Speaker Series at Saint Louis University:

Carol Graham, PhD

(Brookings Institution, University of Maryland)

Race and Resilience in America: The High Costs of Being Poor in the Land of the Dream

Abstract: The high costs of being poor in the U.S. are more evident in stress, insecurity, and hopelessness than in material deprivation. Inadequate access to health insurance and stable employment play a role, but so do the increasing gaps between the lives of the rich and the poor. This is a complex problem, and there are no magic bullets. My conclusions highlight the important role of well-being metrics in identifying and monitoring trends in life satisfaction and hope, and in desperation and misery. I find, for example, remarkable levels of optimism among poor blacks but deep desperation among poor whites (trends that match their rising pre-mature mortality rates). I highlight policies in which hope is an important channel in improving economic outcomes.

Carol Graham is the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and College Park Professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, and is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Her most recent books include:

  • Happiness for All? Unequal Lives and Hopes in Pursuit of the American Dream (Princeton University Press, 2017)
  • The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being (Brookings, 2011; published in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and paperback)
  • Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires (Oxford University Press, 2009

Location:
St. Louis Room (no. 300)
Busch Student Center
Saint Louis University
20 N. Grand Blvd.

Date & Time:
October 5th, 2017, at 5:30pm.

This event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available at: Laclede Garage, at 3602 Laclede Avenue, and Olive Garage, at 3338 Olive Street