Podcast appearances and mentions of Raj Chetty

Send us a textRyan Streeter is the executive director of the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. Today, he tells us about his time in the intersection of think tanks, government, and academic communities. We talk about cities, the importance of mobility and growth, how to foster those characteristics, skepticism of government, and living in and creating a community that fosters social cohesion and critical thinking. Want to explore more?Alain Bertaud on Urban Planning and Cities, a Great Antidote podcast.Raj Chetty on Economic Mobility, an EconTalk podcast.Scott Winship on Poverty and Welfare, a Great Antidote podcast.Charles Murray on Dignity and the American Dream, a Future of Liberty podcast.Jeremy Horpedahl, Americans are Still Thriving, at Econlib.Support the showNever miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In this episode of the Innovating Together Podcast, host Bridget Burns welcomes Dr. Raj Chetty from Opportunity Insights for an insightful discussion on social mobility, economic opportunity, and higher education's role in shaping the future. Recorded at the UIA National Summit, this episode dives into the data-driven realities of economic mobility in America, highlighting the disparities that exist and the actionable steps institutions can take to close the gap.Dr. Chetty breaks down the powerful research behind social mobility, explaining how race and geography play critical roles in shaping economic outcomes. He discusses the latest findings on how universities can serve as catalysts for mobility, leveraging student success initiatives, data-driven interventions, and innovative partnerships. This episode also features a live Q&A segment where audience members ask thought-provoking questions, pushing the conversation further into policy changes, systemic barriers, and new approaches to measuring university impact.Key Takeaways: • The Role of Higher Education in Social Mobility: How universities can drive economic opportunity. • Geographic and Racial Disparities: Insights from nationwide data on where social mobility thrives and where it struggles. • The Power of Social Capital: Why networks and relationships matter in economic success. • Redefining Institutional Rankings: How new classification methods could reward universities that prioritize student success.Higher education leaders, policymakers, and changemakers won't want to miss this episode. If you're passionate about reshaping the future of student success and economic mobility, listen now and take action to drive meaningful change.

Learn more about the UIA by visiting:WebsiteLinkedInTwitterYouTubeFacebookThis week's episode is sponsored by Mainstay, a student retention and engagement tool where you can increase student and staff engagement with the only platform consistently proven to boost engagement, retention, and wellbeing. To learn more about Mainstay, click here.

Jonathan Levin is an academic economist who now runs one of the most influential universities in the world. He tells Steve how he saved Comcast a billion dollars, why he turned down Steve's unusual pitch to come to the University of Chicago, and why being a nice guy makes him a better college president. SOURCE:Jonathan Levin, president of Stanford University.   RESOURCES:"Income Segregation and Intergenerational Mobility Across Colleges in the United States," by Raj Chetty, John N Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020)."Jonathan Levin: The Most Recent John Bates Clark Medal Winner," by Steve Levitt (Freakonomics Blog, 2011)."Winning Play in Spectrum Auctions," by Jeremy Bulow, Jonathan Levin, and Paul Milgrom (NBER Working Paper, 2009)."Information and Competition in U.S. Forest Service Timber Auctions," by Susan Athey and Jonathan Levin (Journal of Political Economy, 2001). EXTRAS:Vintage Pokémon card pack Instagram video, by Tyler Thrasher (2025)."Higher Education Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023)."How Much Are the Right Friends Worth?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).

On the next Charlotte Talks, the efforts Charlotte has put into improving economic opportunity may be paying off. The bar was set by Raj Chetty's study on economic mobility, and he explains the latest metrics.

We often hear the phrase "Everyone starts from zero" ,but is this really true? Research shows that some people climb the ladder of success more easily, not just because of their efforts, but due to hidden advantages they were born with. . In this episode, we'll dive into groundbreaking research from Harvard economist Raj Chetty that challenges our understanding of equal opportunities and reveals how invisible factors shape our paths long before we take our first step. . . NOTE: This is the AI Testing Project, and the content in this video has been translated and recreated by AI. . #missiontothemoon #missiontothemoonpodcast

We often hear the phrase "Everyone starts from zero" ,but is this really true? Research shows that some people climb the ladder of success more easily, not just because of their efforts, but due to hidden advantages they were born with. . In this episode, we'll dive into groundbreaking research from Harvard economist Raj Chetty that challenges our understanding of equal opportunities and reveals how invisible factors shape our paths long before we take our first step. . . NOTE: This is the AI Testing Project, and the content in this video has been translated and recreated by AI. . #missiontothemoon #missiontothemoonpodcast

เคยสงสัยไหมว่าอะไรคือปัจจัยที่ทำให้เด็กบางคนประสบความสำเร็จในชีวิต ขณะที่อีกหลายคนต้องติดอยู่ในวังวนของความยากลำบาก? งานวิจัยล่าสุดชี้ให้เห็นว่า “ความสำเร็จไม่ได้ขึ้นอยู่กับความพยายามอย่างเดียว” แต่ยังมีปัจจัยซ่อนเร้นอื่นๆ . ในคลิปนี้ เราจะชวนทุกคนมาสำรวจข้อมูลจากงานวิจัยของ Raj Chetty ศาสตราจารย์ด้านเศรษฐศาสตร์แห่งมหาวิทยาลัยฮาร์วาร์ดที่จะเปิดเผยว่าปัจจัยอะไรบ้างที่ช่วยสร้างโอกาสและส่งเสริมความสำเร็จของเด็ก  . . เชิญรับฟังพร้อมๆ กันได้ใน MM Podcast EP.2267 | เส้นทางความสำเร็จอาจไม่ได้เริ่มจากศูนย์ บทเรียนจากงานวิจัยใหม่ . . #สังคม #ชนชั้น #พอดแคสต์ #podcast #missiontothemoon #missiontothemoonpodcast

เคยสงสัยไหมว่าอะไรคือปัจจัยที่ทำให้เด็กบางคนประสบความสำเร็จในชีวิต ขณะที่อีกหลายคนต้องติดอยู่ในวังวนของความยากลำบาก? งานวิจัยล่าสุดชี้ให้เห็นว่า “ความสำเร็จไม่ได้ขึ้นอยู่กับความพยายามอย่างเดียว” แต่ยังมีปัจจัยซ่อนเร้นอื่นๆ . ในคลิปนี้ เราจะชวนทุกคนมาสำรวจข้อมูลจากงานวิจัยของ Raj Chetty ศาสตราจารย์ด้านเศรษฐศาสตร์แห่งมหาวิทยาลัยฮาร์วาร์ดที่จะเปิดเผยว่าปัจจัยอะไรบ้างที่ช่วยสร้างโอกาสและส่งเสริมความสำเร็จของเด็ก  . . เชิญรับฟังพร้อมๆ กันได้ใน MM Podcast EP.2267 | เส้นทางความสำเร็จอาจไม่ได้เริ่มจากศูนย์ บทเรียนจากงานวิจัยใหม่ . . #สังคม #ชนชั้น #พอดแคสต์ #podcast #missiontothemoon #missiontothemoonpodcast

Nate Hilger, author of The Parent Trap, explores the complex expectations placed on parents, the importance of skill-building over mere test scores, and how societal changes could improve outcomes for all children, including shifts away from zero-sum thinking in education.If you've enjoyed Talking to Teens, we'd love if you could leave us a five-star rating, and if you have time, a review! Full Show NotesParenting in the modern world can often feel like an insurmountable challenge, compounded by pressures to not only care for our children but also groom them into successful, independent adults. The journey to nurturing well-rounded human beings involves an intricate web of skills that many parents are unaware they're even supposed to be weaving. Love and care are crucial, but they alone do not provide the full spectrum of skills teens need to flourish in the world.Enter Nate Hilger, an economist and data scientist whose insights have graced the pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post. His pioneering work focuses on the origins of success in children and highlights how parents can better navigate the landscape of skill-building. In his enlightening book, The Parent Trap, Nate challenges conventional ideals of what it means to parent effectively. He's joining us this week to delve into how society's expectations of parents are often both unrealistic and misaligned with actual child development.The Parenting Trap UncoveredNate identifies three primary manifestations of the "parent trap": unrealistic expectations, a lack of language to describe these expectations without blame, and the political underrepresentation of parents. He contends that society places an undue burden on parents, expecting them to be both nurturers and skilled educators without the necessary support. This disproportionate pressure often results in a cycle where lower-income parents, despite their deep love for their children, cannot provide the same developmental advantages as wealthier parents.The book draws on historical insights, such as studies from the mid-20th century where better early learning environments significantly bolstered long-term outcomes for children, underscoring the immense power of environment over innate ability. Nate argues for a societal shift to focus on skill-building, a universal challenge often misguidedly associated with parental 'failures.'Rethinking Zero-Sum ParentingAmong the important revelations Nate shares is the myth of zero-sum parenting—the idea that one child's success equates to another's failure. This notion fuels hyper-competitive behaviors and focus on elite university admissions, wrongly overshadowing the more expansive benefits of creating successful and healthy communities. Nate suggests that a collaborative approach in raising competent, capable youth benefits everyone—an uplifting shift away from isolating views about limited resources and opportunities.Improving Education OutcomesHighlighting groundbreaking research with renowned economist Raj Chetty, Nate reveals how the quality of early educational experiences, such as kindergarten teaching, has long-lasting impacts on a child's financial success. Innovations like smaller classroom sizes and teacher effectiveness often yield returns many parents don't fully realize and should advocate for more universally. Unfortunately, income alone does not resolve the disparities in access to quality educational resources.Investing in Professional DevelopmentRather than saddling parents with the impossible task of mastering every skill their child might need, Nate proposes broader access to professional resources. He discusses what he learned from attending courses designed for struggling parents, arguing that while these programs can offer valuable insights, they often overwhelm rather than assist, emphasizing that professional support for children's development is critical.In the Episode...Nate presents a compelling argument for rethinking societal and parental roles in education. We also discuss:How blended family environments affect outcomesThe ongoing debate about the role of parent trainingThe role of income in college decisionsWhy kids' long-term success hinges on more than just moneyNate's insights challenge fundamental assumptions about parenting while offering practical solutions to improve the social landscape for nurturing successful generations. To learn more, keep an eye out for Nate's Substack, "Kidding Around," where he continues to explore these pivotal ideas. If you found this discussion impactful, make sure to subscribe and follow along for more episodes tackling the art and science of parenting teenagers. Follow us on Social Media! We're @talkingtoteens on Instagram and TikTok

Having the wrong friends can ruin your economic possibilities - Dr Boyce Watkins Research by Harvard economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues, which explored the influence of growing up in wealthier neighborhoods on economic outcomes. The study, part of the Opportunity Insights project, found that children who grow up in higher-income areas are more likely to experience upward mobility and achieve higher incomes as adults. The research emphasized the importance of "neighborhood effects," showing that the environment in which a child is raised, including exposure to wealthier peers, access to better schools, and community resources, plays a significant role in their future economic success. The study suggested that social networks, role models, and economic opportunities in wealthier areas contribute to better financial outcomes for those growing up in such environments. Dr. Boyce Watkins is a leading finance expert, entrepreneur, and author known for his work in empowering the Black community through financial education. He holds a PhD in Finance and has been featured in major media outlets such as CNN, BET, and The New York Times. Dr. Boyce founded The Black Business School, helping millions learn to invest, build wealth, and create generational financial independence. His bestselling book, *The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power*, serves as a blueprint for achieving economic success. To learn more or engage with his programs, visit BoyceWatkins.com. For a free list of his favorite AI stocks, text the word 'Stock' to 87948.

Collective impact—a framework where organizations across sectors come together with a shared vision—can play a big role in addressing complex issues like economic mobility. This is especially important in cities like Charlotte, where decades of structural barriers have limited upward mobility for many residents. Collective impact brings together nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to work toward common goals, using data to measure progress and drive decisions. Today's guest, Khalil Salim, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation at United Way of Greater Charlotte, shares his expertise on how this collaborative approach is being used to address Charlotte's challenges, and his thoughts on Raj Chetty's latest research. You'll Hear: (03:09) What is the United Neighborhoods program and how does it use collective impact (06:01) What makes collective impact different from other collaborative approaches (11:00) How to measure and document success from a shared goal (17:53) The challenges of doing collective impact work (20:45) How to balance broader indicators with community-defined success metrics Connect with Khalil Salim and learn more about his work with the United Neighborhoods program.

On the next Charlotte Talks, the efforts Charlotte has put into improving economic opportunity may be paying off. The bar was set by Raj Chetty's study on economic mobility, and he explains the latest metrics.

Is race a more consequential determinant of social mobility than class? How and under what circumstances do Americans move up the economic ladder?For years, Harvard economist Raj Chetty has leveraged big data to answer these questions. In his recent paper, Chetty and his team show that Black millennials born to low-income parents have more quickly risen up the economic ladder than previous Black generations, whereas their white counterparts have fared worse than previous low-income white generations. That said, Chetty finds little movement in or out of the top income brackets and that the income gap between Black and white Americans remains large.Chetty joins Bethany and Luigi to discuss these new insights as well as why mobility matters, what costs come in the pursuit of bolstering mobility, and how other factors such as parenting, gender, and social capital factor into the equation. What policies should America pursue, especially against the backdrop of the 2024 presidential election, where many conservatives argue that white working-class Americans are falling behind and liberals argue that Black and brown Americans continue to face systemic inequalities?Show notes:Revisit our Capitalisn't conversation with Oren Cass, who is mentioned by LuigiRevisit our Capitalisn't conversation on Chile, which is mentioned by BethanyCheck out related coverage on ProMarket, including a write-up by Raj Chetty and co-authors on "Lost Einsteins," mentioned in the episode

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series originally published in 2022, we ask what our chaotic system gets right — and wrong. (Part 1 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”) SOURCES:Peter Blair, faculty research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research and professor of education at Harvard University.Catharine Hill, former president of Vassar College; trustee at Yale University; and managing director at Ithaka S+R.Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University.Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University. RESOURCES:"Progressivity of Pricing at U.S. Public Universities," by Emily E. Cook and Sarah Turner (NBER Working Paper, 2022)."Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," by Jack Mountjoy (NBER Working Paper, 2021)."How HBCUs Can Accelerate Black Economic Mobility," (McKinsey & Company, 2021).Markets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University Research, by Miguel Urquiola (2021)."Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility," by Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan (NBER Working Paper, 2017). EXTRAS:"'If We're All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024)."'A Low Moment in Higher Education,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024)."The $1.5 Trillion Question: How to Fix Student-Loan Debt?" by Freakonomics Radio (2019)."Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to Love," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).

A "massive attack" by Ukraine - this is how Russia describes a daring incursion by Ukrainian troops into its Kursk region. And while Russia claims it has stopped the incursion, evidence from the ground suggests fighting is ongoing. This comes as Russian forces creep closer to the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, threatening a vital supply line for Kyiv. Bianna discusses with Rose Gottemoeller what Kyiv's strategy might be, and what its US ally makes of it.  Also on today's show: WSJ reporter Emily Glazer and Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic; Raj Chetty, Director, Harvard's Opportunity Insights; USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Actual Facts, we delve into the documentary “Join or Die,” which explores the critical importance of joining clubs and how this simple act can determine the fate of our society. Through the lens of legendary social scientist Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking book and research "Bowling Alone" shed light on the decline of community connections, "Join or Die" offers profound insights into our democracy's current crisis.Rebecca and Pete Davis, a sister-brother filmmaking team dedicated to producing media that supports civic renewal, join us to discuss their film. "Join or Die" combines Putnam's story with insights from the worlds of politics, economics, public health, and urban design. The documentary features perspectives from notable figures such as Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Vivek Murthy, Raj Chetty, and Priya Parker. It also incorporates historic home videos and contemporary community profiles to highlight the essential role civic organizations play in maintaining a healthy democracy.Actual Facts is hosted by Eric SteuerTheme music by Yalls: https://www.dancasey.me/“Join or Die”: https://www.joinordiefilm.com/ MovieMaker Magazine: https://www.moviemaker.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Me flipa el episodio de The bear en Copenhague. Marcus, que está de prácticas en el Noma, le pregunta a su jefe cómo se hizo bueno en esto. La contestación de Luca es cautivadora: «Esto trata menos de habilidad y más de estar abierto. Hacia el mundo, hacia ti mismo, hacia los demás. Las cosas increíbles que yo he comido no se explican por una habilidad excepcional o una técnica sofisticada, se explican porque alguien se inspiró. Puedes pasar todo el tiempo del mundo aquí, pero si no pasas tiempo suficiente allí fuera. Ayuda, claro, estar rodeado de gente buena». Marcus le pregunta entonces si mereció la pena, a lo que Luca responde: «No lo sé, pregúntame mañana». Kapital es posible gracias a sus colaboradores: ¿Quieres invertir como Amancio? ¿Replicar la cartera de Florentino? Hasta hace poco la inversión en private equity estaba reservada para los altos patrimonios, pero con Crescenta, la primera gestora digital de capital privado, por fin podrás acceder también tú a todos esos fondos. A golpe de clic y con una inversión a partir de 10.000 euros, te daremos acceso a los fondos en los que llevan invirtiendo los grandes inversores durante décadas: EQT, Cinven, Vitruvian y más. Invierte como y con los mejores en Crescenta.com y accede a fondos con rentabilidades esperadas superiores al 15% anualizado. Rentabilidades pasadas no implican rentabilidades futuras. ⁠Consulta riesgos y condiciones⁠. Crescenta, la inversión relevante para tu futuro. A través de la reinterpretación y la dinamización de espacios singulares los chicos del Grupo Mercabañal están revolucionando la hostelería colaborativa en Valencia. A pesar de las modas, se resisten a olvidar aquello que fue bueno y útil, y disfrutan devolviendo vida a lugares, objetos y hábitos del pasado. Mercader, ubicado en las puertas del barrio del Cabañal, recupera con destreza y amabilidad un edificio con más de 100 años de historia, la antigua Tonelería Soler. Les conocí un poco por accidente en la última quedada Kapital Social en Valencia y me gustaría hoy felicitarles porque acaban de cumplir el año. ¡Mucha suerte en el camino! Índice: 2:12 Oportunidades laborales en Londres. 5:39 Make Albacete Great Again. 12:09 Montando el pollo. 22:41 Martínez duerme tranquilo sin ser propietario. 31:10 Canadian Pacific Railway. 38:35 La dificulta de ‘alocar' capital eficientemente. 46:31 El r > g de Piketty. 52:48 Capital humano. 1:00:34 El anillo como una multa. 1:04:36 Acceso a círculos exclusivos vía X. 1:09:09 Los códigos secretos de las élites. 1:13:11 The joy is in the playing. 1:22:21 I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member. 1:25:27 Debes superar la prueba para acceder a la información confidencial. Apuntes: Historias de Londres. Enric González. The bear. Christopher Storer. The economic benefits of social connections. Raj Chetty. El verdugo. Luis García Berlanga. Match point. Woody Allen. El capital. Karl Marx. El capital en el siglo XXI. Thomas Piketty. Piketty y capital en el siglo XXI. Xavier Sala i Martín. Phishing for phools. George Akerlof & Robert Shiller. El libro tibetano de los muertos. Padma Sambhava.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Bloomberg Television and Radio broadcast live from the Milken Institute Global Conference featuring Armen Panossian, Co-CEO at Oaktree Capital Management, Runa Alam, Co-Founding Partner and CEO at Development Partners International, Al Rabil, CEO at Kayne Anderson, Raj Chetty, Harvard University Professor of Public Economics and Andrew Bednar, CEO at Perella Weinberg. Hosts: Carol Massar and Romaine Bostick. Producer: Paul Brennan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are Americans having fewer children? And why do younger Americans seem resistant to the idea of having children at all?In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Tim Carney, a senior fellow at AEI focusing on family, religion, and civil society in America. Tim discusses his upcoming book, “Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder than It Needs to Be.” Tim unpacks all the ways parenting has become harder--from the expectation that parents must provide children with every extracurricular opportunity, to the collapse of marriage and the lack of neighborhoods where kids can walk places. He also argues for a return to the idea that children are inherently valuable—not just vehicles for accomplishments. To conclude, Tim makes recommendations for how coaches, local legislators, educators, and parents can encourage younger people to prioritize getting married and starting a family as they are building their lives. ResourcesFamily Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be | Tim CarneyCivilizational Sadness: We Are Becoming Sad and Afraid, and So We Are Making Fewer Babies | Tim CarneyShow Notes- 0:00:45 | What prompted you to write the book? - 0:04:21 | Are there any ways we can make culture more family-friendly through public policy?- 0:06:56 | What makes you different that allows you to see the problems here? What can we do to cultivate more individuals who value family and children?- 0:09:35 | Do you need an underlying religious belief in order to see family differently?- 0:13:52 | How is all of this affecting the trend of young people who are delaying marriage? - 0:23:00 | How can we use research like Raj Chetty's around upward mobility to strengthen the case for families?

How can we use the insights of behavioral economics to make the world a better place? David Halpern joins Vasant Dhar in episode 78 of Brave New World to share his learnings from running the Behavioral Insight Team for the British government. Useful resources: 1. David Halpern on Wikipedia and the Behavioural Insights Team. 2. The work of the Behavioral Insights Team. 3. Inside the Nudge Unit -- David Halpern. 4. Social Capital -- David Halpern. 5, The Hidden Wealth of Nations -- David Halpern. 6. The behavioural science of online harm and manipulation, and what to do about it -- Elisabeth Costa and David Halpern. 7. Subsidies vs Nudges: Which Policies Increase Saving the Most? -- Raj Chetty et al Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Graduates from a small number of elite private colleges account for a disproportionate share of America's business and political leaders. In this episode, John Friedman joins us to discuss his recent study with Raj Chetty and David Deming that examines how admissions criteria at these institutions privilege students from high-income families. John is the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International Public Affairs at Brown University, where he is the chair of the Economics Department. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. John is also a member of the U.S. Treasury Council on Racial Equity, a co-Editor of the American Economic Review, and a founding Co-Director of Opportunity Insights. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Where did the American Dream of hard work equals upward mobility go? And what will it take to bring it back? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, focuses on three policy levers to increase upward mobility: reducing racial and economic segregation through more effective affordable housing programs, investing in place-based policies, and strengthening higher education. Chetty gives specific examples of pilot studies and interventions that help inform the design of policy and practice from the federal to state to local levels, including at institutions of higher education such as UC Berkeley. He offers illustrations that can be scaled nationally, providing a pathway to expand opportunities for all. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39239]

Where did the American Dream of hard work equals upward mobility go? And what will it take to bring it back? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, focuses on three policy levers to increase upward mobility: reducing racial and economic segregation through more effective affordable housing programs, investing in place-based policies, and strengthening higher education. Chetty gives specific examples of pilot studies and interventions that help inform the design of policy and practice from the federal to state to local levels, including at institutions of higher education such as UC Berkeley. He offers illustrations that can be scaled nationally, providing a pathway to expand opportunities for all. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39239]

Children's chances of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half century in America. How can we restore the American Dream of upward mobility for all children? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, shows how big data from varied sources ranging from anonymized tax records to Facebook social network data is helping us uncover the science of economic opportunity. Among other topics, Chetty discusses how and why children's chances of climbing the income ladder vary across neighborhoods, the drivers of racial disparities in economic mobility, and the role of social capital as a driver of upward mobility. He presents data on the state of economic opportunity in California in particular to provide a local context to these national patterns. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39238]

Children's chances of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half century in America. How can we restore the American Dream of upward mobility for all children? In this talk, Raj Chetty, director of Opportunity Insights and professor of public economics at Harvard University, shows how big data from varied sources ranging from anonymized tax records to Facebook social network data is helping us uncover the science of economic opportunity. Among other topics, Chetty discusses how and why children's chances of climbing the income ladder vary across neighborhoods, the drivers of racial disparities in economic mobility, and the role of social capital as a driver of upward mobility. He presents data on the state of economic opportunity in California in particular to provide a local context to these national patterns. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39238]

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It's good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it's complicated. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation's mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time).  SOURCES:Marcus Finbom, traffic planner in Stockholm, Sweden.Robbie Makinen, former president and C.E.O. of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.Janno Lieber, chair and C.E.O. of the M.T.A. in New York City.Brian Taylor, professor of urban planning and public policy and director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at U.C.L.A.Shashi Verma, director of strategy and C.T.O. at Transport for London.Michelle Wu, mayor of Boston. RESOURCES:"Free Bus Service Starts Sunday on 5 Routes in New York City," by Ana Ley (The New York Times, 2023).“Vehicle Access and Falling Transit Ridership: Evidence From Southern California,” by Michael Manville, Brian D. Taylor, Evelyn Blumenberg, and Andrew Schouten (Transportation, 2023).“Route-28 Fare-Free Pilot Evaluation: Summary Findings,” by the City of Boston Transportation (2022).“Forget Fare Hikes — Make the T Free,” by Michelle Wu (The Boston Globe, 2019).Traffic Power Structure, by Planka.nu (2016)."The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility: Childhood Exposure Effects and County-Level Estimates," by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren (NBER Working Paper, 2015)."Fare, Free, or Something in Between?" by Jennifer S. Perone and Joel M. Volinski (World Transit Research, 2003).Planka.Nu. EXTRAS:"Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Should Public Transit Be Free?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).“Should Traffic Lights Be Abolished?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).“The Perfect Crime,” by Freakonomics Radio (2014).“Parking Is Hell,” by Freakonomics Radio (2013).

Legacy admissions, particularly at elite colleges and universities, were thrust into the spotlight this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in admissions. The ruling raised many questions, and fortunately, Harvard Kennedy School professor David Deming and Harvard Economics Professor Raj Chetty were there with some important answers—having just wrapped up a 6-year study of the impact of legacy admissions at so-called “Ivy-plus” schools. Students spend years preparing to face judgment by colleges and universities as a worthy potential applicant. They strive for report cards filled with A's in advanced placement courses. They volunteer for service projects and participate in extracurricular activities. They cram furiously high-stakes standardized tests. They do all that only to find a big question many top colleges have is effectively: “Who's your daddy? And who's your mother? Did they go to school here?” Using data from more than 400 colleges and universities and about three and a half million undergraduate students per year, the two economists found that legacy and other elite school admissions practices significantly favor students from wealthy families and serve a gate-keeping function to positions of power and prestige in society.  Read Chetty and Deming's paper (co-authored by John Friedman): Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of College Admissions David Deming's Policy Recommendations:Build a robust system of collecting and measuring the distribution of income for admitted students at colleges across the country.Make standardized data in student income distribution transparent and widely available to facilitate better educational policy decisionmaking.Raj Chetty's Policy Recommendations:Rework legacy admissions and other practices at elite colleges to reduce bias in favor of students from high-income familiesImprove access for low- and middle-income students to a broader array of private, public, and community colleges as a means to promote economic mobilityRaj Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University. He is also the director of Opportunity Insights, which uses “big data” to understand how we can give children from disadvantaged backgrounds better chances of succeeding. Chetty's research combines empirical evidence and economic theory to help design more effective government policies. His work on topics ranging from tax policy and unemployment insurance to education and affordable housing has been widely cited in academia, media outlets, and Congressional testimony. Chetty received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003 and is one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history. Before joining the faculty at Harvard, he was a professor at UC-Berkeley and Stanford University. Chetty has received numerous awards for his research, including a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and the John Bates Clark medal, given to the economist under 40 whose work is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the field.David Deming is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy and the academic dean of the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also the faculty dean of Kirkland House at Harvard College and a research associate at NBER. His research focuses on higher education, economic inequality, skills, technology, and the future of the labor market. He is a principal investigator (along with Raj Chetty and John Friedman) at the CLIMB Initiative, an organization that seeks to study and improve the role of higher education in social mobility. He is also a faculty lead of the Project on Workforce, a cross-Harvard initiative that focuses on building better pathways to economic mobility through the school-to-work transition. He recently co-founded (with Ben Weidmann) the Skills Lab, which creates performance-based measures of “soft” skills such as teamwork and decision-making. In 2022 he won the Sherwin Rosen Prize for outstanding contributions to Labor Economics. In 2018 he was awarded the David N. Kershaw Prize for distinguished contributions to the field of public policy and management under the age of 40. He served as a Coeditor of the AEJ: Applied from 2018 to 2021. He also writes occasional columns for the New York Times Economic View, which you can find linked on his personal website. Ralph Ranalli of the HKS Office of Communications and Public Affairs is the host, producer, and editor of HKS PolicyCast. A former journalist, public television producer, and entrepreneur, he holds an AB in Political Science from UCLA and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University. 

Economist Michael D. Smith says universities are scrambling to protect a status quo that deserves to die. He tells Steve why the current system is unsustainable, and what's at stake if nothing changes. RESOURCES:The Abundant University: Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World, by Michael D. Smith (2023)."Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges," by Raj Chetty, David J. Deming, and John N. Friedman (NBER Working Paper, 2023)."Are Universities Going the Way of CDs and Cable TV?" by Michael D. Smith (The Atlantic, 2020)."For Sale: SAT-Takers' Names. Colleges Buy Student Data and Boost Exclusivity," by Douglas Belkin (The Wall Street Journal, 2019)."High School GPAs and ACT Scores as Predictors of College Completion: Examining Assumptions About Consistency Across High Schools," by Elaine M. Allensworth and Kallie Clark (Educational Researcher, 2020)."Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility," by Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan (NBER Working Paper, 2017)."How U.S. News College Rankings Promote Economic Inequality on Campus," by Benjamin Wermund (Politico, 2017).Streaming, Sharing, Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment, by Michael D. Smith (2016)."Higher Education's Work Preparation Paradox," by Brandon Busteed (Gallup, 2014)."Let's Level the Playing Field for SAT Prep," by Sal Khan (Khan Academy, 2014)."Race, Poverty and SAT Scores: Modeling the Influences of Family Income on Black and White High School Students' SAT Performance," by Ezekiel J. Dixon-Roman, Howard Everson, and John J Mcardle (Teachers College Record, 2013).EXTRAS:"The Professor Who Said 'No' to Tenure," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022)."Is This the Future of High School?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."America's Math Curriculum Doesn't Add Up," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).“Sal Khan: ‘If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.'” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).

The American Dream –the idea that anyone can succeed regardless of their background– often feels just like that, a dream. Today I speak with John Friedman, an economist and Co-Director of Opportunity Insights. John explains the barriers to opportunity that under-resourced communities face, and why removing these can improve the American economy. He also tells us why social mobility is harder to achieve today. Resources mentioned in this episode:Imprisonment rate of black Americans - PEW Research ReportDiversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges - John Friedman, Raj Chetty, David Demming (Opportunity Insights)Subscribe to “Say More with Tulaine Montgomery” wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the New Profit and Hueman Group Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pivot will return on Friday! In the meantime, we're bringing you an episode from another podcast in the Pivot universe: The Prof G Pod. Raj Chetty, the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the Director of Opportunity Insights, joins Scott to discuss research around higher education, specifically how elite universities shape who succeeds in the US. We also hear about broader trends regarding upward economic mobility and the role a child's environment plays in creating opportunities for growth. Follow Prof Chetty's work at Opportunity Insights here. Don't forget to follow and subscribe to The Prof G Pod here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ellora Derenoncourt talks about how the Great Migration affected economic mobility. This episode was first posted in September 2020. "Can you move to opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration" by Ellora Derenoncourt.  OTHER RESEARCH WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE: "Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: An Intergenerational Perspective" by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Maggie R. Jones, and Sonya R. Porter. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects" by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility II: County-Level Estimates" by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren. "Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migration and Racial Wage Convergence in the North, 1940–1970" by Leah Platt Boustan. "Was Postwar Suburbanization 'White Flight'? Evidence from the Black Migration" by Leah Platt Boustan. "Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets" by Leah Platt Boustan. "Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from US Mass Migration" by Bryan A. Stuart and Evan J. Taylor. "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration" by Isabel Wilkerson. "Creating Moves to Opportunity: Experimental Evidence on Barriers to Neighborhood Choice" by Peter Bergman, Raj Chetty, Stefanie DeLuca, Nathaniel Hendren, Lawrence F. Katz, and Christopher Palmer. "Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works" by Rucker C. Johnson. "The Long-run Economic Effects of School Desegregation" by Cody Tuttle.

Raj Chetty, the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the Director of Opportunity Insights, joins Scott to discuss research around higher education, specifically how elite universities shape who succeeds in the US. We also hear about broader trends regarding upward economic mobility and the role a child's environment plays in creating opportunities for growth.  Follow Prof Chetty's work at Opportunity Insights here.  Scott opens with his thoughts on the UAW strike, specifically how it points to the need for a minimum wage that matches our nation's productivity level. Algebra of Happiness: Lean into the 90. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Season 7 kickoff episode, Jeff and Michael discuss a wide array of headlines from the summer that have long-term impacts on higher education.Key Moments00:02:49 - Michael Horn Book Update00:05:45 - "This year is about a new normal."00:06:55 - "The Pac-12 Collapsed Overnight"00:11:37 - "…you cannot outspend reality."00:17:00 - "The nation's best known public universities have been on an unfettered spending spree."00:19:23 - "These places are just devouring money, offering everything to everyone all at once is unsustainable."00:21:49 - "policy should be focusing on student outcomes…"00:24:30 - "I don't think they're going to negatively impact those liberal arts programs that in my view offer very valuable skills and credentials in the labor market."00:26:34 - "I think that was all fair. And I actually was shocked. I thought the article did a really good job of depicting the purpose of secret societies in my mind, which is really to broaden your social experience."00:30:45 - "it was a very patriotic, pro-American, deeply affected campus that doesn't accord at all with some of the allegations that were printed in the article."00:32:49 - "A Return of the Presidential Fitness Test?"Relevant LinksAcademy for Innovative Higher Ed LeadershipColleges Spend Like There's No Tomorrow. ‘These Places Are Just Devouring Money.'Higher Ed Spending Problem Demands Attention No Matter Court's OpinionIt's time to rethink incentives for higher edMichael Horn's Testimony to CongressHow Ron DeSantis Joined the “Ruling Class” - and Turned Against ItSummaryThe ‘New Normal'Jeff Selingo brings up what people are referring to as the ‘New Normal.' He discusses the changes that higher education institutions, such as West Virginia University, are having to make to adapt to the changing landscape.The 'New Normal' he describes is characterized by financial challenges, changing demographics, and shifting priorities in higher education. Selingo uses the example of West Virginia University, which is planning to cut more than two dozen programs to close a projected $75 million deficit by 2028. This deficit was largely due to overly optimistic enrollment goals that were not met. The university initially planned to cut all its language programs, but later decided to retain Spanish and Chinese, while graduate programs and math programs are still at risk.Michael Horn brings up a related point regarding the demographics of college-aged students, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, which are not favorable. This could be another aspect of the 'New Normal' that Selingo is referring to - universities having to adapt to changing demographics and potentially declining student populations. This example illustrates the 'New Normal' of universities having to make tough decisions and prioritize certain programs over others due to financial constraints and demographic shifts.Selingo suggests that this trend is likely to continue as universities navigate the challenges and changes brought about by the pandemic, demographic changes and other factors. This 'New Normal' will require universities to reassess their strategies and adapt to new realities in higher education.Conference RealignmentJeff explains how the PAC-12 athletic conference collapsed overnight while attempting to secure a new television deal. This resulted in the University of Washington and the University of Oregon leaving for the Big 10, while the University of Arizona, Arizona State, and the University of Utah moved to the Big-12.These moves were financially motivated as these universities needed funds to maintain their expenditures on coaches and facilities. Selingo suggests that the traditional linear television model, which presently provides significant funding, is on the decline. He also believes that streaming services like Apple could become a financial lifeline for universities by the end of the decade.Selingo also links these events to the 'New Normal' in higher education. The changes in the PAC-12 and other athletic conferences can be seen as part of this broader shift in the higher education landscape.Harvard's Opportunity Insights ProjectHarvard's Opportunity Insights Project included a study conducted by economist Raj Chetty using data compiled by Open Campus. The study used tax records to measure the wealth of students attending various colleges. The top 1% in the study referred to families with incomes of $660,000 a year and above, while the top 0.1% were significantly higher.The study found that at a group of 12 institutions, including the entire Ivy League, Stanford, Duke, MIT, and the University of Chicago, applicants from families in the top 1% were 34% more likely to gain admission than applicants with the same SAT and ACT scores from lower-income families. Those from the top 0.1% were more than twice as likely to be admitted.The study didn't just focus on elite universities, but also included 139 institutions in total. The results showed that the ultra-rich are not only enrolling at Ivy League schools but also at other institutions further down the ranking, such as Elon or Wake Forest.Public School SpendingMichael Horn discusses a Wall Street Journal article by Melissa Korn, Andrea Fuller, and Jennifer Forsyth, which detailed the spending spree of these institutions, stating "The nation's best known public universities have been on an unfettered spending spree."The University of Kentucky was cited as an example, having upgraded its campus to the tune of $805,000 a day for more than a decade. A graphic indicated that spending has risen much faster than enrollment from 2002 to 2022, leading to increased spending per student. At the median flagship university, spending rose 38% over these two decades.For every $1 lost in state support, the median school increased tuition and fee revenue by nearly $2.40. Michael argues that these universities, driven by prestige and revenue growth, lack economies of scale and tend to overspend. Horn also touches on the enrollment patterns of wealthy families, suggesting that attracting such families can have long-term implications for the universities' finances.Ron DeSantis at YaleMichael Horn shares about his experiences at Yale, especially in relation to the description given by Governor Ron DeSantis in a recent article, and his involvement in a secret society. Michael explains that the society serves as a way of opening up and introducing members to other students they would not have otherwise met, and presents an intimate way to broaden horizons. Horn mentions that these society members weren't his friends before, but many of them have since become close friends. He confirms that DKE, where DeSantis was a member, is known as the wilder fraternity on campus, mostly filled with athletes.Horn disagrees with DeSantis' depiction of Yale as a place of fervent anti-Americanism, stating that his experience was different. He acknowledges that Yale leans more politically liberal but also points out there are conservative enclaves, particularly in the history department. It's not hard to express one's opinion, even if it's not the majority view. Horn also discusses some of the social issues on campus during his time at Yale, including graduate students' efforts to organize as employees and concerns about Yale's clothing being made in sweatshops.He suggests that the university environment might have changed since his time, possibly aligning more with DeSantis' allegations. However, he also recalls a statement from Rick Levin who said, "Look, the Wall Street Journal is going to print what it prints about Yale. And they have this view that is so out of touch with the majority experience on campus that you just can't read too much into it." While Horn senses that the campus culture has changed, he advises caution when extrapolating too much from these articles, which tend to generalize and create caricatures. Lastly, Horn notes that the 9/11 attacks occurred after DeSantis' time at Yale, during his own senior year, which may have influenced the campus culture and experiences of students.Recommendation by Vivek Ramaswamy - The Presidential Fitness TestMichael and Jeff express skepticism about Vivek Ramaswamy's recommendation to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test as a section of the SAT. Selingo, after delving into the history of the test and its components, acknowledges the importance of physical activity for students but dismisses the idea of its relevance as a criterion for college admission. He suggests that this proposal shouldn't be given any more attention. Both Jeff and Michael seem to view the idea as a distraction from more important topics related to college admissions.

On today's Quadcast, Boston Globe correspondent Kara Miller comments on the new report by Raj Chetty, David Deming and John Friedman, Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges, which points out the disproportionate admission of affluent students at elite colleges in comparison to students of comparable profiles with less means. Miller questions whether the hyper focus on who gets into so few schools takes away from the broader issue of opening up more opportunities across the board.

Senior writer Frances Stead Sellers speaks with the director of Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University institute that studies barriers to economic mobility in the United States, Raj Chetty about his new study on admissions at elite universities and what it says about social mobility in America.

In this episode you will hear:   o   Lisa clarifies what she said about how UNC admits students in episode 351 o   Mark and Julia answer a question from Lea from Northern California about how knowing yield rates should impact student behavior; she also wants to know why U Chicago has such a high yield rate; she asks, “how do they do it” o   Lynda interviews, Ben Neely of Revolution Prep, Understanding the new Digital SAT   Preview of Part 1-this week   Ø  Ben gives his background starting in the 90's as an SAT test instructor, the various rolls he has had in the test prep industry, all the way up to what he is doing now Ø  Ben explains why the College Board went from a paper test to a Digital Test Ø  Ben explains the differences between the paper and pencil SAT to the new computerized SAT Ø  Ben explains the difference between question by question adaptive vs adaptive by section and he debunks some myths about adaptive tests For the recommended resource, here is the link to hear the Raj Chetty webinar where he reveals his research on elite schools, affluence and social mobility: https://chettyaug2023.splashthat.com/ If you do not want to verbally leave a message for us by using speakpipe.com/YCBK you can send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab  or via email at .   You can also send in questions for our interviews by using speakpipe.com/YCBK. Our interviews are confirmed for 2023 and 2024 with the following leaders at the following schools: Confirmed interviews not yet completed Bard-Mackie Siebens Rice University-Tamara Siler American University-Andrea Felder Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) Colby College-Randi Arsenault* University of Georgia-David Graves* University of Minnesota-Keri Risic Cornell University-Jonathon Burdick Fabrizio D'Aloisio-University of Tennessee-Knoxville Oberlin College-Manuel Carballo Carleton College-Art Rodriguez Swarthmore-Jim Bok Joy St. Johns-Harvard Duke-Christoph Guttentag Florida State-John Barnhill Southern Methodist University-Elena Hicks Johns Hopkins-Calvin Wise Cornell University-Shawn Felton Haverford College-Jess Lord UAspire-Brendan Williams Yale University-Moira Poe Bard College- Baylor University Butler University California Institute of Technology Colorado School of Mines Creighton University Dartmouth College-Lee Coffin Chris Cage-Belmont University     To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our free quarterly admissions deep-dive, delivered directly to your email four times a year, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign up on the right side of the page under “the Listen to our podcast icons”   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK.   Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:   If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa or Lynda, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at or Lynda at lynda@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, selective colleges, and their admissions practices, have received a lot of scrutiny. Does going to a highly selective college affect long-term outcomes? How much preference are legacy applicants given? To what extent does socioeconomic background influence chances of admission? And how can highly selective colleges improve social mobility and diversify the American elite? In a new paper, Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges, Raj Chetty, David Deming, and John Friedman consider these questions and many others. The paper is full of interesting findings, so on this episode of The Report Card, two of the paper's authors, David Deming and John Friedman, join Nat to break it down. David Deming is the Academic Dean and Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School. John Friedman is the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs and the Economics Department Chair at Brown University. He is also a founding co-director of Opportunity Insights at Harvard UniversityShow Notes:Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private CollegesStudy of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own QualificationThe Future of Highly Selective College AdmissionsForked LightningOptimal Gerrymandering in a Competitive EnvironmentThe Lengthening of ChildhoodIn the Salary Race, Engineers Sprint but English Majors EndureGetting In

Elite colleges are facing a reckoning over their admissions practices. But is there a case for upholding policies that give preferential treatment to some students?On this episode of “Matter of Opinion,” the hosts examine whether it really matters if you go to Harvard and what the upside could be of favoring family connections. Mentioned in this episode:“Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Consequences of Admission to Highly Selective Colleges,” by Raj Chetty, David J. Deming and John N. Friedman in Opportunity Insights.“Fast Car,” written and originally performed by Tracy Chapman“Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class,” by Ross Douthat

Do admissions committees of the most selective colleges consider family income along with applicants' academic accomplishments, athletic achievements, legacy status, and extra-curricular activities? Given the outsized benefits of attending an “Ivy-plus” college (the eight Ivy league colleges plus Chicago, Duke, Stanford, and MIT), understanding whether children from highest-income families enjoy higher rates of admission compared to middle-class applicants with similar credentials is critical for understanding ongoing privilege and for considering policies to broaden opportunity and promote social advancement. David Deming joins EconoFact Chats to discuss his findings on these issues, drawing on his latest paper 'Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,' co-authored with Raj Chetty and John Friedman. David is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Do admissions committees of the most selective colleges consider family income along with applicants' academic accomplishments, athletic achievements, legacy status, and extra-curricular activities? Given the outsized benefits of attending an “Ivy-plus” college (the eight Ivy league colleges plus Chicago, Duke, Stanford, and MIT), understanding whether children from highest-income families enjoy higher rates of admission compared to middle-class applicants with similar credentials is critical for understanding ongoing privilege and for considering policies to broaden opportunity and promote social advancement. David Deming joins EconoFact Chats to discuss his findings on these issues, drawing on his latest paper 'Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,' co-authored with Raj Chetty and John Friedman. David is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

A study shows how college admissions practices benefit the richest applicants. Opportunity Insights, a group of Harvard economists, analyzed data from 12 of the country's top colleges from 1999 to 2015. They found that among students with the same test scores, applicants with families in the top one percent were 34 percent more likely to be accepted. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Raj Chetty. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

For over two decades, Chicago Scholars, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit leadership development organization, has empowered nearly 6,000 high-performing, under-resourced students to overcome systemic barriers to success in college. Chicago Scholars is the largest education nonprofit in Chicago, a city of over 2.5 million. In addition to its wraparound support for Chicago-based students, Chicago Scholars has created REACH Pathways, a first-of-its-kind app designed to connect top talent with professional opportunities in ways that feel less like homework and more like a video game. Jeffery Beckham, Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer at Chicago Scholars and co-CEO of Reach Pathways. Jeffery is a community leader, artist and tech-entrepreneur known for advancing the fight for equity for youth and marginalized communities throughout the United States. Jeffery lives by the quote: “To whom much is given, much is required.” He strives to support traditionally underserved youth, working as a mentor with the 100 Black Men of Chicago, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity INC. and other Chicago programs. Jeffery is also a self-taught painter and uses his art to advocate for social and economic justice.  His work has been on display around the world.Brooke McKean, the President at Chicago Scholars and co-CEO of Reach Pathways, has over a decade of executive-level experience in fast-paced and start-up environments, in addition to experience managing teams in 12+ countries. Brooke is an expert in change management and has developed dozens of systems, policies, and infrastructure across all areas of operations, including IT, HR, finance, data systems, and beyond. Brooke believes in service-oriented and values-based leadership to ensure that Chicago Scholars embodies the values that define its programs to “be the change.”Recommended Resources:TED-EdTwitter spacesYoutubeStorybirdFinding Nonprofit Sustainability by Brooke MckeanDr. Raj Chetty's Research

Joe Fuller, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at AEI and Professor at Harvard Business School, discusses two new reports, Delivering on Degrees and The Partnership Imperative. The first examines the effectiveness of programs that facilitate the transition from postsecondary education to employment and finds programs such as career coaching and experiential coursework can improve persistence in training and employment outcomes. The second report explores how partnerships between community colleges and employers can help address the skills gap.Mentioned in the EpisodeJoseph B. Fuller AEI ProfileJoseph B. Fuller HBS ProfileManaging the Future of Work Project at Harvard Business SchoolDelivering on Degrees Report Workforce Futures InitiativeProf. Raj Chetty's Work on Economic MobilityOf Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It by Richard V. ReevesThe Partnership Imperative: Community Colleges, Employers, and America's Chronic Skills GapWake Tech Community CollegeSan Jacinto CollegeMonroe Community CollegeValenciaCollege Partnership with Walt Disney World ResortDisney Aspire - Disney's Education Benefit Program

One way of looking at the world reveals it as an interference pattern of dynamic, ever-changing links — relationships that grow and break in nested groups of multilayer networks. Identity can be defined by informational exchange between one cluster of relationships and any other. A kind of music starts to make itself apparent in the avalanche of data and new analytical approaches that a century of innovation has availed us. But just as with new music genres, it requires a trained ear to attune to unfamiliar order…what can we learn from network science and related general, abstract mathematical approaches to discovering this order in a flood of numbers?Welcome to COMPLEXITY, the official podcast of the Santa Fe Institute. I'm your host, Michael Garfield, and in every episode we bring you with us for far-ranging conversations with our worldwide network of rigorous researchers developing new frameworks to explain the deepest mysteries of the universe.This week we speak with SFI External Professor, UCLA mathematician Mason Porter (UCLA Website, Twitter, Google Scholar, Wikipedia), about his research on community detection in networks and the topology of data — going deep into a varied toolkit of approaches that help scientists disclose deep structures in the massive data-sets produced by modern life.If you value our research and communication efforts, please subscribe, rate and review us at Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and consider making a donation — or finding other ways to engage with us — at santafe.edu/engage.I know it comes as a surprise, but this is our penultimate episode.  Please stay tuned for one more show in May when SFI President David Krakauer and I will reflect on major themes and highlights from the last three-and-a-half years, and look forward to what I'll be doing next! It's been an honor and a pleasure to bring complex systems science to you in this way, and hope we stay in touch. I won't be hard to find.Thank you for listening.Podcast theme music by Mitch Mignano.Follow us on social media:Twitter • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram • LinkedInMentioned & Related Media:Bounded Confidence Models of Opinion Dynamics on NetworksSFI Seminar by Mason Porter (live Twitter coverage & YouTube stream recording)Communities in Networksby Mason Porter, Jukka-Pekka Onnela, & Peter MuchaSocial Structure of Facebook Networksby Amanda Traud, Peter Mucha, & Mason PorterCritical Truths About Power Lawsby Michael Stumpf & Mason PorterThe topology of databy Mason Porter, Michelle Feng, & Eleni KatiforiComplex networks with complex weightsby Lucas Böttcher & Mason A. PorterA Bounded-Confidence Model of Opinion Dynamics on Hypergraphsby Abigail Hicock, Yacoub Kureh, Heather Z. Brooks, Michelle Feng, & Mason PorterA multilayer network model of the coevolution of the spread of a disease and competing opinionsby Kaiyan Peng, Zheng Lu, Vanessa Lin, Michael Lindstrom, Christian Parkinson, Chuntian Wang, Andrea Bertozzi, & Mason PorterSocial network analysis for social neuroscientistsElisa C Baek, Mason A Porter, & Carolyn ParkinsonCommunity structure in social and biological networksby Michelle Girvan & Mark NewmanThe information theory of individualityby David Krakauer, Nils Bertschinger, Eckehard Olbrich, Jessica C Flack, Nihat AySocial capital I: measurement and associations with economic mobilityby Raj Chetty, Matthew O. Jackson, Theresa Kuchler, Johannes Stroebel, Nathaniel Hendren, Robert B. Fluegge, Sara Gong, Federico Gonzalez, Armelle Grondin, Matthew Jacob, Drew Johnston, Martin Koenen, Eduardo Laguna-Muggenburg, Florian Mudekereza, Tom Rutter, Nicolaj Thor, Wilbur Townsend, Ruby Zhang, Mike Bailey, Pablo Barberá, Monica Bhole & Nils Wernerfelt Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networksby Aaron Clauset, Cristopher Moore, M.E.J. NewmanGregory Bateson (Wikipedia)Complexity Ep. 99 - Alison Gopnik on Child Development, Elderhood, Caregiving, and A.I.“Why Do We Sleep?”by Van Savage & Geoffrey West at Aeon MagazineComplexity Ep. 4 - Luis Bettencourt on The Science of CitiesComplexity Ep. 12 - Matthew Jackson on Social & Economic NetworksComplexity Ep. 68 - W. Brian Arthur on Economics in Nouns and Verbs (Part 1)Complexity Ep. 100 - Dani Bassett & Perry Zurn on The Neuroscience & Philosophy of Curious Minds 

We all might one day be replaced by robots or ChatGPT. But for now, businesses still need humans to make computer chips or staff daycare centers. Problem is, too few workers in the US are actually working and too few people are having babies. That's a major concern for American industry, policymakers, and most immediately, tech giant Intel Corp. The company is trying to find 7,000 people in central Ohio to build its new semiconductor facilities and 3,000 more to staff them.On this, the season's final episode of Stephanomics, we dig into the super-tight US labor market, which is expected to get even tighter as more of the nation's skilled workers retire. First, senior reporter Shawn Donnan visits Licking County, Ohio, future home to a $20 billion chip plant that will pay workers an average annual salary of $135,000. The Biden administration hopes Intel's project sparks a wave of manufacturing projects in strategic industries like semiconductors and electric vehicles. Then reporter Ben Steverman offers some insight into the roughly 2.6 million US workers who've gone missing since the pandemic began. A recent study by Harvard University economist Raj Chetty suggests many of them waited tables, cut hair and staffed gyms in relatively affluent neighborhoods. When these wealthy residents slashed their spending and stayed home as Covid-19 bore down, it created a wave of business closures and job losses. Many of those workers, Steverman explains, never returned. Meanwhile the nation's working-age population is growing at its slowest pace since 1960, and total population actually dropped in at least 24 states, including Ohio. Host Stephanie Flanders follows up on America's demographic challenges with University of Maryland economist Melissa Kearney, also director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group. The US birth rate, at just under 1.7 children per woman, is well below the so-called replacement rate of 2.1, and the share of working-age adults who are actually working is falling, says Kearney.   Long term, fewer workers means fewer ideas and less specialization, she warns, all of which could mean lower income and living standards in the US and globally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harvard economist Raj Chetty uses tax data to study inequality, kid success, and social mobility. He explains why you should be careful when choosing your grade school teachers — and your friends. 

Economist Raj Chetty of Harvard University talks about his work on economic mobility with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. The focus is on Chetty's recent co-authored study in Nature where he finds that poor people in America who are only connected to other poor people do dramatically worse financially than poor people who are connected to a wider array of economic classes. The discussion includes the policy implications of this result as well as a discussion of Chetty's earlier work on the American Dream and the challenge of Americans born in recent decades to do better financially than their parents.

Sean Illing talks with former Google data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of Don't Trust Your Gut. Seth argues that the way we make decisions is wrong, outdated, and based on methods or conventional wisdom that lead us astray from getting what we want. Sean and Seth discuss the idea of using data in place of our own intuition and reason to help us through things like online dating, picking a place to live, and being a better parent. Plus, how can we trust "experience sampling" studies that rely on self-reporting, when — after all — everybody lies? Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox Guest: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (@SethS_D), author References:  Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (Dey Street; 2022) Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (Dey Street; 2018) Moneyball (dir. Bennett Miller, 2011); based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton; 2004) "Capitalists in the Twenty-First Century" by Matthew Smith et al. (Quarterly Journal of Economics v. 134 (4); 2019) The Mappiness Project, created by George MacKerron and Susanna Mourato "Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies" by Samantha Joel et al. (PNAS v. 117 (32); 2020) "Are You Happy While You Work?" by Alex Bryson and George MacKerron (The Economic Journal v. 127 (599); Feb. 2017) "Experienced well-being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year" by Matthew Killingsworth (PNAS v. 118 (4); 2021) "The Amount and Source of Millionaires' Wealth (Moderately) Predicts Their Happiness" by Grand Edward Donnelly et al. (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin v. 44 (5); May 2018) “When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?” by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (J. of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6); 2000) "The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New EvidenceFfrom the Moving to Opportunity Project" by Raj Chetty et al. (American Economic Review v. 106 (4); 2016) "Education Doesn't Work" by Freddie deBoer (Substack; Apr. 12, 2021) "Predicting political elections from rapid and unreflective face judgments" by Charles C. Ballew and Alexander Todorov (PNAS v. 104 (46); 2007) Dataclysm: Love, Sex, Race, and Identity — What Our Online Lives Tell Us About Our Offline Selves by Christian Rudder (Crown; 2015)   Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by:  Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices