Berkeley Symposium on Poverty, the Distribution of Income, and Public Policy

Although economic expansion reduced poverty in the 1990s, sustained growth among high earners also led to greater economic inequality. This increasing gap coincided with changes in government programs, increased immigration, and an aging population. To what extent do these factors explain the increasing divergence between rich and poor Americans?

To examine this topic in greater depth, John Quigley has organized a symposium at the University of California, Berkeley, to be held in December 2003 that will consider the links between poverty, demographics, the distribution of income, and public policy. The symposium will provide a venue to assess the trends and causes of income inequality, and to reflect on relevant policy options. Nine papers will be presented, including an international comparison of the link between government programs and social outcomes, a look at racial differences in economic well-being, and an analysis of the distributional implications of environmental policy. The conference will also assess income distribution, and its relation to trends in public assistance and poverty in the United States from an historical context.

The Foundation will publish the conference papers as a book, Public Policy and the Income Distribution.