An Oral History of Industrial Relations and Labor Economics
In this podcast series of conversations with leading thinkers and practitioners, we are creating an oral history of an entire generation of industrial relations experts and labor economists whose contributions to their fields have been absolutely extraordinary. Hosted by Orley Ashenfelter, the Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics, Emeritus at Princeton University.
Gavin Wright, William Robertson Coe Professor of American Economic History, emeritus, at Stanford University, discusses his work on the economics of slavery, Black mobility patterns after the Civil War, and his thoughts on the current state of Black economies in the American South.
Heidi Hartmann, distinguished economist in residence at American University and emeritus founder and president of the Institute of Women’s Policy Research, discusses her work in the public policy arena, especially her studies on the gender gap and equal pay, and her on-going thoughts on women and the economics profession.
Michael Reich, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, discusses his studies of labor market segmentation, the beneficial effects of the minimum wage on the economy, the current climate of political polarization, and his belief that the 2024 elections indicate a marked transition for the U.S. economy.
Harry Katz, the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, discusses his academic background, his studies of collective bargaining, his work with the United Auto Workers (UAW), and his on-going thoughts on how to make labor negotiations more inclusive and cooperative.
Henry Farber, Hughes-Rogers Professor of Economics emeritus at Princeton University, discusses his early life growing up in an industrial, working-class town in New Jersey, his early interest in labor unions and his nearly fifty-year-long study of labor economics.
