Nobel Prize Awarded to Berkeley Professor Who Upended Orthodoxy on Low-Wage Work, Inequality

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2021

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When labor economist David Card began studying the minimum wage in the 1990’s, conventional wisdom, and economic theory, held that an increase in the minimum wage would lead to job loss. But in a move that revolutionized the way economics could be done, Card and his colleague, Alan Krueger, compared the real world data from a state that raised the minimum wage to one that didn’t, and found that the increase didn’t kill jobs. This “natural experiment” allowed Card to study the effects of policy changes or chance events in a way similar to clinical trials in medicine. Another natural experiment found that an influx of immigrants did not lower the wages of low-skilled native born workers. Forum talks with Berkeley professor David Card about his work, the “credibility revolution” in economics that it spawned and winning, with Stanford professor Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist from MIT, the Nobel Prize in economics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQIWID podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:07.2	Summer packages of three, four, or seven nights include hiking, mindfulness, and culinary adventures with farm-fresh ingredients.
0:15.0	Rancho LePuerta.com.
0:16.9	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.8	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:57.7	From KQED.
1:00.6	Welcome back to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigo.
1:03.9	When labor economist David Card began studying the minimum wage in the 1980s,
1:08.5	the conventional wisdom and economics about how labor markets
1:11.7	worked was heavily dependent on pen and paper theories from the 1920s. Those theories said things like,
1:17.9	if the minimum wage goes up, fewer people will have jobs. But in a series of moves that
1:23.4	quietly revolutionized the way economics would be practiced, Card and his colleague Alan Kruger began looking at real-world data
1:30.7	from fast food restaurants and neighboring towns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
1:35.7	And they found that raising the minimum wage didn't kill off jobs.
1:39.6	This type of, quote-unquote, natural experiment allowed Card to probe complex economic mysteries and provide
1:46.3	insight on policy changes. David Card joins us to talk about his work, the quote, credibility
1:51.8	revolution in economics that it helped spawn, and winning with Stanford Professor Guido
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.