Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
Upside of Inequality Unintended Consequences Oxford

Minimum Wage

The American Interest Reviews The Upside of Inequality

“In stark contrast to The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution, Edward Conard’s The Upside of Inequality...challenges the prevailing assumptions that animate progressive interpretations of inequality.Reading Sitaraman and Conard side-by-side... Conard’s reading of the evidence...is more plausible..." Neil Gilbert The American Interest March 20, 2017 Economic inequality is widely cited as the seedbed of social ills, sprouting plutocracy and corruption, stunting ... Read More

Commentary Magazine Reviews The Upside of Inequality

"The Upside of Inequality is a well-written, thought-provoking book. It will be invaluable to anyone who wants a clear-eyed look at the country’s economic problems and their possible solutions." John Steele Gordon Commentary Magazine January 15, 2017 Liberals are always finding crises that must be addressed immediately through government action. A couple of years ago they declared a civil-rights jihad on behalf of the transgendered, a group so few in number ... Read More

Ed Conard in The New York Times: Where Piketty & Saez’s New Research Falls Short

Upon the arrival of Piketty and Saez’s updated inequality study reported, I explain why working class wages growth remains slow in the New York Times. It’s unfortunate that the outsized success of the most successful Americans is blamed for the slow growth of lesser-skilled workers, as if the economy were a pie to be divided. The outsized success of the most successful Americans increases the demand for lesser-skilled labor. Factors independent of the growing success ... Read More

AEI Debate on “The Upside of Inequality”

I summarize my Top 10 NYT bestselling book, The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class for the American Enterprise Institute with Steven Roberts.  The book argues that today's knowledge-based economy is constrained by properly trained talent and the economy’s willingness to take risk, rather than labor or capital. I recommend recruiting ultra-high-skilled immigrants, restricting perennial trade deficits, and lowering corporate taxes. ... Read More

“The Upside of Inequality” Reaches #8 on The New York Times Bestseller List!

My new book The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class reached #8 on the New York Times bestseller list this week. I summarize the book for Morning Joe, Maria Bartiromo, The New York Times and TIME Magazine. The National Review says Upside is “the Conservative answer to Thomas Piketty that you’ve all been waiting for.” Buy the book, write a review, or follow me on social media at www.EdwardConard.com/Action. ... Read More