Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “A full-throated defense of economic dynamism.” - The Wall Street Journal
  • “Unintended Consequences is full of substance, it is one of the must-read books of the year, and once I finish it I will be giving it a second read through right away.” - Tyler Cowen, Professor, George Mason University
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. The authors estimate that the HOPE VI program, which revitalized high-poverty US public housing projects, raised adult household income by 2.77% per childhood year spent in a revitalized project, implying a 50% gain from birth, exceeding the program's up-front taxpayer costs. They attribute the gains largely to increased interaction with higher-income peers in surrounding neighborhoods.

Raj Chetty, Rebecca Diamond, Thomas Foster, Lawrence Katz, et al. Harvard University
Date Posted:
Is Database:
Database

Btw 1993 and 2010, children who moved into revitalized public housing that mixed market-rate and subsidized units, stayed a mean 5 years, and earned ~17% higher income as of their late 20s/early 30s. One key channel was exposure to higher-income peers.

Does revitalizing high-poverty public housing raise children's adult incomes?

Core argument: Each year a child spent growing up in a HOPE VI revitalized public housing project raised adult household income by 2.77%, implying a 50% income gain for a child living there from birth.

This paper has shown that the largest effort to revitalize high-poverty public housing projects in the United States—the HOPE VI program—succeeded in increasing economic mobility. Each year a child spent growing up in a revitalized public housing project increased their household income in adulthood by 2.77%, implying that growing up from birth in a revitalized public housing project would increase income by 50%. These income gains are substantially larger than the program’s up-front costs to taxpayers, demonstrating that it is possible to create higher-opportunity neighborhoods in a cost-effective manner even without changing broader determinants of outcomes such as labor market conditions or schools. The potential for change in short time frames is particularly notable given the historical roots of differences in opportunity across neighborhoods. The gains from HOPE VI are largely explained by changes in social interaction: children in revitalized projects interact more with peers in surrounding neighborhoods and gain more when they have higher-income peers.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. Each year a child spent growing up in a HOPE VI revitalized public housing project raised adult household income by 2.77%, implying a 50% income gain for a child living there from birth.
  2. The income gains from HOPE VI are substantially larger than the program's up-front costs to taxpayers, indicating that higher-opportunity neighborhoods can be created cost-effectively without changing labor market conditions or schools.
  3. The gains from HOPE VI are largely explained by changes in social interaction, as children in revitalized projects interact more with peers in surrounding neighborhoods and gain more when those peers have higher incomes.

Related Articles:

  • Changing Opportunity: Sociological Mechanisms Underlying Growing Class Gaps and Shrinking Race Gaps in Economic Mobility — Across the 1978 to 1992 birth cohorts, adult household incomes fell for white children raised in low-income families and rose for those raised in high-income families, increasing the intergenerational persistence of income ranks among white children by 28%. Over the same cohorts, adult incomes rose for Black children at all parental income levels.
  • ZIP Code Is Destiny? Turns Out That’s Bunk — The authors argue that research crediting neighborhoods with causing better child outcomes confuses causation with parental self-sorting, since more affluent, better-educated, and more stable families tend to move to good neighborhoods before their children are born. Their analysis of Danish population data found the same sorting pattern as in the United States.
  • The Economics of Income Mobility — In interviews with 1,000 adults in Memphis, Tulsa, and New Orleans who self-identified as having grown up poor, the authors found human capital was the strongest predictor of escaping poverty, followed by noncognitive skills such as resilience, self-esteem, and conscientiousness. Trusted adults in childhood, early police encounters, mental health, and adverse experiences also mattered.
Showing 160 database articles primarily about Inequality
Currently filtering by: