Rebecca M. Blank is the Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former dean of the
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and co-director of the National Poverty
Center. Dr. Blank’s research has focused on the interaction between the macroeconomy, government anti-poverty
programs, and the behavior and well-being of low-income families.

Economic inequality in the United States is large by any measure. In part this reflects the structure of
U.S. labor markets, but inequities in individual labor market outcomes are magnified by family formation
and by patterns of wealth-holding. Can existing patterns of inequality be altered? This talk will
discuss a conceptual framework for thinking about mechanisms to alter inequality, and the evidence to
support different approaches.