Abstract
This presentation will open with a descriptive portrait of current levels and recent trends in economic inequalities—focused on both income and wealth—across a set of middle- and high-income countries. Drawing on a broad range of scholarship, the speaker will discuss the drivers of high and rising inequalities and will close with a discussion of the consequences.

Join us as we explore:

• The Reality Check: A data-driven portrait of current inequality levels and recent trends across middle- and high-income countries.
• The Drivers: Are we witnessing a global tide of inequality, or are its roots found in unique, country-specific factors?
• The Stakes: Does inequality matter because it’s inherently unfair, or because of its proven link to harmful economic, social, and political outcomes?

Speaker’s bio
Janet Gornick joined CUNY in 1994 and is a professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate Center. She served as director of the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) from 2006 to 2016 and has led the Graduate Center’s Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality since 2016, holding the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Chair since 2021. Her research primarily focuses on comparative social welfare policies, gender disparities, poverty, income inequality, and wealth concentration. She coauthored or coedited four books, including Families That Work, Gender Equality, Income Inequality, and Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth. Gornick has served as a guest editor for journals and special issues on work-family policies and high-income country family policies. Her work has appeared in numerous academic journals such as the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, and European Sociological Review, and she presents regularly in popular outlets like The American Prospect. She earned her B.A. from Harvard, an M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard. She holds an Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.