Perhaps the most pressing public issue of our time is an alarming growth in income and wealth inequality. Our main objective in this course is to develop analytical tools for explaining the causes of economic inequalities in society, analyzing the impact of social and economic policy on income and wealth inequality, and evaluating proposed alternatives in public policy. These skills will prepare you to make effective arguments about public policy and thus are essential for aspiring legislators, policy advocates, nonprofit administrators, professional policy analysts and government officials. In this way, this course complements and expands on the analytic toolkit you have developed in your research methods and policy analysis courses. By the end of this course, you will have demonstrated your ability to:
--- Develop arguments about the scope and causes of income and wealth inequality
--- Evaluate the impact of economic and social policies on economic inequalities
--- Critique alternative policy proposals for addressing income and wealth inequalities in the United States
This course meets in a weekend intensive format online.