News Releases

For Immediate Release

April 13, 2015
For additional information: 
Chato Hazelbaker
Chief Communications Officer
Telephone:  360-992-2921
Email:  chazelbaker@clark.edu

 

Clark hosts conversation on a watershed moment in economic theory

 

VANCOUVER, Wash.–It’s not often that a 700-page treatise on economic theory sells out on Amazon and hits No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. But Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, termed “one of the watershed books in economic thinking” by a former World Bank economist, has not only sold hundreds of thousands of copies but has sparked a heated global conversation on the origins and effects of wealth inequality. On Thursday, April 23, members of this community have an opportunity to join the conversation when Clark College hosts a panel discussion of the book.

The event, which takes place at 6 p.m. in Foster Auditorium on Clark’s main campus, is free and open to the public. An opening reception will take place at 5:30 p.m.

Four Clark College faculty members with expertise related to Piketty’s work will participate in the discussion, which will cover both Piketty’s methodology as well as his central thesis: Unfettered capitalism necessarily leads to increasing wealth inequality, which in turn leads to social and economic instability.

”It’s a very relevant topic and Piketty’s book has stirred a great deal of debate both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Patricia Atkinson, a Clark College economics instructor who helped organize the event and will serve as the discussion’s moderator. “The rise of wealth and income disparity warrants an in-depth conversation at Clark College.”

Panelists are:

Directions and maps are available online. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room 013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.

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