The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the Penn Wharton Budget Model will host Gene Sperling for a conversation on his book Economic Dignity and a discussion of how economic policy can help us meet both the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and our nation's long-term economic inequities. Economic Dignity is Mr. Sperling's third book. In it, he argues that economic dignity should be our national north star -- and that it should include a commitment to a stronger social compact for economic security and pursuing purpose and meaning, while ensuring that workers should have more rights and power to be free from the "forces of domination and humiliation." Today, in the midst of a pandemic that is disproportionately impacting lower-wage workers and minority communities, both from a health perspective (with higher mortality rates) and an economic one (with greater rates of unemployment), the book -- and hearing from Mr. Sperling -- could not be more timely.

Speaker: Gene Sperling served as Director of the National Economic Council under both President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama. He has been involved in the most consequential economic policy decisions for the better part of the last three decades including responding to the Great Recession and the current pandemic. As founding executive director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education, he previously co-authored the book, What Works in Girls’ Education. In the past, he also worked as a writer and consultant for the famed TV series "The West Wing" and is a regular contributor to popular press outlets like The Atlantic. Mr. Sperling received a J.D. from Yale Law School and attended the Wharton School of Business here at the University of Pennsylvania.