Some of the most heated debates in American life center on how much intergenerational inequality is influenced by historical context. Inequality, of course, doesn’t come out of nowhere—history always exerts some influence—but to what extent are today’s ills attributable to those of the past?

The challenge for scholars is to pinpoint the exact mechanisms through which decades- or centuries-old forces persist. The past may not be dead—so how does it live on, empirically?

Deirdre Bloome, Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Faculty Member at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, joins host Steven Durlauf to discuss her work measuring the historical evolution of racial inequalities in the family and the economy, and their lasting impact on mobility.”