Events

Presented by the Office of the Provost as part of the Reaffirming University Values Lecture Series. 

Experts are struggling to comprehend this unusual political and economic moment. Are a shrinking workforce and an economically polarized America simply our “new normal”? Does helping vulnerable citizens require us to put aside free enterprise and pursue a narrow national interest? Arthur Brooks draws on history, economics, and social science to explain these unusual times – and offers a set of strategies, from national policy prescriptions to personal advice for leaders and citizens, that we can use to rebuild prosperity for the most marginalized Americans and reunite our divided country.

Arthur C. Brooks has been president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) since January 1, 2009. He is also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise at AEI.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and social entrepreneurship. Before pursuing his work in academia and public policy, he spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain.

Dr. Brooks is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and the bestselling author of 11 books on topics including the role of government, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America (Broadside Books, 2015). He has also published dozens of academic journal articles and the textbook Social Entrepreneurship (Prentice Hall, 2008).

Dr. Brooks has a PhD and an MPhil in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He also holds an MA in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a BA in economics from Thomas Edison State College.

Co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy