Phela Townsend Writes Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on Lack of Diversity in the Economics Field – Next100

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Phela Townsend Writes Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on Lack of Diversity in the Economics Field

Next100 Policy Entrepreneur Phela Townsend has had a letter to the editor published in The New York Times. The letter responds to “Economics Needs More Black Women,” by Lisa D. Cook […]

Next100 Policy Entrepreneur Phela Townsend has had a letter to the editor published in The New York Times. The letter responds to “Economics Needs More Black Women,” by Lisa D. Cook and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman. Phela writes:

“More diverse representation in the field of economics is of course needed, but it can’t be limited to race and gender alone. The economics profession faces a tyranny of majority consensus: It’s not just that white men are overrepresented; it’s that they overwhelmingly share similar lived experiences, perspectives and interests.

Economists, and the free-market doctrine they cling to, are partly to blame for decades of stagnant wages and soaring inequality. Powerful people beget policies that help the powerful.”

 

Read the full letter here.

About the Author

Portrait of Phela Townsend, she has a very curly bob and a grey blazer.
Phela Townsend Economic Opportunity

Phela Townsend is scholar-activist on a mission to transform how we think about—and value—labor and work in our society. At Next100, her work examines how today’s workers and labor organizations are using digital tools to rebuild worker power in the twenty-first century. Phela is also a PhD candidate at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.

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