Today's college students will soon face a challenging job market that will potentially be made worse by AI. The cost of living is up, housing is painfully expensive, and future home ownership seems more like a cruel fantasy than the American Dream. And they know it’s tough out there. In fact, they’ve lived their entire lives in a world that’s been getting progressively less economically equal. They know the system is broken and that every day it gets more stacked against them. Our guest today, Boston College economics professor Can Erbil says those are pretty common worries today among his students too. That’s why he’s been working on ways to integrate teaching about economic equality using empirical data and real-world case studies into even the most basic economics courses. He says it’s important both for economics majors—many of whom now have to seek out inequality studies in elective courses—and for students for whom an introductory econ class might be their only exposure to the field. The goal, he says, is to help students become better economists, engaged citizens, and informed voters who’ll help shape a future that they’ll want to live in.
About our Guest:
Professor Can (pronounced "John") Erbil specializes in international trade, development economics and macroeconomic policy recommendations at Boston College. His applied work extends to education and health policy and energy economics. Between 1999-2012, Erbil worked at the International Business School (IBS), the Department of Economics and Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He held the positions of Assistant Professor, Senior Scientist and Senior Lecturer. Erbil was also the Assistant Director of Center for German and European Studies. He is currently the Director of Turkey Outreach at IBS. Dr. Erbil is currently the Director of Economic Modeling School at EcoMod, Global Economic Modeling Network. Since 2012, Erbil has been a Senior Fellow at Bahcesehir University, Turkey, where he contributes to several programs, including the BAU-NYU Research Methods Center. In 2014, Erbil joined MindBridge Partners as Senior Advisor, where he engages in projects with a focus on innovation, EdTech, IT and executive training. Dr. Erbil is a Research Associate at the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF). Erbil is on the Board of the Washington D.C. based think tank, Capital Turkish Connections, where he helps to facilitate evidence-based dialogue; he also used to work at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. Erbil continues consulting for the World Bank on projects related to international trade, regional development, education and health policies.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Why, When, and How to Teach the Fundamentals of Inequality in Principles