Goldin's Nobel Win is a Win for Common Sense
I’m optimistic that Goldin’s victory marks the beginning of a new acceptance—an unprecedented acknowledgement—that women’s economics is mainstream economics.
ALSO IN THIS POST…
Who’s real Kamala Harris? It’s in all of our interests to know.
The latest book news on WOMEN MONEY POWER.
A few years ago, I took a class on the most influential modern economists. It was taught by a world renowned scholar. Dozens of old white men and their theories made the syllabus. Claudia Goldin was the only woman. On the slide accompanying the lecture in which she was featured, her name was misspelled.
On Monday, Goldin, who in 1989 became the first woman to be offered tenure in Harvard’s economics department, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. After Elinor Ostrom in 2009, and Esther Duflo in 2019, Goldin is only the third woman to win. She’s the first to be honored solo.
I was delighted to have had the opportunity to share my thoughts on her win in a Guardian op-ed that ran on Wednesday last week. In it, I make the case that Goldin’s work has been instrumental in our collective understanding of why gender gaps exist and how female labor force participation has ebbed and flowed over time. Her research, in many ways, formed the basis of my upcoming book, a narrative history of female economic empowerment since World War II. Her credentials, even before this week, unequivocally qualify her as one of the preeminent living economists across the whole spectrum of the discipline.
And yet still, in recent years, it feels like the topic of women in the economy has been sidelined, marginalized and relegated to the fringes of the field. My hope now is that this is about to change, that this is the start of a new era of dominant economic thought, an era in which women’s economics is mainstream economics.
Here’s what I wrote for the Guardian:
“I’m hopeful that the potential value of closing the gender pay gap, and other gender gaps, globally, will start to become common knowledge: that economists at central banks and professors at universities will as readily talk about the fact that doing so could add $7 trillion to the world economy as they talk at present about supply and demand curves.”
I conclude my piece by noting that, in a beautiful example of irony, just a few hours before Goldin’s prize was announced, she published a working paper entitled “Why Women Won.” In it, she details 155 critical moments in U.S. women’s rights history between 1905 to 2023. Then she herself became the subject of what’s certainly deserving of the 156th spot on that list.
You can read my full piece here. Here’s the press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Oh, and precisely no one asked for this, but if you happen to have taken a selfie with a Nobel laureate and her dog, surely it’s rude not to share it? This is from last year, when I visited Professor Goldin and her dog at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Who’s Kamala Harris?
Elsewhere this week, I was so fascinated by Elaina Plott Calabro’s profile of Vice President Kamala Harris for The Atlantic. Before reading it, I’d never really contemplated how little I knew about Harris. This matters. President Joe Biden is the U.S.’s oldest-ever president. He’s gunning for a reelection which should seriously raise the question of whether Harris has what it takes to lead the country.
In reporting her piece, Calabro didn’t only accompany Harris around the U.S. but also followed her to Africa and to her private residence. (That last bit, apparently, is a first for a reporter during this administration.)
Calabro writes:
“Harris and I talked at the residence for an hour. Toward the end of the conversation, she patted the cushion between us. “No reporter has sat here ever,” she said. It was a small moment, but it seemed to represent a recognition that something had to change—if not about the way Harris actually does her job, then about the way she presents herself, and her role, in public.”
From start to finish, it’s a long and fascinating read which lifts the curtain—even if only slightly, very carefully, and absolutely not in a gushing or sycophantic way—on one of the most private people to be in a position of immense power: the first woman, the first Black American, and first South Asian American to be elected vice president. And somebody who before that was the first South Asian American and only the second Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Read the whole piece here.
WOMEN MONEY POWER: The Book
And finally, in case you haven’t heard, WOMEN MONEY POWER, is now available for pre-order ahead of publication in March 2024.
I’m thrilled that Lisa Napoli, the author of SUSAN, LINDA, NINA & COKIE, a book about the four pioneering women of public radio and their unique and enduring friendship, has described it as “compelling” and “deftly researched.”
Everything you’ve been told about pre-orders is true: they’re extremely important for any book, and they can hugely influence chances of making bestseller lists, which of course, is a big deal. All of that is to say, if you like what you’ve been reading here, if you care about female economic empowerment, if you—as a champion of gender equality—want to learn more about the giants upon whose shoulders we (often unknowingly) stand, then please consider putting in your order.
You can do so through my publisher’s website here, Barnes & Noble here, Bookshop.org here, Thriftbooks here. Other retailers are, of course, available too and get in touch if you’re ordering from abroad or if you’d like a discount for bulk orders!
I’m already getting some great inquiries for speaking gigs: book talks, signings, workshops, fireside chats, and panel discussions—especially related to Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day 2024.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in collaborating. I’d love to visit your local bookstore, company, school, campus, affinity group, or other event. I can’t wait to share what I feel like I’ve spent my entire life working on!
Three Others Things I’m Reading…
Japan’s Top Banks Pay Women About Half of What Men Earn (Bloomberg)
A 104-year-old woman dies before Guinness can confirm her record as oldest skydiver (NPR)
Breast cancer rates are rising. But more women are surviving, too. (The Hill)
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