Robert Pollin, professor of economics and a founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at UMass Amherst, will present "The Living Wage and Global Anti-Sweatshop Movements: Good Intentions and Economic Logic in Conflict?" in Hamilton College's Chemistry Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22. This lecture will examine the claims about unintended consequences of living wage initiatives and will explore how raising wages for low-wage workers may actually cause unemployment and business flight, hurting rather than helping their plight. These are matters of great controversy and are at the core of evaluating the living wage and anti-sweatshop movements.
Robert Pollin is the co-author (with Stephanie Luce) of "The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy" and the co-editor (with Dean Baker and Gerald Epstein) of "Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy." Pollin has served as a consultant on living wage proposals in a number of U.S. cities including Los Angeles, New Orleans and Santa Monica.
This program is sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center and the Hamilton College Economics Department.
