About the Conference
Poverty is widespread in the United States, and vast numbers of working Americans and their families lack health insurance and other basic social goods. But the mid-twentieth-century ideal of a generous "welfare state" is dead. "Welfare" is linked to moral decay. Redistribution to end poverty and broaden social provision is said to be counter-productive in today's global economy. The time is ripe for serious alternatives to the prevailing wisdom. This gathering of renowned scholars will address the practical and moral challenges of reinventing the welfare state in the twenty-first century.
Keynote speakers include: Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, former head of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors and chief economist of the World Bank; and E.J. Dionne, leading liberal social thinker and public commentator. Stiglitz will speak on "Distributive Justice and the Global Economy" and Dionne on "Religion, Social Justice, and the Welfare State."
Michael Walzer, Ernesto Cortes, and other internationally prominent thinkers and reformers will address such topics as: Rationing Health Care, Social Provision and Global Migration, Designing the New Welfare State, and Constitutions and Social and Economic Rights.
All members of the UT and broader Austin community are invited to this important conference, from February 1st through February 3rd at the University of Texas School of Law. More information is available in the conference schedule.