Waterloo Arts is pleased to present this distinguished lecture series with a focus on economics and its impact on society and individuals.

Each year the Department of Economics invites a distinguished scholar to present a lecture on the state of the art in a field of economic research, giving students from various disciplines a special opportunity to enhance their understanding of economics. The University community and members of the public are warmly invited to attend the lectures - and encouraged to engage with the topic of discussion. Each event will provide an opportunity for members of the audience to interact with the speaker in a question and answer session following the lecture.

The Faculty of Arts gratefully acknowledges our Economics alumni for their generous support of the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Ted Scott

Brian Lipskie

Anonymous (1)

Uneven Growth and Social Conflict

By Debraj Ray, Silver Professor, Faculty of Arts Sciences, and Professor of Economics at New York University

Economic growth can be extraordinarily rapid in developing countries. But it is often uneven, leaving whole segments of society behind. Such unevenness can serve to both inspire and frustrate, and so lead to social conflict even as overall economic conditions improve. These issues are crucially important in North America and Europe today.

Professor Ray will discuss what we can learn about the uneven-growth/conflict nexus from developing countries, where such issues have never been far from the surface.

Watch the video of the Fall 2017 lecture:

About the distinguished lecturer

Professor Ray is one of the leading development economists in the world. He has made significant contributions to the economics of coalition formation, altruism, malnutrition, and the role of inequality, polarization and conflict in development. His books include Development Economics (1998) and A Game-Theoretic Perspective on Coalition Formation (2008).

Debraj Ray is Julius Silver Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Science, and Professor of Economics at New York University. He is Co-editor of the American Economic Review and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society and a Guggenheim Fellow.