Description
Economic security shouldn’t be a lottery. Yet for millions of working families, stagnant wages and precarious jobs collide with the daily grind of managing money on shaky ground — leaving stability feeling less like a plan and more like a gamble. Fixing that takes more than one lever. It takes structural reform and the tools people need to take control of their financial lives, working together.
In “The Wage Standard: What’s Wrong in the Labor Market and How to Fix It,” Professor Arindrajit Dube maps out how to rebuild a labor market that actually works for workers. In “The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money—No Matter How Much You Have,” Carrie Joy Grimes flips the script on personal finance, showing that financial agency isn’t reserved for the wealthy. Together, their ideas offer something rare: a real blueprint for security that starts at the policy level and ends in people’s pockets.
Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on Wednesday, October 7, for a conversation that connects these dots. We’ll dig into the big questions: What will it actually take to fix a broken labor market? How do practical financial tools build real agency, no matter your income? And what does an economy look like when systemic fairness and individual security aren’t trade-offs — but a package deal?
Dube and Grimes will be in conversation with moderator Natalie Foster, senior fellow at the Economic Opportunities Program, co-founder of Economic Security Project, and author of “The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy.”
This event is part of our Opportunity in America series.
Speakers
Arindrajit Dube
Provost Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Dube’s research focuses on labor economics, with related work in health economics, public finance, and political economy. His current work examines wage inequality, labor market competition, minimum wage effects on employment and inequality, fairness concerns and behavioral biases in labor markets, and the role of firm wage policies in rising inequality. He is the author of The Wage Standard and has provided counsel to governments domestically and abroad.
Dube received his bachelor’s in economics and master’s in development policy from Stanford University, and his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. He is a research associate at the NBER, a research fellow at IZA, and a research affiliate of the MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work.
Carrie Joy Grimes
Founder and CEO, WorkMoney
Carrie Joy Grimes is the founder and CEO of WorkMoney, a national nonprofit with over 9 million members building an America where hardworking people can afford a good life, and the author of The Joy of Money, a national bestseller. A former union organizer who helped win higher wages and better benefits for millions, Carrie Joy now channels that same people-first energy into practical money advice and strategies to raise incomes and lower costs for millions of Americans. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Natalie Foster (Moderator)
Senior Fellow, Economic Opportunities Program; Co-founder, Economic Security Project
Natalie Foster is a leading architect of the movement to build an inclusive and resilient economy. She’s President and co-founder of Economic Security Project, a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative, and the author of “The Guarantee: Inside the Fight For America’s Next Economy.”
Natalie speaks and writes regularly on economic security, the future of work, and the new political economy. An unstoppable builder, Natalie previously co-founded Rebuild the Dream, served as Digital Director for President Obama’s Organizing for America – a leading partner in winning transformative healthcare reform and built digital teams at the Sierra Club and MoveOn.org. A daughter of a preacher from Kansas, Natalie draws on the values of community, dignity, and optimism to build a better America. She’s on the board of Next River founded by Mia Birdsong, the Beneficial State Foundation founded by Kat Taylor, In Her Hands founded by Hope Wollensack, and the California Budget and Policy Center. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two kids.
About Opportunity in America
Opportunity in America, an event series hosted by the Economic Opportunities Program, considers the changing landscape of economic opportunity in the US and implications for individuals, families, and communities across the country.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
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