CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARS: Glenn Loury (b. 1948)

This lesson provides an overview of the life and work of African American economist Glenn Cartman Loury (b.1948), one of America’s most provocative thinkers on issues related to race, poverty, and social policy. A technical economist by training, Loury is usually identified as a Black conservative, though his worldview has undergone a series of transformations since he first emerged as an outspoken Reaganite in the 1980s.

Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Loury rose through the ranks of elite academia to become the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard in 1982, doing groundbreaking work on “social capital.” Students will discover his life and work, and have the opportunity to discuss recent history and current events in light of his insights.