Experts
Glenn Loury
Professor of Social Sciences & Economics
Recent Activity
If Obama wins this battle, he’d be up there with F.D.R. and L.B.J. in terms of solidifying the 21st century American welfare state, says Brown economics professor Glenn Loury. … Watch
August 24, 2009 | In Health & Medicine, Politics & Policy
Glenn Loury Won’t Drink Anybody’s Kool-Aid
The man once shunned by the black liberal community is shocked by how radical his opinions have become. … Watch
What Keeps Glenn Loury Up At Night
More than anything, he’s terrified the U.S. is becoming a nation permanently at war. … Watch
August 24, 2009 | In Politics & Policy
This Man Wants to Legalize Drugs
Substance abuse should be viewed as a medical problem, not a crime, says Brown University economist Glenn Loury. … Watch
August 24, 2009 | In Politics & Policy, Truth & Justice
You Call That Criminal Justice?
Once a darling of the Reagan administration, Glenn Loury has serious beef with U.S. incarceration policies. He’s no stranger to the law himself. … Watch
August 24, 2009 | In Politics & Policy, Truth & Justice
Glenn Loury's is one of the nation's foremost black intellectuals, having held positions at Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and Boston University.
Loury's sometimes controversial dissection of racial disparities, systemic racism, and economic justice have often landed his views at the center of attention. Early in his professorial career, Loury made his mark as a distinguished academic economist with specific focus on the fields of welfare economics, industrial organization, natural resource economics, and the economics of income distribution. Once earmarked as the leading candidate for the position of under secretary of education in the Reagan administration before withdrawing his name from consideration, Loury also gained notoriety as a controversial social critic with right-wing perspectives that led to his designation as "one of the black darlings of the neoconservative intelligentsia" by Africana.com.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Loury became known for his abrasive critique of affirmative action and his propensity to blame racial inequality on the dysfunction and corruption within the black community, as opposed to the racist attitudes that some argued gave rise to this scenario.
In the late 1990s, however, Loury divulged a much-publicized split with the right, revising former viewpoints and attacking former colleagues. This break was formally ushered in with the release of his new book, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, in February of 2002.
