New Wealth Research Project Launched
We live in an age of increasing wealth concentration. Who holds this wealth and in what forms? To what extent is high-end wealth passed on inter-generationally?
With a focus on the U.S., these questions motivate the Graduate Center Wealth Project, a new research initiative based in the Stone Center. Officially launched this autumn, this project, still in its design phase, aims to:
- Create a publicly accessible repository for curated information, research, and news related to wealth inequality;
- Assess and extend data capacity related to household wealth;
- Contribute to the growing methodological literature on wealth measurement; and
- Conduct research on high-end wealth in the U.S., compared to selected other rich countries.
Salvatore Morelli, an Oxford-trained economist and inequality scholar, joined the Stone Center in September 2017 to lead the project in coordination with Stone Center Director Janet Gornick. For the next two years, Morelli will serve as Visiting Assistant Professor at the Graduate Center, Distinguished Fellow at the Graduate Center’s Advanced Research Collaborative, and Stone Center Senior Scholar.
Morelli brings extensive experience researching the economics of income and wealth distribution. His comparative work on the evolution and measurement of economic inequality is highly regarded. He has also studied the theoretical and empirical foundations of the claim that inequality contributes to economic and financial instability.
“We are excited that Salvatore has arrived at the Graduate Center and that he will contribute his expertise to shaping our wealth project,” said Gornick.