Income inequality in the U.S. peaked in 2007, right before the Great Recession, and has not been corrected by the crisis, defying expectations.

Are we becoming a society dominated, politically as well as economically, by entrenched and inherited wealth?

Thomas Piketty, the French economist, thinks so. The contradictory nature of the capitalist economic system, according to Piketty, allows wealth to be concentrated in the hands of a few undermining not only democracy but also meritocracy itself. He, convincingly, identified the "key" mechanisms through which inequalities grow and are reproduced in his much acclaimed Capital in the 21st Century.

Motivated by Piketty's findings, the panel will evaluate inequalities in the U.S. from economic, legal, and cultural points of view.

Panelists:

• Saul Levmore, The William B. Graham Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School
• John Berdell, Associated Professor of Economics at DePaul University
• Sean Andrews, Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies in the Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences and Columbia College Chicago

This event is presented by the Intersections program series at Columbia College Chicago as part of The Collaborative City, a program of the Illinois Humanities Council, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

Free and open to the public. Register at praire.org.