"So Rich, So Poor" Book Event with the Center for American Progress

If the nation’s gross national income—more than $14 trillion—were divided evenly across the entire U.S. population, every household could call itself middle class. Yet the income-level disparity in this country is now wider than at any point since the Great Depression. In 2010 the average salary for CEOs on the S&P 500 was more than $1 million—climbing to more than $11 million when all forms of compensation are accounted for—while the current median household income for African Americans is just more than $32,000. How can some be so rich while others are so poor? In his provocative new book, Peter Edelman, a former top aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and a lifelong antipoverty advocate, offers an informed analysis of how this country can be so wealthy yet have a steadily growing number of unemployed and working poor. So Rich, So Poor delves into what is happening to the people behind the statistics and takes a particular look at the continuing crisis of young people of color, whose possibility of a productive life too often is lost on their way to adulthood.

• Opening Remarks: LaShawn Warren, Vice President of Policy Development and Programming, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy
• Featured Author: Peter Edelman, Author, So Rich, So Poor; Chair, Board of Directors, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy
• Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for American Progress
• Moderator: Linda Wertheimer, Senior National Correspondent, National Public Radio