4:35-5:20 pm, October 3
I will describe the phenomenal growth in cognitive ability that has taken place around the world at least for the last century. I will then provide some evidence on possible causes with an emphasis on positive feedback loops within individuals and more broadly across societies. I will conclude by discussing the prospects for the future -- in particular how the same mechanisms that have magnified cognitive change in the past might work work as we move forward.
Biographies: William T. Dickens
William T. Dickens is a non-resident senior fellow in the Economic Studies program at Brookings. He is also a visiting fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation and a professor of economics and social policy at Northeastern University. Dickens was formerly a senior economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers and a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dickens has expertise in labor markets, wage determination, unemployment, monetary policy, inner-city employment problems, effects of trade on employment and wages, poverty, income support, intelligence testing, and psychology and economics. His recent publications have appeared in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Psychological Review, and the American Economic Review. He is currently co-director of a major international research project on wage rigidity -- a collaborative effort involving Brookings, the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the European Central Bank, and economists from 13 country teams.
He received his B.A. in social studies from Bard College in 1976 and his Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T. in 1981.
