Brief Goldin interview

Nice to see this as I don't see her work often referenced in general interest news outlets. This Harvard economist revolutionized our understanding of why women earn less than men by Leah Fessler. The economist is Claudia Goldin.

I have long respected her research which I believe has yielded important insights into complex social problems. A thumbnail summary is that while there is always discrimination (against all races, against both genders, against all religions) that discrimination is rarely a material explanation of actual outcome variances. In the case of gender income inequalities, the variances are due to personal life choices and virtually none can be laid at the feet of malicious discrimination. Men and women are paid the same for the same work, they simply choose to work in different ways in order to achieve different goals.

More fundamentally, income is broadly a function of productivity and productivity is a function of expertise and practice. In order to maximize income you have to maximize practice and expertise. The model that best supports that, on average, is to work full-time (40 hours a week) or more for extended periods of time with no interruptions. Regardless of field of endeavor, two people with identical capabilities will end up at dramatically different points depending on their choices.

The person who works 60 hours a week for ten years with no breaks other than weekends and holidays will end up towards the top of their enterprise based on their expertise, productivity, practice, and networks. The same person who works part time or only forty hours a week and/or takes some periods of extended leave over the ten years, will end up in the middle or lower level of the organization. Regardless of their sex.

While I respect the research Goldin has done, I am in marked disagreement with many of her proposed solutions to the issues which she has uncovered. As long as everyone is obeying the law and no one is systemically being discriminated against, I am loath for the State to try and change people's personal choices of how they live their lives. That is putting the choices and goals of the State above those of the citizen. It seems to me.