Nathan Nunn: commitment

Transcript context

…Last question. This is a quotation from you. I’ll read it off. “I’ve done a lot of different jobs, working at a range of places, including automotive stores (stock boy), newspaper (editor/photographer), freight company (laborer), paint factory (filled paint and made paint), ski hill (worked in the office), book publisher (laborer), and private tutoring.” How has that shaped your worldview? Not everyone who teaches at Harvard has that background, right? [laughs] Yeah, yeah. I think I shaped my worldview in terms of opportunity, thinking about opportunity, thinking about policies that affect mobility, thinking about policies that affect inequality. And the reason is, I have experience growing up in a family that was definitely lower income or very low income and having some insight into what that does to you psychologically, how difficult it is to get out of that environment. And I was extremely lucky growing up in a country like Canada, where, actually, there were many pathways for a family that’s very low income. After moving to the US, it’s very clear, there are many fewer pathways. And if you grew up in upper-middle-class, upper-class family, that’s something that you just don’t realize, just how hard it is for an individual that’s at the lowest rung of the ladder within the US to move up. You basically can’t make any mistakes. So I think that’s one thing that my history has taught me. Nathan Nunn, thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure chatting.…

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