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Reimagining the Economics of Late Life Institutions, Systems, and Investments

  • The New School 6 East 16th Street NY 10003-3034 (map)

Conference Overview

As populations age and disability becomes an urgent global public policy issue, the question of how economic systems value older adults and people with disabilities takes on new urgency. While other disciplines have advanced moral and social frameworks for late life, economic research has largely failed to conceptualize, measure, or value investments in aging populations.

As part of our Political Economy of Aging series, the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), the New York Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (NYRDRC) and the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR) invite scholars, policymakers, and the public to a one-day conference that challenges prevailing assumptions about economic value, longevity, and care. Reimagining the Economics of Late Life Institutions, Systems, and Investments convenes emerging and senior researchers to examine how existing systems fail older adults, explore the ethical and fiscal imperatives of inclusion, and imagine fairer and more equitable economic institutions for later life.

This student-led, faculty-supported initiative is part of an ongoing effort to expand the boundaries of economic thought — and to engage directly with the question: How do our economic systems conceptualize the worth of life in older age?

Program Schedule

Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00 – 9:15 AM

  • Ruth Finkelstein, Rose Dobrof Executive Director of the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging at Hunter College, and Professor, School of Urban Public Health

  • Teresa Ghilarducci, Irene and Bernard L. Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Analysis and Director, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA)

  • Frank Heiland, Professor of Public Affairs, Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs; Associate Director, CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR)

  • Na Yin, Associate Professor of Public Affairs, Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs; Faculty Associate, CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR)

Panel I: How Systems and Institutions Are Failing Older Adults

9:15 – 10:45 AM
The economic rationale underlying many existing systems can often create conditions that negatively impact older adults. This session presents research that investigates how institutional and policy frameworks neglect or mismeasure the needs and values of people in later life.

Panelists:

  • Karthik Manickam

  • Additional panelists to be announced

Critical Discussant: Dmitriy Stolyarov, Professor of Economics, University of Michigan and Director, Michigan Retirement Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Panel II: Why Investing in Late Life Systems Matters

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
This panel explores the ethical, philosophical, and economic foundations for sustained investment in individuals in later life. Discussions will draw on frameworks of intergenerational justice, social equity, and the economic returns to caregiving and longevity.

Panelists:

  • Drystan Phillips

  • Additional panelists to be announced

Critical Discussant:

  • Nancy Folbre, Professor Emerita of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Lunch & Keynote Address
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Keynote speaker to be announced

Panel III: Strengthening the Late-Life Social Safety Net

1:30 – 3:00 PM
This session focuses on how to reimagine and reinforce late-life safety nets to better meet the needs of older adults. Panelists will examine policy design, social insurance, and the future of the social contract in an aging society.

Panelists:

  • Jess Forden

  • Additional panelists to be announced

Critical Discussant:

  • Kathleen McGarry, Professor of Economics, UCLA; Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Afternoon Roundtable: Reimagining the Economics of Later Life

3:15 – 4:45 PM
A cross-generational dialogue among senior scholars and emerging researchers reflecting on the day’s discussions and proposing next steps for economic research and policy design.

Participants:

  • Ruth Finkelstein (Hunter College)

  • Nancy Folbre (UMass Amherst)

  • Teresa Ghilarducci (The New School/SCEPA)

  • Frank Heiland (CUNY/CIDR)

  • Surya Kolluri (TIAA Institute)

  • Kathleen McGarry (UCLA/NBER)

  • Dmitriy Stolyarov (University of Michigan)

  • Na Yin (CUNY/CIDR)

About the Conference

Over the past several months, a team of doctoral fellows has designed this conference to address a deep intellectual gap in the economics of aging. While economists have developed extensive frameworks for valuing early-life investments – education, child care, human capital accumulation – they have far less to say about the value of longevity, care, and intergenerational equity.

This conference seeks to expand that conversation, bringing together economists, social scientists, and policymakers to consider how systems might better reflect the full value of life at every stage.

Hosted by:
The Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) at The New School the New York Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (NYRDRC), and the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR)