From Economic Inequality to Economic Freedom: Constitutional Political Economy in the New Gilded Age

Abstract

We live in a new Gilded Age. In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become increasingly clear that income inequality is widening dramatically, and that social mobility and genuine economic opportunity are an illusion for most Americans. Such economic inequality magnifies and interacts with chron­ic crises of structural racial injustice and persisting political dysfunction. The urgency of this moment is reflected not only in the virulent exclusionary popu­lisms resurgent on the right, but also in the wide array of social movements and reform communities mobilizing on the left: from alternative labor organizing among low-wage and "gig" economy workers; to new civil rights movements working at the intersections of racial, economic, and political exclusion; to ef­forts at reforming our democratic institutions themselves. This project of chal­lenging inequalities of income, opportunity, standing, and voice presents a cen­tral challenge for contemporary legal doctrine, practice, and scholarship. What is the role of law in constructing inequalities and exclusions? How can law and institutional structures be reconceived to create a more inclusive and egalitarian society?