MIDDLEBURY — Research has shown that three billionaires today own as much wealth as the bottom half of U.S. households combined. 
The Middlebury College Economics Department next week will sponsor a talk by an expert who will give an in-depth analysis of the root causes of inequalities of wealth and power across our society. Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies/Co-editor of Inequality.org, will focus on tax and other public policies that would effectively reverse four decades of inequality. 
Collins will deliver the D. K. Smith ‘42 Fall 2019 Economics Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 4:30 p.m., at the Robert A. Jones ‘59 House Conference Room on the Middlebury campus. The title of his lecture is “Reversing Wealth Inequality: The Case For Restoring Progressive Taxation And Bringing Wealth Home.” 
The public is welcome to this talk. 
In his role at the Institute for Policy Studies, Collins co-edits Inequality.org. He is author of the popular 2016 book “Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good.” Recently he published “Is Inequality in America Irreversible?” 
In addition to writing about inequality, Collins is an expert in the racial wealth divide and on taxing inherited fortunes. 
He is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, high-income households and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation. This network merged in 2015 with the Patriotic Millionaires.