Episode description

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was suspended for two years by Harvard, during which time he took a hard look at corporate diversity programs. As a follow-up to our recent series on the Rooney Rule, we revisit our 2022 conversation with the controversial economist.

• SOURCE:
  • Roland Fryer, professor of economics at Harvard University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "How to Make Up the Covid Learning Loss," by Roland Fryer (Wall Street Journal, 2022).
  • "Roland Fryer on Better Alternatives to Defunding the Police," by Roland Fryer (The Economist, 2020).
  • "Harvard Suspends Roland Fryer, Star Economist, After Sexual Harassment Claims," by Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley (The New York Times, 2019).
  • "Why Diversity Programs Fail: And What Works Better," by Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev (Harvard Business Review, 2016).
  • "An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force," by Roland G. Fryer, Jr (NBER Working Paper, 2016).
  • "Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York City," by Will Dobbie and Roland G. Fryer (American Economics Journal, 2013).
  • "Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence From Randomized Trials," by Roland G. Fryer (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011).
  • "Toward a Unified Theory of Black America," by Stephen J. Dubner (The New York Times, 2005).
  • Equal Opportunity Ventures.
  • Intus Care.
  • Reconstruction.
  • Sigma Squared.

• EXTRAS:
  • "Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring?" series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).
  • "Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late?" by Freakonomics Radio (2015).