Success and Luck: good fortune and the myth of meritocracy

Wednesday 7th December 2016, 6.30-8pm

Speaker: Prof Robert H. Frank (Cornell University)
Discussants: Prof Nicola Lacey (LSE) and Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Chair: Prof John Hills (LSE)

How important is luck in economic success? As conservatives correctly observe, people who amass great fortunes are almost always talented and hard-working. But liberals are also correct to note that countless others have those same qualities yet never earn much. In recent years, social scientists have discovered that chance plays a much larger role in important life outcomes than most people imagine. In this talk about his new book, Success and Luck: good fortune and the myth of meritocracy, Robert Frank explored the surprising implications of those findings to show why the rich underestimate the importance of luck in success - and why that hurts everyone, even the wealthy.

Watch below:

Success and Luck: good fortune and the myth of meritocracy Success and Luck: good fortune and the myth of meritocracy