Robert Bernard Reich (/ˈraɪʃ/; born June 24, 1946) is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. Reich was born with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, also known as Fairbanks disease, and as a result stands 4 feet 10.5 inches tall. Until 2012, he was married to British-born lawyer, Clare Dalton, with whom he has two sons, Sam and Adam. Reich is currently Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He was formerly a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and professor of social and economic policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University. He has also been a contributing editor of The New Republic, The American Prospect (also chairman and founding editor), Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.Reich is a political commentator on programs including Hardball with Chris Matthews, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CNBC's Kudlow & Company, and APM's Marketplace. In 2008, Time magazine named him one of the Ten Best Cabinet Members of the century, and The Wall Street Journal in 2008 placed him sixth on its list of the "Most Influential Business Thinkers". He was appointed a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board.He has published 14 books, including the best-sellers The Work of Nations, Reason, Supercapitalism, Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, and a best-selling e-book, Beyond Outrage. He is also chairman of Common Cause and writes his own blog about the political economy at Robertreich.org. The Robert Reich – Jacob Kornbluth film Inequality for All won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
America's new tribalism can be seen most distinctly in its politics. Each tribe is headed by a rival warlord whose fighting has almost brought the national government in Washington to a halt.
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Some inequality is good in terms of giving people the incentives to work hard, invest, invent, innovate. But when so much income goes to the very top, and the middle class and poor don't have enough purchasing power left to buy what the economy is capable of producing, it means we are subject to very anemic recoveries, booms and busts and very high unemployment.
3
The rich are not the job creators. The job creators are the vast middle class and everyone aspiring to join them, whose money businesses need in order to justify expanding and hiring.
4
[on what Canadians could learn from Americans in 2013] That inequality of income, wealth and opportunity on the scale we're experiencing it threatens the economy and democracy...We know that resignation can turn to rebellion when the resignation festers for many years, with a great deal of anger below the surface. These sorts of circumstances are ripe for demagogues who seek to build up their own power by exploiting frustrations and resentments, and directing that anger toward scapegoats that have little or nothing to do with the underlying problems.
5
[on what Americans might learn from the Canadian experience, 2013] That it is possible to have a health care system that works reasonably well and covers almost all the population; possible to control the use of firearms without trampling on individual rights; and possible to craft a system of federalism that provides a significant amount of autonomy to individual provinces, while maintaining an effective national government.
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Fact
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His diminished height is due to a childhood bout with Fairbanks disease.
2
Former United States Secretary of Labor, 1993-1997.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Love & Taxes
2015
Sheldon S. Cohen
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Money Monster
2016
special thanks
Innovation: Life, Inspired
2004
TV Series documentary special thanks - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Anderson Cooper 360°
2016
TV Series
Himself - Interviewee
Frontline
2016
TV Series documentary
Himself
Tavis Smiley
2010-2016
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest
Real Time with Bill Maher
2008-2016
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Panelist / Himself - Guest
HARDtalk
2016
TV Series
Himself
Democracy Now!
2010-2016
TV Series
Himself
PBS NewsHour
2016
TV Series
Himself
Cost of Construction
2016
Documentary
Himself
This Week
2005-2015
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Powerhouse Roundtable Panelist
Overheard
2015
TV Series
Himself - Interviewee
The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
2015
TV Series
Himself - Panelist
Politics Nation with Al Sharpton
2015
TV Series
Himself
On the Money
2015
TV Series
Himself - Former U.S. Labor Secretary
PoliticKING with Larry King
2015
TV Series
Himself - guest
U.S. 2014
2014
TV Movie
Himself - Former US Labor Secretary
Lost in the Fine Print
2014
Documentary short voice
PAY 2 PLAY: Democracy's High Stakes
2014
Documentary
Himself
America's Book of Secrets
2014
TV Series documentary
Himself
Ronan Farrow Daily
2014
TV Series
Himself
Crossfire
2014
TV Series
Himself - Former Labor Secretary
The Colbert Report
2008-2013
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest
Piers Morgan Tonight
2013
TV Series
Himself - Former Labor Secretary
TakePart Live
2013
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Moyers & Company
2013
TV Series
Himself
The Daily Show
2000-2013
TV Series
Himself
Conan
2013
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
2012-2013
TV Series
Himself
Erin Burnett OutFront
2012-2013
TV Series
Himself
Inequality for All
2013
Documentary
Himself
Martin Bashir
2012-2013
TV Series
Himself
The War Room with Michael Shure
2012
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The Ed Show
2012
TV Series
Himself
The Reagan Presidency
2012
TV Series
Himself - U.S. Secretary of Labor
US Election Night 2012
2012
TV Movie
Himself - Former Secretary of Labor 1993-1997 (as Professor Robert B Reich)